The morning after, when Pranavi wakes up, she finds herself in her hotel room. Her head feels heavy and clouded—a lingering effect of whatever was sent by that person yesterday. She tries to piece together the fragments of last night, but her memories are hazy and distorted.
Finally, a memory breaks through the fog: Pranavi remembers that it wasn't sanaya,but someone else who dropped her off at the hotel last night. Slowly, fragments of her conversation with Shivam begin to resurface.
Pranvi- Let me go, Shivam! What's the point now? You've already found yourself a new girlfriend anyway.
SHIVAM: (He steps closer, his eyes dark) "A new girlfriend? Is that what you really think of me?
" If you really have a new girlfriend now... then what was all that back in school? Your constant care, the way you used to look at me—was it all just my imagination? Was I living in a delusion this whole time, Shivam?"
Shivam finally looks at her, He lets go of her arm and takes a step back, creating a cold gap between them.
("One girlfriend. Only one. Always you"-said internally) .
"Fine! So what if you have a new girlfriend? If that's the case, then break up with her right now. Do it this instant!"
Shivam smiled secretly at her demand. 'I'll break up with her in the next life,' he thought.
The memories faded into a dark void after that. The weight of last night's drinks finally caught up to her, making her head feel like lead. A sharp, splitting headache took over, erasing any chance of recalling what Shivam did next.
As she reached for her phone on the nightstand, she noticed something that wasn't there last night.
On the side table sat a tall glass of lemon water and a small, white tablet placed neatly on a paper coaster. Next to it was a small, handwritten note on the hotel's stationery.
"Take this for the headache. Drink the entire glass. And for heaven's sake, Pranavi... stop drinking .
There was no name signed at the bottom, but the handwriting was unmistakable—it was the sharp, disciplined scrawl of a doctor. His handwriting.
She tried to silence her heart with logic. 'He has a life now, and he has someone to love,' she whispered to the empty room. She knew she couldn't keep living in the past. It was time to put that energy back into her own future.
After that, she returned to her workplace, trying to bury her feelings in her professional life. Both of them went back to where they worked, acting as if the previous night was nothing more than a blurred memory.
........
A few days later, Pranavi's brother, Nikhil, calls her with a message from their father. He says, 'Papa might forgive you if you agree to marry a lawyer and join the family firm. That's the only way he'll let you back in.
"So, I've already fixed a blind date for you. Just go, meet him, and see how it goes. Try to be sensible about this."
Initially, Pranavi had no intention of going. The idea of a blind date felt like a chore she didn't have the energy for.
"After that, she started sharing everything with her online friend, Paridhi. From her heartbreak with Shivam to the strange ultimatum her father had set—she poured her heart out to the one person who always seemed to listen."
(Paridhi isn't just a random online friend; she is the one who stood by Pranavi when she was at her lowest and struggling for career)
On Paridhi's advice, Pranavi finally agreed to go on the blind date.
Scene: The Unwilling Date
Pranavi sat at the designated table, her posture rigid. She hadn't dressed up to impress; she had dressed to disappear. To her, this wasn't a "date"—it was a debt she was paying to her brother and Paridhi just to get them to stop asking.
The restaurant was too loud, the scent of expensive cologne was too thick, and the man sitting across from her—Arjun—was talking far too much.
ARJUN: "...and after I cleared the Bar exam, I joined your father's primary counsel. He's a visionary, Pranavi. He really wants you back in the fold. So, tell me, why the long silence? Why the sudden interest in a date now?"
PRANAVI: (Her voice flat, eyes scanning the room) "I'm here because I was told to be here. My intentions are strictly to finish this dinner and go home. Don't mistake my presence for interest, Arjun."
The Distraction
Arjun was talking about "contracts" and "family legacy," but Pranavi was watching the way the sunlight hit the water glass, feeling completely out of place.
Pranavi was trying to listen to Arjun's monologue about corporate law, but her "Analyst" instincts were screaming that something was off. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for a distraction, when they finally landed on a small, shadowed table in the far corner.
