Jesse sat across from MK, elbows resting on her knees, hands clasped so tightly her knuckles had gone pale. She listened without interrupting as MK spoke—about the choice, the corridor, the silence, the kiss that hadn't been her choice but had still become her fault.
MK told her almost everything.
She skipped the most incriminating details, softened certain moments, blurred the sharpest edges. She didn't lie outright—but she didn't fully confess either. She gave Jesse the shape of the truth and hoped it would be enough.
It wasn't.
Jesse stood abruptly and walked away, stopping near the window. Her back was to MK, shoulders tense. Her face reflected in the glass looked hollow, eyes rimmed with something dangerously close to tears.
MK almost asked if she was okay.
Almost.
"Jesse—"
"How could you do that to her?" Jesse's voice cracked halfway through the sentence. "Do you even love her?"
Something thick lodged itself in Jesse's throat, making each word harder than the last.
"Yes," MK said immediately. "I do. Jesse, you know I do."
Jesse turned slowly, disbelief written across her face. "MK, you wouldn't even treat a stranger like that. How can you claim you love her?"
"I didn't know what I was doing," MK whispered.
Jesse laughed bitterly. "You do that to someone you hate. No—someone you despise." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, MK. You don't love her."
"I do," MK insisted, panic bleeding into her voice. "I do. I—I—"
"You were supposed to protect her," Jesse interrupted sharply. "With the power you had. You were supposed to make her life easier." Her voice rose despite herself. "Instead, you made her feel more guilty than she already did. You punished her. You broke her."
Jesse's chest rose and fell unevenly.she was feeling the ache, how devastating it might have felt on Shriya.
"MK," she said quietly, devastatingly calm now, "you lost her."
MK flinched.
"You're not helping, I don't want to lose her" she muttered weakly.
"I know," Jesse replied. "But right now? I kind of hate you." She swallowed. "If it were me, I'd never look at you again. And I'm just a friend." Her voice softened with a cruel kind of honesty. "Now imagine how Shriya must feel."
Damn. Her heart must be bleeding, Jesse thought.
She looked at MK like she was a stranger—like the person sitting across from her didn't match the actions she'd just described. And yet… Shriya had walked away without waiting for MK. Had waved politely. Had left.
MK stared at the floor, her hands trembling. It was only now—after saying everything out loud—that she saw herself clearly. The ugliness of her choices. The cowardice she'd dressed up as survival.
She imagined being in Shriya's place.
She hated herself. For belittling the woman she loved.
"I'm sorry," MK said hoarsely. "I really am. I was scared. Scared of that place. Scared that if I lost protection, I wouldn't survive."
She sounded like she was begging.
Jesse studied her, conflicted. "You shouldn't be apologizing to me," she said finally. "Go find her. Or you will lose her forever. She's leaving for military service in a week."
She turned toward the door.
"I'll see you later," Jesse added, voice strained. She was angry and didn't approve of her actions—but she wasn't abandoning her.
"Thank you," MK whispered.
Jesse paused thinking 'It'll be a miracle if she takes you back.'
She didn't say anything else.and left.
Elsewhere, on an island far removed from concrete walls and metal doors, Shriya sat across from her family, facing a different kind of interrogation.
"If you love her, we support you," Scarlet said gently. They had already met MK. They had liked her.
"I don't want to be with her anymore, Mom," Shriya said.
There was no drama in her voice. No devastation. Just calm acceptance—as if she had already mourned the relationship somewhere deep inside herself.
Scarlet frowned. "Why don't you love her anymore? What happened in there?"
Shriya sighed, leaning back. "I think love is overrated. I'm tired of hurting her." She hesitated. "She even went to prison because of me. She deserves to be happy. And I'm not…" Her voice faded.
Scarlet reached out and squeezed her hand. "It's okay. I understand."
She did understand.
Shriya loved MK deeply—deeply enough to let her go.
"I'll pack," Shriya said, standing. "I'll leave tomorrow. Let's get it over with."
"You barely stayed," Scarlet sniffed. "I wanted to cook your favorite."
"Mom," Shriya teased, "you'll make people look down on us if you cry. We're soldiers."
Scarlet huffed. "Fine. I won't cry. But you have to promise me you'll survive."
"Of course," Shriya said with a grin. "I'm still the most talented woman of this era."
"Bragging again."
"You want a round?"
Before Scarlet could answer, Steven walked in. "I heard that. I would like a round"
"No, Dad—sorry. General," Shriya said, snapping into a mock salute.
Laughter filled the room.
For a moment, they were just a family.
When it was time, Shriya hugged them all, then stepped into the waiting military chopper. The doors slid shut. The blades roared to life.
As the chopper lifted—
"SHRII!"
A voice screamed her name from below.
"Don't leave me! Please—I'm sorry! Shrii—come back!"
The voice grew smaller as the ground pulled away.
Shriya closed her eyes.
Part of her wanted to turn back. To run. To forgive.
But another part—the quieter, steadier one—knew better.
"I'm sorry, MK," she whispered. "I can't make you happy. Move on without me."
She believed it.
Even if she saw MK married one day, it wouldn't hurt. Not like before.
It was like loving someone on a screen—knowing from the start that they could never be yours.
The chopper disappeared into the sky.
Shriya was gone.
For more than a year.
And she was ready to be a soldier.