Priya: Hello? Shiva, why is your voice so low? Are you still in the office?

Shiva: (No, I'm home. Listen, Priya... look, I need to talk to you about something important. Something that can't wait.

Priya: You sound... tense. What is it? Did something happen with the job?

Shiva: No, not the job. It's about us.

Priya: Us? Shiva, what are you saying?

Shiva: This isn't easy for me to say, Priya, but... I think we need to end this. We need to break up.

Priya: Are you serious? Is this some sort of terrible prank? We spoke this morning about Diwali plans, Shiva. Ten years, yaar.

Shiva: I know. And please believe me, I respect every one of those ten years. You are my first everything. But I can't keep going the way we are. This relationship... it's reached its natural end.

Priya: Natural end? We are relatives, Shiva! Everybody in the family knows we are together. We grew up together! You're talking about my life. Tell me the real reason

Shiva: The real reason is that what I want for the future has changed. I need to focus on my career, and I can't carry this level of commitment anymore.

Priya: That is a lie.

You never said commitment was a burden before. You said we were future. Just last month, you were talking to Papa about saving up for a flat. Tell me the truth. Is there someone else?

Shiva: Yes.

Priya: What?

Shiva: I met someone. Her name is Anjali.

She works in my company.

It's... different with her, Priya.

She understands the demands of my job in a way you can't.

Priya: She understands? What about me?

I understood you when we were kids hiding texts from your mother! I was there when you failed your exams and cried! I gave you ten years of my youth, Shiva, and you're ending it over a girl you met at work?

Shiva: Please don't make this dramatic.

I am not saying you weren't important. But I am telling you now, frankly, that I see a clearer future with Anjali. She is better suited for the life I need to build now.

Priya: Suited? So,

I am just a student from a middle-class family who doesn't fit your new corporate image? And how will we explain this to our parents? We are cousins, Shiva! This isn't just a simple breakup; t his is a wound that will tear the whole family apart.

Shiva: That's my burden to deal with. I will talk to my mother. But I had to tell you this first.

I will figure it out.

I can't pretend anymore.

It wouldn't be fair to you.

Priya: Fair? You think this is fair?

STORY BOOK

You let me believe in a future that you already secretly replaced! You didn't just break up with me, Shiva. You betrayed every promise you ever made since we were children.

Shiva: I am truly sorry, Priya. I really am.

Priya: (She takes a deep, ragged breath, pulling herself together with immense effort) Don't call me again.

Don't try to explain it to the family.

I will handle it. Just go.

Go be happy with your new life and your "suited" girl.

Shiva: Priya.......

Priya: Goodbye, Shiva.