The last day of school had always felt like a dream Karthik never quite understood. But this one—this one felt different.
He stood by the notice board, the golden afternoon sun slanting in through the open windows. The corridor buzzed with students in a mixture of joy and tears. Farewell speeches. Final goodbyes. Nostalgic laughter.
He held his certificate in one hand, but his thoughts were far from marks or achievements.
They were with her.
Ananya Yadav.
She had written him a letter. Not a text. Not a voice note. A letter—folded neatly in creamy paper, tucked in his desk locker with his name on it, written in her unmistakable handwriting.
> Karthik,
You once said you're not the hero of anyone's story.
But you're the hero of mine.
Not because you were perfect.
But because you let me see the parts you thought no one could love.
And still chose to show up.
Even when you were scared.
Even when you were unsure.
You chose to stay.
That's all love really is.
And if this is the end of our school story… I hope it's just the beginning of everything else.
Yours,
Ananya
He had read it three times already. Each time, the words seemed to sink deeper, healing something unspoken inside him.
She appeared behind him, voice soft. "I figured you'd be here."
Karthik turned, heart thudding like it always did when he saw her.
She wore a white kurti and jeans, hair loose, swaying in the breeze from the open window. No makeup. No pretenses. Just her.
"I got your letter," he said.
"And?"
He stepped closer. "You said this might be the end of our school story."
She nodded, gently.
"Well…" he held out his hand. "Then can we write the next one together?"
Ananya looked at him for a moment—really looked. Her eyes shimmered with something deeper than joy, something more grounded than hope.
She took his hand.
"Only if I get to co-author it."
They walked down the corridor hand in hand—past classrooms that had heard their laughter, past benches where they'd stolen glances, past the staircase where awkward confessions had almost bloomed into something more.
The sun set gently over the school building, casting long golden shadows.
And somewhere between goodbye and hello, between fear and faith, between darkness and light—
They found love.
Not the dramatic, all-consuming kind.
But the kind that stayed.
Quiet.
Steady.
Real.
The kind that had begun in the heart of a boy who once thought he didn't deserve it.
And in the light of a girl who believed he always did.
---
[END of A Dream of Love in the Shadows |Chapter 150]
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