•°•°IRA's P.O.V°•°•
The London rain had always been gentle-soft drizzles like whispers against glass.
But today, it felt heavier, like the sky knew she was carrying something she couldn't name.
Ira tucked a damp strand of hair behind her ear and hugged her books closer as she walked out of the university gates.
Her breath fogged in the air, warm and shallow, while her thoughts raced-faster than her steps.
I'm not gloomy. No.
I've never let pain consume me. There's a kind of fire in me that refuses to die.
Even in confusion. Even in a life where I don't remember my past, I still chase joy. Laughter. Music. Colors.
And Ruhi. My best friend and my constant.she was always there when I needed someone.
"Ira!" Ruhi called out, catching up with me under a polka-dotted umbrella.
"You forgot your charger again. You'd probably forget your own name if I wasn't around."
I smiled faintly. "That might not be such a bad thing."
"You look like a walking cloud," she says, catching up to me.
"Do I?" I tease. "At least clouds are soft."
She narrows her eyes. "You have that look again. The one you get when you're thinking about... things."
I sigh. "Just the usual."
"Ever wondered why some people are just... blank inside? Like a huge part of them is missing but they don't know what it is?"
Ruhi gives me that worried glance. "You mean like... memory gaps?"
I shrug. "Maybe".
"I just feel like I belonged somewhere once. Like I was someone else before this version of me."
"You're you. Ira Awasthi
The brilliant, slightly chaotic, insanely talented girl with a full ride scholarship and an obsession with almond croissants."
I grinned widely. "You forgot gorgeous."
"That too."
We laugh, and for a moment the heaviness inside lifts. But the feeling never truly leaves. Like I'm a ghost in my own life.
:
:
:
At home, I unlock my apartment and step in. A letter sits on the table.
The envelope is stark white. No return address. I frown.
Opening it, I find a folded note. One sentence only:
"You Were Never Lost, Just Hidden"
I stare at the words, heart racing. The handwriting is unfamiliar. My skin prickles with unease.
"Hidden"? What does that mean?
I rushed to the window. Nothing. No one. Just the city breathing around me.
•°•°ISHAAN's P.O.V°•°•
"Cancel the Dubai deal," Ishaan muttered, eyes fixed on the fire crackling in the hearth.
Ruhaan looked up from his tablet. "You sure sir? You've been preparing for that for the last six months."
"I said cancel it and how many times I told you don't call me 'sir' " Ishaan's voice dropped an octave, making it final.
Ruhaan sighed but didn't argue. No one did anymore.
They were used to Ishaan Malhotra's whims. To the storms beneath his silence. To the way he ruled not with noise, but with presence.
A towering 6'2" frame that turned heads and shut mouths. And a stare that made grown men rethink their courage.
But Ruhaan knew the truth: Ishaan was always somewhere else.
With Her
Still.
Even after thirteen years.
"There's something odd I stumbled upon," Ruhaan said."A student profile from our trust database."
I glance up, cold and unbothered. "Is it urgent?"
"Not exactly. It just... reminded me of someone."
I don't flinch. Not anymore. The past is a corpse I've buried too deep.
"Then forget it," I mutter.
But the air shifts. Something stirs.
That name-long forgotten-crawls back into my bones like an ache that never truly left.
"Your mother's asking again," Ruhaan said carefully.
"She wants to know if you'll come to the foundation's annual gala this year."
"No."
"She says it's important."
"I said no."
Ruhaan nodded, shutting down the topic.
He watched Ishaan stand, move to the window. His silhouette against the glass was still and sharp, like a painting frozen in heartbreak.
He never brought women home. Never dated.
The press speculated endlessly-calling him mysterious, powerful, reclusive.
They had no idea he was mourning a ghost.
"She'd be twenty-three now," Ishaan murmured, almost to himself.
Ruhaan stilled.
He hesitated before placing the tablet down and walking out.
Hazel green eyes flashed behind Ishaan's lashes. That face-ten years old, but burned into memory. Still untouched by time in his mind.
