"Rihaan," Aira said, her voice barely above a whisper, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Hmm?" I hummed, still lost in the beauty of the night and the warmth of her presence beside me.

Then came the words that would shatter my world into a million irreparable pieces. "Let's end this."

My mind went blank.

The waves seemed to roar louder, and the breeze grew colder. I must have misheard. This couldn't be real. My brow furrowed, confusion clouding my vision.

"Sorry, love, what?" I asked, my voice a little shaky, a nervous laugh catching in my throat. I turned to look at her, searching her face for any sign of a joke, a prank. She loved pranks. This had to be one.

She didn't laugh. She didn't smile. Her gaze was fixed on the horizon, her expression unreadable.

"Let's end this relationship. I can't continue this anymore."

The words hit me like a physical blow.

My breath hitched. My heart, which moments ago had been soaring, plummeted to my stomach. End this? What was she talking about? Here I was, dreaming of our future, picturing our names on a mailbox, talking about children, and she wanted to break up?

It made no sense. Absolutely no sense at all.

I reached for her hand, my fingers trembling slightly as I intertwined them with hers. Her hand felt cold, unresponsive.

"Baby, are you upset with something?" I pleaded, my voice cracking. "Did I do something? I am so sorry, baby, I didn't understand what I did. Please tell me so that I can rectify my mistake."

My mind raced, frantically replaying every moment of the day, every moment of the past week, the past month. Had I said something wrong? Did you do something to offend her? I couldn't think of anything. Nothing.

But Aira snatched her hand back, pulling it away as if my touch burned her. The sudden rejection stung more than any words could.

"I lost feelings, Rihaan."

Lost feelings? That was impossible. We were just kissing. We were just talking about our future. "Baby, you are again doing some prank, right?" I asked again, my voice desperate, clinging to the last shred of hope that this was all a terrible joke.

My eyes searched hers, begging for a flicker of the playful Aira I knew.

She shook her head slowly, her gaze still distant. "Rihaan... you are not understanding."

"Then please guide me!" I practically begged, my voice raw with desperation. "Tell me what I need to understand. Tell me what I need to do. I'll do anything, Aru. Anything." My throat felt tight, tears pricking at my eyes, but I blinked them back.

I couldn't cry. Not now. I needed to fix this.

Aira took a deep, shaky breath, finally turning her eyes to meet mine. But there was no warmth, no love, only a strange, unsettling emptiness.

"This relationship... Our relationship feels like a burden to me, Rihaan. I lost feeling for you. I am sorry I am saying this, but I regret coming into a relationship with you."

The words were like daggers, each one twisting deeper into my chest.

A burden? Regret?

My world spun.

Just seconds ago, everything was perfect. We were celebrating, planning, and loving. And now, she was saying she regretted us. The girl I loved more than anything, the girl who was my whole world, was telling me she had lost feelings, that I was a burden. My mind refused to accept it.

It was a nightmare. A terrible, cruel nightmare.

I took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to compose myself, to find the right words, any words, to pull her back from this precipice.

"Baby. I am sorry I am unable to figure out what I have done, but –"

She didn't let me finish. Her voice was flat, devoid of emotion.

"I am sorry, I can't be with you. And you did nothing. I feel like we were kids back then when we decided to come into a relationship with you. I am sorry I am saying this, but please. I can't with this relationship."

"No!" I cried out, reaching for her again, but she recoiled.

"Aru, please! Don't do this! We can fix this! Whatever it is, we can fix it! Five years, Aira! Five years! Please, baby, don't leave me. I love you so much. You're my everything. Please, just tell me what's wrong. I'll change. I'll change anything you want. Just don't leave me. Please, I'm begging you."

My voice was hoarse, my chest aching with a pain I'd never known. I was on my knees, metaphorically, pleading for her to stay.

Then, slowly, deliberately, she reached for the silver chain around her neck. My heart pounded in my ears as I watched her fingers unhook the clasp of the locket I had given her on her 18th birthday. It was a simple silver locket, with our initials engraved inside.

A symbol of our love, our future.

"I can't keep this," she said, her voice still unnervingly calm. She held it out to me, the silver glinting in the moonlight.

"No! Aru, please!" I sobbed, tears finally streaming down my face, hot and stinging. "Don't do this! Please, baby, don't! If you don't like something, I will change it. I promise! Anything! Just please, don't leave me, Aru. I love you. Please!" My voice was a desperate plea, a broken whisper in the vast silence of the beach. I reached out, trying to take her hand, to pull her back, to make her see how much I loved her, how much she meant to me.

And then, she screamed.

"I NEVER LOVED YOU. IT WAS A MISTAKE!"

The scream ripped through the quiet night, tearing through my very soul. The words echoed in my head, loud and brutal.

I never loved you. It was a mistake.

My pleading stopped. My hands, which had been reaching for her, fell uselessly to my sides. I froze, unable to move, unable to breathe, unable to process her words. The world went silent. All I could hear was that scream, those words, repeating over and over.

Aira stood up, the locket still clutched in her hand. Her eyes, which had been so empty, now held a flicker of something, perhaps regret, perhaps pity. She opened her fingers, and the locket dropped to the sand, a tiny, insignificant piece of metal in the vastness of the beach.

"I am sorry," she whispered, her voice barely audible, and then she turned and walked away.

I stood there, rooted to the spot, watching her silhouette disappear into the darkness. My legs felt like lead, my entire body numb. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. My gaze dropped to the locket, lying there on the damp sand, a discarded promise. The symbol of our love, now just a piece of trash on the street. My heart, already shattered into millions of pieces by her words, felt like it was being ground into dust.

The cold night air bit at my skin, but I felt nothing. Just a hollow ache, a gaping void where my heart used to be. The girl I loved, my whole world, had just told me she never loved me.

It was all a lie. Five years, a lie.

And then, as if the universe decided I hadn't suffered enough, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out, my fingers clumsy, and saw my mother's name on the screen. I answered, my voice a croak.

"Rihaan?" Her voice was choked with sobs. "Your father... he's no more."