Her heart skipped a beat.
There sat Shivam. He wasn't wearing his white doctor's coat. He was in a dark hoodie, his face half-hidden by the dim lighting of the cafe. He wasn't eating. He wasn't drinking. He was just... watching. His eyes were fixed directly on her and Arjun. They weren't the eyes of a lover; they were the eyes of a hunter.
PRANAVI: (Breathless) "Shivam..."
ARJUN: "I'm sorry, did you say something? Are you even listening to me, Pranavi?"
She didn't answer. She didn't even look back. Her eyes were locked on the corner of the cafe, where the light didn't quite reach. Every step she took away from Arjun was a step back into the world she had tried to run away from.
As she reached the shadowed table, Shivam didn't move. He didn't smile. He just watched her approach with an expression .
Shivam turns to Arjun with a cold, steady gaze and says:
"My apologies, Arjun, but this date is over. You see, Pranavi is my fiancée, and I'm taking her home."
The air in the cafe seems to freeze the moment the word "Fiancé" leaves Shivam's lips. The clinking of spoons and the low hum of conversation suddenly feel a thousand miles away.
ARJUN: (Stuttering with rage) "F-fiancé? Are you kidding me? Pranavi, what is this nonsense? Your brother, Nikhil, told me you were single! He told me you were looking for a fresh start!
Pranavi is frozen. Her "Cyber-Analyst" brain, which usually processes data at lightning speed, has just crashed. She stares at Shivam's profile—his jaw is set, his eyes are cold, and he looks like he's ready to fight the world for her.
PRANAVI (Internal): Fiancé? Since when? He told me to stay away. He told me he had someone else. Is this another lie?
Even though she knows it's a lie.
PRANAVI: (Her voice is a low, shaky whisper) "Arjun... go home. Tell my brother the 'deal' is off. I think you've heard enough."
Arjun realizes he has lost. He grabs his briefcase, looking like he wants to sue the entire room.
ARJUN: "Fine. You want to play games with this man? Enjoy the consequences. Your father isn't going to be 'forgiving' after this. You've just declared war on your own family, Pranavi."
He storms out, the cafe door slamming behind him.
Now, it's just Pranavi and Shivam. The silence between them is louder than the argument.
The silence between Pranavi and Shivam is heavy. Shivam is still standing, his hand resting on the table right where Arjun's had been. He looks like a man who just won a battle but is losing a war.
PRANAVI: (Voice cold and sharp) "Fiancé? That's a very dangerous lie to tell a lawyer, Shivam. Arjun will check the records. He'll call my father. He'll find out there is no ring and no registry."
SHIVAM: (Finally looking at her, his eyes dark) "Let him check. By the time he realizes the 'data' doesn't exist, I'll have moved you somewhere he can't find you."
"Where's that girlfriend of yours? Do you even realize the mess you've just created?"
Shivam didn't flinch at Pranavi's sharp question. He stayed calm, his voice dropping to a level that made her lean in closer.
SHIVAM: "My girlfriend? She's gone. We broke up. She was never the point, Pranavi."
PRANAVI: (Suspicious) "Convenient timing. And the 'fiancé' lie? You just ruined my father's plans. Arjun isn't going to let that slide."
SHIVAM: (Leaning in, his expression turning deadly serious) "I didn't do it to be a hero. I did it because I was here early. I was sitting in the corner when Arjun arrived, and I heard him. He was on the phone, Pranavi. He wasn't talking to his wife or may be girlfriend.
He doesn't actually want you, Pranavi. He only wants to join your father's firm through you.
"That's impossible. If Nikhil sent him, he must have done a thorough background check."
SHIVAM: "If you don't believe my words, then use your own eyes. You're a Data Analyst, Pranavi. Stop being a sister for a second and start being a specialist. If Arjun is as clean as Nikhil says, your search will find nothing. But if I'm right..."
"Pranavi looked visibly confused, her mind clouded with doubt. And at that very moment, a faint, sinister smile flickered across Shivam's face."