Every part of him had refused to believe she was gone.
He'd hired men. Investigators. Hacked orphanage records. Checked hospitals. Ran blood tests on unclaimed bodies.
But nothing.
The world had swallowed Niyati whole.
Yet something restless stirred in his chest lately. Like a whisper beneath the noise. Like her soul tugging at his, refusing to rest.
His hands clenched at his sides.
If she were alive...
He would find her.
And this time, she wouldn't get away.
•°•°IRA's P.O.V°•°•
Later that night, Ira sat by her window, fingers curled around a cup of chamomile tea, staring out at the mist.
She always found comfort in the silence between midnight and morning-when the world was too tired to ask anything of her.
But tonight, that silence felt heavier.
Lonelier.
A strange ache settled in her ribs-a sense of something unfinished. Something not hers, yet hers entirely and the letter specifically the word "Hidden."
She had felt this her whole life. Like she belonged to someone she hadn't met. Like there were memories just beyond reach, waiting to wake her.
Sometimes in dreams, she saw a garden. A swing. A boy's voice, low and deep, telling her she was safe.
Always safe.
She'd wake up crying and not knowing why.
Her fingers curled tighter around the cup.
Her phone buzzed next to the laptop, interrupting the gentle hum of rain pattering against her windowpane.
She glanced over, lips curving when she saw Ruhi's name flash across the screen.
"Iraaaa!" Ruhi's voice exploded in excitement the moment the call connected.
"Guess what? We got it! We actually got the internship placement!"
Ira's brows rose in surprise. "Wait, what? Already? The results were supposed to come tomorrow-"
"They released them early!" Ruhi cut her off, practically shrieking.
"And guess where we're going?"
Ira chuckled at her friend's contagious energy. "Don't keep me hanging, Ru. Where?"
"Delhi! Ira, we got placed in Malhotra & Co. Can you believe it? It's one of the most competitive corporate houses for business internships. We're going to the freaking capital!"
Ira's smile lingered, but her chest tightened inexplicably. "That's... wow. That's huge."
"I know, right? I'm already looking at flats, and I called dibs on window-side beds," Ruhi laughed. "You better not argue."
Ira sank back in her chair, staring out into the grey mist curling outside. Delhi.
A name that felt oddly intimate, like a shadow she hadn't realized was following her all her life.
"I'm not arguing," she said softly. "I'm just... processing."
"Hey," Ruhi said, tone softening, "you okay?"
"Yeah," Ira replied after a pause. "It's just-this is real now. We've worked so hard, dreamed so much. And it's finally happening."
"It is," Ruhi said with a sigh of contentment. "We're going to shop in Delhi streets, eat roadside momos, visit India Gate at midnight, and crush this internship."
Ira smiled again, genuinely this time. "That sounds perfect."
"But you sound weird. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I am," she lied gently. "Maybe just a little overwhelmed. Delhi is big. Loud. Fast."
"And a brand-new chapter," Ruhi said encouragingly. "Who knows what the city has in store for us? Maybe even love?"
Ira laughed softly, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I doubt that."
"Hey, don't be so sure. I've seen the way you stare at those brooding businessman reels."
Ira rolled her eyes. "That's fantasy. Not real life."
"But sometimes, the past finds you when you least expect it," Ruhi said teasingly, unaware how close her words came to the truth.
As the call ended and silence returned, Ira stood by her window, hasel green eyes reflecting the silver clouds outside.
Delhi. Why did it sound like a promise... or a storm?
And somewhere far away, a storm was indeed brewing-one with a name that once belonged to her forgotten past.
"We're going to Delhi."Ira whispered, voice soft but steady.
And deep within her, something whispered back-He's there.
***
So how was the chapter, finally they are going to meet in the next chapter.
• What do you think about how they will they meet?
I'm planning something magical ✨
• Who do you think sent that letter to Ira? Is there someone else in their life?
So be ready for the next chapter and please give me some feedback It really means a lot to me and helps me to improve myself.
•°•°🦋Thankyou 🦋°•°•
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