The fluorescent lights of the office buzzed faintly, casting a sickly white glow over rows of exhausted employees. Fingers hammered against keyboards, printers whined, and the air smelled of cold coffee and stress. At the far end of the room, Kevin sat hunched over his computer, eyes bloodshot, shoulders stiff like rusted iron.
Dark circles hung beneath his eyes—deep, sunken, almost hollow—making him look like a man who hadn't slept in weeks. In truth, he hadn't. For months, Kevin had lived in this office more than his own apartment. Overtime bled into dawns, deadlines stacked endlessly, and rest became a luxury he could no longer afford.
His fingers trembled as he typed the final line of code.
The screen froze for a moment.
Then—
"Project Deployment: Successful."
Kevin stared at the words, unmoving. His breathing slowed. For a heartbeat, the world seemed unreal.
Then he stood up abruptly, chair scraping loudly against the floor.
"It's done!" he shouted.
The sudden noise echoed across the office. Conversations stopped. Typing halted. Heads turned.
"It's finally done! I'm free!" Kevin laughed—loud, broken, almost hysterical. The laughter didn't sound joyful. It sounded like something snapped loose inside him.
A group of female employees whispered among themselves.
"Did he finally lose it?"
"He's been working like a ghost for weeks."
"Overtime does that to people…"
Kevin didn't hear them. Or maybe he did and simply didn't care.
His phone vibrated in his pocket.
He froze.
The screen lit up with a name that still made his heart tighten—Maria.
Kevin answered immediately.
"Hello? Maria!" His voice was rough, but hopeful. "I've finished the project. It's over. The bonus will come soon—at least a million. We can finally go to that hill station you wanted. After that… we can set the wedding date."
For a second, there was silence.
Then a voice came through the phone—cold, distant, unfamiliar.
"Kevin… let's break up."
The words hit him harder than any slap.
"What?" His grip tightened around the phone. "What are you saying, Maria? Why would you—"
"You're an office scrap," she interrupted flatly. "Working like a dog day and night. You can't even come home. Your salary is what—ten to fifteen thousand dollars a month? You expect me to waste my youth living like this?"
Kevin's chest tightened, pain spreading like ice.
"I'm doing all this for us," he said desperately. "For our future. For our marriage."
"There is no future," Maria replied. "I don't want this life. I don't want you. You deserve that dog-like existence. Let me go."
The call ended.
Kevin stood there, phone pressed to his ear, long after the screen went dark.
The office noise returned, but it sounded distant—like he was underwater. His parents had died two years ago. Since then, Maria had been the only person he called family. The only warmth in his empty life.
Now she was gone too.
Everything collapsed in silence.
"It's over…" he murmured.
For a moment, despair threatened to swallow him whole. Then—something twisted inside his chest. A sharp, burning resolve.
"No," he whispered. "I'm still young."
His lips curled into a bitter smile.
"I'll get that bonus. A million dollars. I'll live well. I'll enjoy it. And I'll show that bitch exactly who I am."
With that thought anchoring him, Kevin walked toward the manager's office.
Warren, a middle-aged man with thinning hair and tired eyes, looked up as Kevin entered.
"I finished the project," Kevin said calmly. "When will I receive my bonus?"
Warren avoided his gaze.
The pause said everything.
"I'm sorry," Warren finally said. "The company is facing severe cash flow issues. We can't pay it immediately. You'll be informed… later."
Kevin stared at him for a long second.
Then he smiled.
"No problem," he said softly.
He turned and walked out.
The smile never reached his eyes.
Outside the building, the sky was overcast. Wind brushed against Kevin's face as his phone rang again.
This time, it was his friend.
"Kevin!" Malone's cheerful voice burst through the speaker. "You look dead lately, man. Let's go on a trip—Windstone Mountain trek. Fresh air, cliffs, clouds. It'll clear your head."
Kevin looked up at the distant mountains barely visible through the haze.
"…Sure," he said after a pause. "I'll come."
He didn't know it yet—but that decision would be the last normal choice of his life. Is plot ke liye nam suggest kar ek line me