Aarohi’s POV

The car ride home that night felt unreal, as though I had slipped into someone else’s life and was just acting out their script. The velvet box with the ring inside still shimmered in my mind, heavy as though it had been placed on my heart instead of my hand. Arjun’s proposal his words, his charm, the warmth in his honey-brown eyes all of it swirled through me like a storm. And yet, when I had shaken my head, whispering my refusal, I had felt the ache of betraying myself.