Ashriti…"
Adray's voice was different now.
Not tense.
Not careful.
Just… broken.
"Shivrit is dead."
For a second, I didn't understand the sentence.
Dead?
Dead how?
Dead doesn't just happen.
"He…" Adray swallowed. "He took his own life."
The world didn't shatter.
It disappeared.
My mind went blank.
Not pain.
Not crying.
Just nothing.
Like someone pressed mute on reality.
"No," I said softly.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Just… no.
"That's not funny."
"Ashriti—"
"Stop it," I snapped. "Don't joke about this."
"I'm not joking."
I couldn't process it.
Shivrit?
Dead?
Yesterday afternoon we were laughing.
He was teasing me.
He was alive.
How does someone go from alive to gone in one night?
"No," I repeated, louder this time. "You're lying."
I stood up too fast.
The room tilted.
"This can't happen. He can't leave me."
My legs gave out.
I hit my knees.
And then it hit me.
All at once.
The air rushed out of my lungs and came back as a scream.
I don't remember what I was saying.
I just remember screaming.
My throat burned.
My chest hurt.
I blamed Adray.
"You're lying! You hate him! This is your sick joke!"
But his silence was heavier than my denial.
"I want to see him," I said.
Now.
I needed to see him.
If I saw him, this would stop feeling like a nightmare.
"I'm coming," I said, already moving.
I don't remember how I reached his house.
I just remember the crowd.
Whispers.
Eyes on me.
Pity.
I hated pity.
Someone tried to stop me.
I pushed past them.
And then—
I saw him.
Still.
Too still.
Covered.
Silent.
And for the first time in my life—
Shivrit wasn't dramatic.
Wasn't charming.
Wasn't manipulating.
Wasn't smiling.
He wasn't anything.
He was just… gone.
My mind started racing.
Why?
Why would he leave?
We were fine yesterday.
We were laughing.
We were okay.
Weren't we?
How can a life change in one night?
How can love disappear before morning?
I kept staring at him, waiting for him to move.
Waiting for him to open his eyes and call me dramatic.
Waiting for this to be one of his cruel jokes.
But he didn't move.
And that's when I realized—
Something inside me had died too.