The phone had gone silent for almost three full minutes.
Aditya held it in his hand like a loaded weapon, staring down at the screen with a gaze so sharp it could cut steel. Jaanvi was curled into the corner of the couch, knees to her chest, trying — failing — to stop her hands from shaking.
Neither of them spoke.
Neither of them said it.
The word.
The invitation.
But somehow...
Buzz.
9:19 AM
Unknown Number
"No one had to say it. I've waited long enough."
"Time to remember how it all ended."
Jaanvi barely had time to exhale before the next notification came in.
And then another.
And another.
9:19 AM — Audio File Received
9:19 AM — Audio File Received
9:20 AM — Audio File Received
9:20 AM — Audio File Received
Aditya's jaw locked. "Don't open them," he said, but even as he did—Jaanvi already had.
She tapped the first audio.
Her own voice filled the room.
Raw. Breathless. Cracked at the edges.
"I don't get it, Aditya—was any of it real?"
Aditya's voice followed. Cold. Distant. So unlike the boy sitting beside her now.
"I told you. We don't work. It was a phase, Jaanvi. Don't make it dramatic."
Jaanvi blinked hard. Her nails dug into her palms.
Another file auto-played.
"You said I was the only person who really saw you," her voice said.
"Yeah, well, maybe I didn't want to be seen."
Then:
"You're good at pretending, Jaanvi. But not good enough."
Aditya shut the phone off violently, the screen going black in his hand.
But the words still rang out in her head.
"You said it was a phase," she whispered.
Aditya's face twisted with regret. "I didn't mean it. You know I didn't mean it—"
"Do I?" Her voice cracked.
Buzz.
The phone lit up again — back on, even though he'd powered it down.
9:21 AM
"She believed you anyway. Isn't that the cruelest part?"
"Want more? I've got the messages. The calls. The ones where she begged you not to leave."
"And my favorite one — the voicemail you never heard."
Aditya's blood went cold.
He looked at her. "Voicemail?"
Jaanvi looked like she couldn't even breathe.
"I left you one," she whispered, barely audible. "The night after you... you said those things. I didn't know what else to do. You never responded, so I thought..."
She trailed off.
Buzz.
9:22 AM — Audio File Received
Aditya tapped it before she could stop him.
And this time, it wasn't an argument.
It was her voice. Quiet. Broken. And completely alone.
"I just wanted to say that I love you. That I don't hate you, even if I should. That I meant everything. Even if you didn't. Even if I was stupid to think any of it was real..."
A small, wet sound came from Jaanvi's throat. She curled tighter into herself.
Aditya looked like someone had pulled the ground out from under him.
"I never got that," he whispered.
She didn't reply.
What was there to say?
Buzz.
9:23 AM
"So. Want to pretend this is still just a game?"
The silence in the room thickened, suffocating.
Jaanvi stared ahead blankly, her voice barely more than air.
"I want them to stop. I want it all to stop."
Aditya reached for her hand — not for her fingers, but for her wrist. Gripping it gently. Like an anchor.
"I'm going to make it stop," he said, not like a promise—like a vow.
Some wounds don't stay in the past.
Some ghosts don't knock before entering.
And sometimes, when the wrong person holds your memories—
they use them as weapons.
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