2. THE FALL
They say heartbreak comes in flashes.
For me, it came in a red flash. That red dress I shouldn't have wore, a party I never should’ve attended, and a bitter truth I’ll never forget, that tasted like a thousand deadly poison mixed with fine needles in one gulp.
It all started the night Vijay invited me to his 'special' party and I kept quiet.
After that day, he smiled at me in the elite hallway and said,
“There’s a small party tonight. Just a few close friends. Come.”
That sounded like command but I ignored it thinking he was... 'just nervous'.
I looked unsure but inside I wanted to go.
“Will I even fit in?”
He grabbed my hand gently with his big warm hands.
“You fit with me. That’s all that matters."
He brushed my cheeks softly.
"It's special."
That was Vijay—always knowing what to say to make me feel seen.
And back then, I believed him.
I spent hours getting ready with full makeup for the first time in my life. They were cheap but worked perfectly.
Put on that red dress he once said made me look like “a danger, a danger for his heart.”
Curled my hair, borrowed red high heels from a roommate, and told myself:
Tonight is special.
Tonight is life-changing.
I truly thought he’d make us official.
But the moment I stepped into that lavish party, I immediately knew something was going to be very wrong.
Gut instinct, I think?
The house was huge—chandeliers, loud music, branded people everywhere floating in the cloud made by the machine kept on the side.
But as I walked in, brands turned. They looked me up and down.
Not with curiosity, but judgment.
They whispered. Laughed quietly.
It felt like walking into a room full of knives.
Still, I kept looking for my Vijay.
Then I heard someone say, “Our charity is here?”
I turned and saw Reeva Saran.
She was wearing silk, and underage holding wine, and smiling like a snake.
“My bad, it’s Vijay’s charity case.,” she added.
That stung.
But I still didn’t say anything.
Then I saw him.
He was on the patio, drink in hand, laughing with his friends like nothing was wrong.
I walked up to him, heart pounding.
“Kamna!” he said, like I was just someone he barely knew.
“We were just talking about you.”
My stomach dropped.
“About the bet.”, someone behind him said, smirking.
My insides twisted.
“What bet?” I asked.
Vijay looked amused.
“Reeva bet I couldn’t make the ghost scholarship girl fall for me. I told her I could do it in three weeks.”
"And you did it.", Reeva chimed in,
"I did it. As always.", took a sip of his whatever drink,
Everyone laughed.
I didn't.
I shattered.
“You said I mattered,” I my voice barely above a whisper.
He leaned in, lowered his voice, and said:
“You did. Until you made it messy.”
Then he turned around, hands on Reeva's waist and walked away smiling mixed in the crowd of brands laughing and making videos of me.
Just like that.
I left the party without saying another word.
Ran through the cold air, the heels hurting, the red dress sticking to my skin.
I stood under a flickering streetlamp—the same one where he first held my hand.
That night, he had asked,
“Do you believe in forever?”
And I had laughed. “Not in this elite school.”
Then he said,
“Let me be your exception.”
He was.
He became the first person I truly trusted.
And the first person to truly break me.
Back in my hostel room, I changed out of the dress and sat on the floor for hours.
I didn’t cry.
I didn’t speak.
I didn’t move.
I just… stopped existing.
Days passed.
My video got viraled at school.
Everyone know.
I ignored classes. Ignored few scholarship friends.
Everyone thought I was “just upset.”
But I knew something had changed inside me.
Then, one night, I opened my laptop.
I wasn’t even sure why.
Maybe I was looking for something—comfort, a reason, a sign.
I clicked through old student forums.
Most of them were empty. Some were junk.
Then I found one titled:
“For the ones who never had a voice.”
Only one post was there.
“He ruined me and walked free.
I tried to speak. They told me I should feel lucky he noticed me.
My name is Ragini.
I won’t be here much longer.
Maybe someone will remember.
Someone like me.”
Posted in 2006.
I froze.
Ragini.
She was a name I barely remembered.
A smart girl. Two years above me. Quiet. Brilliant.
She had just disappeared one day.
People said she ran away. That she had mental issues.
But now I knew.
She had spoken up her story.
And they buried her.
I took a screenshot of her post. Every word. Every detail.
And in that moment, I realized something:
This wasn’t about love anymore.
This was about the system.
Their fun.
The silence.
The way girls like Ragini were erased.
I wasn’t the only one.
I wasn’t the first.
And I know, I won't be the last.
The next morning, I packed my bags, threw my identity in dustbin and left.
No goodbyes.
No explanation.
Nobody stopped me.
Not the teachers. Not even my parents.
I just vanished.
I moved to a new city.
Took a new name.
Kamna Mehta became Kaira Sharma.
Kaira didn’t cry.
She didn’t fall in love.
Kaira waited.
Watched.
Let them show their true colours.
And when men like Vijay showed who they really were…
She showed them what pain feels like.
I didn't kill them.
They just exposure of their true nature,
Public humiliation with evidences,
Or just vanished into thin air like old memories.
The world said: “It’s just bad luck.”
Kaira called it: Justice.
I didn’t go looking for men like Vijay.
I let them find me.
And when they did…
I made sure they never hurt another innocent girl like Kamna and Ragini ever again.
