Chapter 8: The Face Behind the Mask

The message came at 3:17 AM.

> "Let's meet. One last time. Alone.

You choose the place.

But choose wisely, Avni.

Because it'll decide who ends this story."

Avni read it again and again, her fingers cold.

Kabir wanted her to block the number.

The police wanted her to ignore it.

But Avni?

She wanted to end it.

---

Same day — 9:00 AM

Avni stood in front of the mirror, tying her hair into a tight ponytail.

Her eyes didn't look scared anymore.

They looked focused. Sharp.

Like a woman going to war.

She walked out with a letter in her hand. Gave it to Inspector Sharma.

"What's this?" he asked.

"My reply."

Inside, a location.

St. Luke's Church Ruins.

5 PM.

No police. No tracking.

Just him and me."

Inspector read it twice. "Avni, this is dangerous."

She looked him in the eye.

"So was loving him."

---

4:59 PM — The Ruins

The abandoned St. Luke's Church stood like a skeleton against the sky — broken walls, vines twisting through cracks, and time frozen in dust.

Avni walked in, alone.

Every footstep echoed like a warning.

And then...

He stepped out from the shadows.

Aarav.

Or Ahan. Or whatever mask he wore now.

His beard was gone. His eyes… just as dark.

He wore black. As always.

For a moment — silence.

And then:

"You came," he said softly.

"So did you," she replied.

---

He stepped closer, slow. Careful.

"Why here?" he asked.

"Because once, someone told me love was like faith. Sacred. But you turned it into control. And I want to end this… where faith died."

Aarav smiled. "Poetic."

She didn't return the smile.

"You wanted one last meeting. I'm here. Now say what you came to say."

He looked at her for a long moment, then said:

"I never lied to you, Avni. Not once. Everything I said — every message, every step I took — it was all because I felt you. Deeply. Truly."

She flinched.

"You don't feel someone by chaining them to a bed," she snapped.

He laughed. "That was desperation. Fear of losing you."

"No, Aarav. That was your sickness."

---

He stepped closer again. "You're right. Maybe I am sick. But even now, standing in front of you, all I can think is — you're perfect."

She took a step back.

"And still you couldn't break me," she said. "You tried everything. Fear, manipulation, even love. But I'm still here. Stronger."

His jaw clenched.

"You were supposed to love me back."

"No," she said. "You were supposed to earn love. Not steal it."

---

Aarav's hands trembled. "Then what is this? What is happening between us now? If not love?"

Avni looked at him for a long, quiet second. Then whispered:

"This… is closure."

She stepped aside.

And from behind the broken column — Kabir and Inspector Sharma stepped out, guns drawn.

Aarav froze.

His eyes widened.

"You lied to me," he said, voice shaking.

Avni stepped forward. Her voice calm, deadly:

"No. I just used your rules — shadows, secrets, surprises. You played your game. Now I've played mine."

Aarav looked around, desperate. But escape wasn't an option this time.

He dropped to his knees.

---

Two hours later — Police van

Aarav sat in handcuffs, staring blankly at the floor.

Before he was taken away, he looked at Avni one last time.

"I still love you," he said, almost like a prayer.

Avni didn't blink.

"That's not love," she said softly. "That's ownership. And people aren't things, Aarav."

He smiled — not cruelly, but like a boy who finally understood the monster he became.

"Maybe in another life…"

Avni turned away. "Let's hope we don't meet in that one either."

---

Three Days Later

Avni stood at the university stage, holding a mic.

It was a seminar on Mental Health and Obsession. She had been invited to speak.

She looked out at the crowd.

"Sometimes, obsession wears the face of love," she said. "It doesn't always come screaming. Sometimes, it whispers. Watches. Waits."

She paused.

"But you're not weak if it happened to you. You're not guilty.

You're surviving. And that's a kind of strength even obsession can't handle."

The crowd clapped.

Tanya wiped a tear. Kabir stood proud.

And Avni?

She smiled.

A real smile.

Not the kind that started an obsession.

But the kind that ended it.

---

Far away…

Inside a high-security mental facility, Aarav sat on a bench.

Silent. Still. Staring at the wall.

A nurse handed him his pills. He didn't speak.

But in his pocket — hidden — was a torn photo of Avni.

Just her eyes.

He stared at it every night.

Because somewhere deep inside…

He still believed:

> She smiled once.

And I was never the same again.

---

To Be Continued... or The End?