Rain was falling softly, the kind that makes the city glow under yellow streetlights.
Reyansh Nanda tightened his grip on the bouquet in his hand—white lilies, her favorite—
and smiled like a fool in love.

Tonight was supposed to be special.
A promise.
A beginning.

Months of planning.
Late-night rehearsals of the perfect proposal.
And Mira’s words echoing in his memory—

“You’re my forever, Rey.”

His heart beat a little faster as he unlocked the door to her penthouse with the spare key she gave him.

But the next second…
His entire world collapsed.

The sound that changed everything

At first, he heard a laugh.

Not just any laugh.
Hers.
Sweet. Breathless. Familiar.

But layered underneath was another voice—
one he knew better than his own.

Arjun.
His cousin.
His brother in every way but blood.

Reyansh froze.
His fingers tightened around the bouquet until petals crushed under his grip.

A part of him wanted to walk away.
Pretend he heard nothing.
Protect the last piece of innocence left inside him.

But fate rarely gives choices.

He pushed the door open.

And saw the truth.

The betrayal he never imagined

Mira was in Arjun’s arms.
Her hands tangled in his hair.
His lips on her neck.

The same neck Reyansh had kissed a thousand times with love.

His breath caught in his throat.

“Mira?” His voice cracked, unfamiliar even to him.

They jerked apart.

Her eyes widened—not guilt, not shame—
but irritation.

Like he had interrupted something minor.

“Rey… you weren’t supposed to come today.”
Her voice was cold.
Unrecognizable.

Arjun stepped in front of her, smirking.

“It’s not what you think,” he said.

Reyansh laughed.
A dry, hollow sound.

“Oh, really? So this is… what? Yoga?”

Arjun’s expression twisted with annoyance.

“Grow up, Reyansh. Mira and I… we love each other. It just happened.”

Just. Happened.

The words sliced through his chest like a blade.

Mira lifted her chin.
“Reyansh, you’re good. Sweet. But you’re not enough. You’re too… ordinary.”

Ordinary.

The man who built his father’s company from scratch at twenty-one.
The man who loved her with everything he had.

And she called him ordinary.

His heart didn’t break.
It shattered.

Piece by piece.

The humiliation he never deserved

Before he could respond, the door behind him burst open.

His family.

His parents.
His uncle and aunt.
Everyone.

They stood in the hallway like they had been waiting.

Reyansh blinked.
“What… what are you all doing here?”

His father’s voice came sharp as thunder.

“Enough drama. We know everything.”

Arjun stepped beside his father with fake tears.

“Chachu… Mira and I didn’t mean to hurt Rey. But we’re in love. We want to be together.”

His aunt wrapped her arms around Mira, as if comforting a victim.

And suddenly… Reyansh was the villain.

The unwanted one.
The burden.
The problem they wanted to get rid of.

His mother looked away, ashamed of him.

His father pointed toward the door.
“You will leave this house tonight.”

Reyansh stared.
“What? Because he betrayed me?”

“Because you’re weak,” his father said.
“You’re not fit to carry theNanda legacy. Arjun is.”

Weak.

The same son who had won every award.
Saved their falling company.
Made their name shine.

And they called him weak.

Mira’s voice sliced through the silence.

“Reyansh… do yourself a favor and don’t make this ugly. Leave.”

He felt something inside him die.

Slowly.
Quietly.
Completely.

The fall

They dragged him out.
Literally.

His father’s guards pulled him by the arm.
His mother didn’t look back.
Arjun smirked.
Mira whispered—

“Goodbye, Rey.”

The door slammed shut behind him.

The bouquet lay crushed on the floor, petals scattered like the remains of a dream.

Rain soaked his clothes.
His vision blurred—not from water, but from the weight of betrayal.

He had nothing left.

No family.
No love.
No home.

Just a boy standing alone in the storm, heart bleeding into the night.

But what no one knew…
what even Reyansh didn’t know yet—

Kings are born from ruins.
And this night, the world unknowingly created one.