Arif pretended not to care.
But his chest burned.
He saw Neela once—
with someone else.
That was the last time.
Then came another blow.
A scholarship result.
Arif's name was missing.
Rahat's name was there.
Rahat admitted,
"You have to manage things in life."
Arif replied calmly,
"You didn't lose the scholarship.
You lost yourself."
That night his mother said softly,
"A marriage proposal came for you."
Arif smiled sadly.
"Let me become a man first."
He applied for opportunities outside the city.
In his notebook:
"When everyone leaves,
your own hands feel strongest."