AUTHOR'S POV

A well-built man with a strangely attractive aura stood in the middle of the hall.

That was Karan Grover.

An army officer.

His face still carried traces of war, faint scars and old wounds serving as silent reminders of battles fought far away from home.

Dressed in a crisp white formal shirt with neatly styled hair, he looked calm on the outside.

Only those who knew him closely could see the exhaustion hidden behind his eyes.

Kanika quickly wiped her tears and cleared her throat.

"Okay guys, enough of this crying. Aap log Karan bhai ko kaise jaante ho?"

"Because of Sanjana and Rehana," Trisha replied.

"How...?"

Rehan answered this time.

"Rehana is Karan's younger sister. Aur Sanjana..." he smirked.

"Sanjana is Karan's eternal love."

"Haww!"

Kanika immediately covered her mouth in mock shock.

"Bhai, aapne kabhi bataya hi nahi ki aapke paas girlfriend hai."

Before Karan could defend himself, Trisha quickly changed the topic.

"Karan, Sanjana will be very happy to see you."Then she looked around.

"...Kyun Sanjana..."

Her brows furrowed.

"Arre, kahan gayi?" She searched the hall. But Sanjana was nowhere to be found. She had already left.

"Must be outside." Karan's voice came softly.

Barely audible.

Because he had noticed it before anyone else. Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

He had returned after two years.

And Sanjana wasn't even here to hug him.

That fact alone unsettled him.

"Kanika, how do you guys know Bhai?" Rehana asked curiously.

"Karan bhai aur Tarun college mates the. Aur dono ne army mein jaane ke liye saath mein form fill kiya tha."

"Ohhh..." Rehan looked surprised.

"But Mr. Gautam military mein nahi hain."

"Yeah."

Kanika nodded.

"Papa ne Bhai ko Army join karne se mana kar diya tha."

A brief silence followed. Then Karan placed a hand on Tarun's shoulder.

"Koi baat nahi. You're still helping the country by generating employment." Tarun smiled.

Maybe he had accepted it. Maybe he hadn't.

A few hours later, almost all the guests had left.

Only the Sharma family, the Gautam's, and their close friends remained. The grand hall, which had once been filled with laughter and music, now felt unusually quiet. Meanwhile, Karan had searched almost every corner of the mansion.

The garden.

The backyard.

The terrace.

Everywhere.

But Sanjana was nowhere to be found.

His heart kept whispering the same thing.

Something is wrong.

Yet no one answered his questions properly.

Karan and Tarun stood near the bar counter, each holding a wine glass.

Tarun's gaze kept drifting toward Trisha.

Again.

And again.

While Karan remained lost in thoughts of someone else.

His lady.

His Sanjana.

"Kahan tha, Karan?"

The question snapped him back to reality. Tarun straightened and looked directly at him. For everyone else, it was a simple question.

But for Karan...

It felt like someone had rubbed salt into an old wound.

His mind drifted back instantly.

The darkness.

The humiliation.

The pain.

The endless torture.

The way they broke his body.

The way they tried to break his spirit.

"Karan."

"Huh?"

He blinked.

Then took a slow breath.

"A mission."

His voice remained steady.

"And you know I can't disclose the details."

The shortest answer.

The fastest escape.

Tarun stared at him for a moment.

As if he knew there was more to the story.

Much more.

But he didn't push further.

"Okay."

A pause.

"Now what? Matlab... ab kya?"

Karan took another sip.

Then answered simply.

"I quit."

The words landed like a bomb.

Rehan had just taken a sip of wine.

The next second—

He spat it out.

"REHAAANNNN!"

Karan shouted immediately.

"Peena nahi aata toh mat piya kar."

"Kya kaha aapne?"

Rehan stared at him in disbelief.

"You quit?!"

"But whyyyyy?"

Then he lowered his voice.

"What the hell?!"

For the first time that evening, Karan didn't answer immediately.

Instead...

A warm smile slowly appeared on his face.

A smile none of them had seen before.

A smile reserved for only one person.

"Uske liye."

He murmured softly.

No one understood the depth hidden behind those two words.

Only Karan knew.

Only his heart knew.

The way it betrayed him every time her name crossed his mind.

The way he lost himself in thoughts of her. The way he still remembered every promise. And every broken one.

Only he knew how angry she must be for not keeping his promise.

Yet despite everything...

He would choose her.

Again.

And again.

..

..

..

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