Aryan stepped toward the microphone under the guise of a toast. The room waited. Zaid looked terrified.
"I came here tonight to settle a debt," Aryan began, his voice echoing. He saw Zaid flinch. He reached into his pocket and felt the envelope.
He looked at Jannat. She mouthed, I love you.
The vengeance that had kept Aryan warm for ten winters suddenly felt like ice. He realized that if he destroyed Zaid, he became the very monster he was trying to punish. And worse, he would lose the only light he'd ever truly found.
"I came to settle a debt of gratitude," Aryan pivoted, his voice steadying. "To my old friend, Zaid. We've had our differences, but seeing him today... it reminds me that the past belongs in the ground. And the future..." he turned to Jannat, "the future belongs to those who are brave enough to love."
He didn't hand over the documents. He didn't ruin the night.
An hour later, on the balcony overlooking the gardens, Zaid approached him. "Why didn't you do it? I know you have the files, Aryan. I know you've been digging."
Aryan looked out at the dark horizon. "I had every intention of destroying you, Zaid. I spent three thousand days dreaming of the look on your face when I took everything."
"What changed?"
Aryan watched Jannat through the glass doors. She was laughing with a guest, her face lit by the chandeliers. "She happened. I realized I love her more than I hate you. And if I used her to hurt you, I'd be no better than the man who framed my father."
Aryan pulled the envelope from his pocket and handed it to Zaid. "Consider the debt paid. But if you ever come near her, or if your family ever breathes a word against mine again, I won't be so merciful next time."
As Aryan walked back to Jannat, she took his hands. "You look like a weight has been lifted," she whispered.
"It has," he said, kissing her forehead.
He knew that one day, he would have to tell her the truth—how they met, who he was, and the darkness he almost let consume them. He would have to earn her forgiveness for the deception of their beginning. But for the first time in his life, Aryan wasn't looking back at the wreckage of his past. He was looking at Jannat.
The revenge was gone. The love, however, was just beginning.