Akif barely slept that night. His mind was racing, drawing maps, imagining routes, planning lies, covering tracks.

By morning, he had a full-blown escape plan. Aarfa and Ayaan were in. Trains were checked. Fake documents were printed. Phones wiped. Backup sim cards ready.

He was standing near the car, backpack on, ticket in his hand, when his phone rang.

Zoya: “Don’t come.”

His heart dropped. “What? What do you mean ‘don’t come’? I’m on my way!”

Her voice trembled. “You have your pitch meeting today… the one you’ve been preparing for weeks. The investor meeting. Don’t miss it.”

Akif’s throat burned. “I don’t give a damn about that. I give a damn about you.”

She was quiet for a second.

Then, softly, “And I give a damn about your dream.”

“Zoya—”

“No, listen to me. You’ve spent your entire life chasing this. You’ve sacrificed sleep, comfort, time... and now that you’re so close, you’re throwing it away because of me?”

“I love you,” he said, voice cracking.

Tears rolled down her cheeks silently. “Then trust me when I say, I can survive a few more days in this cage… but I can’t survive the guilt if you lose your dream because of me.”

He pressed his forehead against the car window, heart splitting.

“Every time I see your name on my phone, I breathe again,” she whispered. “So just... be my oxygen a little longer. You reach your dream, and then come for me. Stronger. Unstoppable.”

His hand shook as he held the phone.

“I’ll count every minute,” he whispered.

“And I’ll hold on to every second.”

They sat in silence for a long while — two hearts breaking, two souls holding on.

That day, Akif walked into his investor meeting with a broken heart but fire in his eyes. He was going to become everything he ever dreamed of.

So he could one day walk back into her world...

...and burn it down just to build her a new one.