Prologue

Bhavika Gupta

A suitcase in one hand, a dupatta slipping off her shoulder, and a heart that felt heavier than her bags—Bhavika Gupta was finally stepping out of Aligarh. Away from the city she had always known, the streets she had walked a thousand times, and the people who had never really seen her.

For 18 years, she had lived in the shadows of expectations—her father's dream of her becoming an engineer, her dadi's taunts about her weight, her mother's constant worries about everything. And in between all that, Bhavika had learned to hide her own dreams. The dream of dancing, of feeling free, of moving like the old Bollywood heroines she adored.

But Delhi? Delhi was new. Delhi was big. Delhi was scary.

For the first time, she wasn't the girl who was just there—the second option, the ignored friend, the background character in everyone else's story. Here, she could be anyone.

Or at least, that's what she told herself.

As she sat in the car with her parents, watching her brother and dadi wave from the gate of her house, a lump formed in her throat. Will I really fit in? What if she was still the awkward, invisible girl? What if her insecurities followed her to Delhi?

She had no idea that someone, somewhere, was going to see her the way she had always wanted to be seen.

And that someone was Aarav Kapoor.

Aarav Kapoor

Life has taught Aarav Kapoor one thing—if you want something, fight for it. No one's going to hand it to you.

At 20, he was a year behind his batch because he had wasted a whole year chasing a JEE rank that never came. That failure had burned inside him, but instead of sulking, he had moved on. He took admission in a university, made peace with his reality, and worked harder than ever.

Now, in his second year of BTech, he wasn't just a student—he was a name people knew. A senior with confidence, a basketball player with skill, a guy who owned every room he walked into.

Aarav was the kind of guy who laughed loudly, made friends easily, and never let his emotions get the best of him. At least, that's what everyone believed.

But even he had his weak spots—his family, for one. His father wanted him to join the family business, but he wanted something different. He wanted to build something of his own. And then, there was love. Aarav didn't believe in "casual flings." He wanted something real, something that felt like the love his grandparents used to talk about.

What he didn't know was that his kind of love—the old-school, slow-burn, once-in-a-lifetime love—was about to walk into his life.

And she had a suitcase, a hesitant smile, and a heart full of fears.