***

  Eli sat back in his chair, the pen still warm in his hand, eyes locked on the page before him. The words weren’t just lines on paper anymore; they felt like a reflection of his own soul—a place where his guilt, anger, and confusion bled through. The silence of the room seemed oppressive, yet it was the only thing he could rely on to anchor himself. It was late, the clock ticking away, marking each passing moment like a countdown to something he couldn’t quite place.

  He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated by the lack of clarity, by the endless swirl of emotions that never seemed to settle. His mind kept drifting back to Ravi—the decisions they had made, the sacrifices, and the paths they’d walked together. But there were also the lies, the things unsaid, the things neither of them had the courage to address.

  His thoughts drifted further, remembering the cold, unforgiving stare of the woman they had left behind, the scene that had carved itself into his mind. The gunshot still echoed in his ears, even now, hours after it had been fired. It wasn't just the violence of it, but the fact that he had stood by, complicit in the chaos that followed.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Eli stood up, pacing the room, his mind running faster than his feet. He hadn’t meant for it to go this far. He hadn’t meant for the weight of someone else’s suffering to become a part of him. But it was. He couldn’t undo the past. He couldn’t change the choices that had led them here.

  But what he could do was survive. He had to survive, for better or worse. For Ravi. For himself.

  As the first light of dawn peeked through the curtains, he picked up his phone, thumb hovering over the screen. A message from Ravi flashed up: "We need to talk."

  Eli’s heart skipped a beat. He knew that conversation would either break them or bind them tighter together. There was no escaping the aftermath of tonight, and he couldn’t hide from the truth forever.

  But he wasn’t ready to face it. Not yet.

  Instead, he let out a breath, dropped the phone, and stared out the window, knowing full well that when he walked out the door, everything would change.

  Again.

  ***