Chapter 1
6:00 a.m. in London is always dramatic.
And for an Indian in London, it’s even worse.
Adhira, a master’s student at the University of London, lay dramatically on her couch, coffee in one hand and her assignment in the other.
She whined softly as she looked down at her coffee mug and murmured,
“I wanna go home so bad. I miss her already.”
Back in India, Arjun stared at his phone.
Still.
His thumb hovered over her name like it had weight. Like pressing it would change something he wasn’t ready to face.
He didn’t call.
Adhira was already rushing.It was far too late to catch the bus.And a cab? Only if she managed to run down twenty-five floors within five minutes.
Unfortunately, the lift in her dorm was broken.
And Apparently, today’s first lecture was on Finance and Technology. If she missed it, her entire semester credit would be gone.
She tied her shoes quickly and sprinted down the stairs like a tiger hunting its prey.
By some miracle, she reached the lecture hall exactly at 9:00 a.m.—which was surprising even for her.
The lecture went smoothly. She took notes, stayed awake somehow, and survived the two-hour class.
After class, she searched for her phone.And realised she had left it at home.“Oh my god. What a day!”She groaned dramatically and walked straight to the canteen, only to realise she had forgotten her meal card too.“Ahhh...” she sighed.
Her classmate Krish—who was also her emotional punching bag—handed her his meal card without a word.
“You’re quite handsome sometimes,” she said casually.
Krish glared at her.
“You’re saying that only because I’m buying you food. I’m hurt.”
She burst out laughing. The two of them sat together and ate lunch while discussing their holiday schedules and when they would finally go back to India.
Adhira returned home at 7:00 p.m. after finishing her part-time shift at a café.
“I’m exhausted,” she muttered, collapsing onto her bed.
Then she picked up her phone from the bedside table.
Seventeen missed calls.
From her brother-in-law.
Which was unusual.
Very unusual.
He was always busy.
And he barely used his phone.
Even though he was only thirty-one, emotionally, he was seventy-one.
Confused, she walked to the sink, splashed water on her face, and called him back.“What happened, Athimber? Did your phone break?” she joked.
There was silence on the other end.
Then—“Ammu...
His voice cracked.
“.....your sister left us.”
For a second, Adhira didn’t understand the sentence.
Her fingers went cold first.
Her eyes widened.
The room suddenly felt too small. Too suffocating.
And for the first time in her life, Adhira could hear the terrifying sound of her own heartbeat.
And in that silence, she finally understood—some calls don’t change your life... they end it.
