Runa confirmed what Aryan's friends already suspected. "The CTO position was a dream, but Ayra was his shield. He knew the board would back down if they thought he prioritized love over power. The belief that he was with Ayra prevented them from digging deeper into the financial losses and the corporate espionage he had uncovered."
"But what about Ayra? If she wasn't with him, how did she spend those years?" Jay asked.
"Ayra became what Aryan always wanted her to be: a corporate success story," Runa said. "She finally graduated from a top management institute and became a COO (Chief Operating Officer) for a top business firm. But she moved on from Aryan. The only thing that helped her move on was the public pictures and stories of Aryan and Mira, posted after Aryan and Ayra's breakup."
"Aryan met her a few times, trying to reconnect, but he was always met with a cold stare, strong rejection, and discomfort. She was successful, guarded, and completely gone from him. She healed through distance and professional achievement, and he healed through Mira's love."
"So, where is Mira?" Sonal asked, realizing the magnitude of the CTO's sacrifice and the depth of his healing.
Runa smiled faintly. "Mira is still Aryan's closest confidante. They are the definition of partnership. Every major decision, every idea, every move, they consult each other. Mira showed him the world he should be in, and taught him how to survive mentally and physically. Their breakup was a transition into a profound, platonic, unbreakable bond."
"The resignation, the disappearance—Mira knew all about it. She helped him plan the whole thing, including the strategy to keep Ayra's name in the spotlight as his reason."
"But now the board is hunting him again, threatening his peace and his life," Runa stressed. "They want the old CTO back because they're bleeding money. Aryan anticipated this, which is why he showed up , issuing that subtle warning."
"Aryan's plan has reached its critical stage. He's safe, but he needs to decide his next move. The moment he appeared on that stage, he created a public declaration of his power and his happiness. Now, he's waiting for the board to crumble completely."
Jay looked at Sonal. "He built a new life, then destroyed it with the resignation, all for a strategic game. And he did it all without Ayra."
"He did it for his safety, for his future, and for the purity of the love he lost," Runa corrected. "He built a world where he could finally be at peace, knowing he was the master of his own destiny, not the victim of someone else's jealousy or the board's greed."