Mumbai had never looked so different.

Or maybe… it was them who had changed.

Zoya stood at the edge of Marine Drive, the same place where she once stood lost and quiet, just days after running from Bokaro. Now, she stood here again — this time hand-in-hand with Akif.

No more hiding.

No more fear.

No more uncertainty.

Just the soft wind, the scent of the ocean, and her heart tied with the man beside her — her fiancé.

“You okay?” Akif asked gently, squeezing her hand.

She nodded, blinking away the emotion threatening to spill. “Just… overwhelmed. You know, this city once scared me.”

He smiled, pulling her closer. “And now?”

She looked up at him, eyes shining. “Now I don’t want to leave it.”

---

They were back for just three days — to shop for their engagement and say goodbye to the place that shaped their everything.

First stop: their shared apartment.

The walls still held the echoes of late-night snacks, study sessions, stolen glances, secret tears, and whispered dreams.

Aarfa was already sobbing by the time they stepped in. “I can’t do this,” she cried into Ayaan’s shirt, clutching a pillow. “I’m going to cry over every empty corner.”

“Then don’t look at the corners,” Ayaan joked, trying to lighten the mood — but even his voice cracked slightly.

They spent the night there — cooking together, dancing like idiots in the living room, lying on the cold floor while the fan creaked above, just like the first night Zoya came.

Akif held her hand as they lay side by side on the floor, eyes on the ceiling. “This place saw me fall for you.”

She smiled softly. “And it saw me become me.”

---

Day Two: Engagement Shopping.

From sarees to sherwanis, rings to matching jhumkas, chaos filled the air — but it was the good kind.

“You’re wearing red,” Akif declared confidently.

Zoya raised a brow. “And you’re deciding that because…?”

“Because you look like fire when you’re angry. So red suits the real you.”

She rolled her eyes, cheeks blushing. “Fine. Then you wear off-white. It softens your scary CEO look.”

He laughed — the kind of laugh he only ever gave her.

At one point, they found themselves in a tiny jewelry store in Colaba, surrounded by glittering bangles and nose pins.

Zoya picked a simple silver anklet.

Akif whispered, “Buy that.”

“Why?”

“Because when you walk in it... I want to be the only one who hears it.”

She didn’t reply.

She just blushed so hard that the salesman laughed.

---

Day Three: Saying Goodbye to St. Xavier’s

Their university.

The one that watched every beginning — awkward library moments, hesitant greetings, stolen stares, protectiveness, and eventually... love.

They walked through the corridors slowly, fingers interlocked.

The classrooms looked smaller now.

The library, quieter.

Even the canteen didn’t smell the same — or maybe their hearts were too full to notice.

Zoya paused near the bulletin board. There, stuck in the corner, was a faded event flyer:

“Annual Bonfire Night — Sing. Dance. Burn your fears.”

She touched it lightly.

“That was the night you looked at me like I wasn’t invisible anymore,” she whispered.

Akif stood behind her, voice low. “That was the night I started falling.”

They didn’t say much after that.

Only when they walked out of the main gate for the last time did Zoya turn around and whisper, “Thank you.”

And she wasn’t sure if she was thanking the building… or the version of herself who survived everything to reach here.

---

That night, back at the apartment for the last time, Akif sat on the window ledge, scrolling through his phone.

Zoya walked in, barefoot, wearing his oversized hoodie. Her hair still wet from the shower, her eyes soft with sleep.

He looked up.

“Tired?”

She nodded, walking to him and settling between his legs, resting her head on his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her.

They stared out at the city.

“So what now?” she whispered.

“Now,” he said, kissing her temple, “we go home.”

---