Chapter 18: Vivaan

POV: Aarav

The invitation came as casually as the crimes never confessed.

> “Meet me for dinner?”

Vivaan's message arrived like it had no weight, like they weren’t standing at the edge of a truth so devastating it could undo everything Aarav had ever built �" about himself, about the past, about them.

But Aarav agreed.

Not because he wanted closure.

But because he finally understood �" Vivaan never feared being exposed.

He feared being understood.
---

The restaurant was quiet. Reserved. Private. Vivaan had always preferred places that looked expensive but didn’t demand intimacy.

He was already seated, sipping red wine, his posture perfect. The predator wearing the skin of a gentleman.

> “Aarav,” he said with his signature half-smile, “you look tired.”

> “I’ve been remembering.”

Vivaan tilted his head. “Oh? Dangerous hobby.”
---

There was no small talk. No brotherly updates.
Only air, and lies, and the thick silence that grows between men who have run out of ways to pretend.

> “Where’s Sanya?” Aarav asked.

Vivaan took a sip. “Abroad, last I heard.”

Aarav didn’t blink. “Try again.”

Vivaan leaned back, amused. “You know, you always wanted to believe in victims. You just never wanted to believe the monster lived in your own house.”

> “So it’s true,” Aarav said, voice low. “What Meera wrote. What Kiara drew. What Sanya tried to say.”

Vivaan’s smile faded. Just a flicker.

> “It’s all about perspective, Aarav. I offered attention. They accepted it. Regret isn’t the same as a crime.”


> “You threatened them.”

> “I offered them a choice.”

> “They disappeared.”

Vivaan’s gaze sharpened. “Because you let them.”

Aarav froze.

> “You were there, weren’t you?” Vivaan murmured. “You saw Kiara crying. You saw Sanya break. You saw Meera try to leave.”

> “And you didn’t stop me.”
---

Aarav stood. His hands were trembling, but his voice was steel.

> “I won’t protect you anymore.”

Vivaan laughed softly. “You never protected me. You protected yourself. From the shame of knowing who I really was. You wanted a brother. You got a mirror.”
---

Aarav left.

But Vivaan’s final words followed him like smoke:

> “You know what makes you different from me, Aarav?”

> “Nothing.”

---

Outside, the night tasted bitter.

And for the first time, Aarav didn't feel broken.

He felt ready.

To burn every last lie.