An Unfinished Chapter

Rajuan Ahmed

The deeper the night gets, the dimmer the moon becomes, hiding behind the clouds. In the silence of his room, Nishith stares at his phone screen. It’s on, but there are no new messages. Why would there be? The one person who once meant everything to him is gone.

He closes his eyes, and memories flood in—taking him back to that one evening when love first found its way into his life.

He met Tithi at the university library. The evening light spilled into the corridors, making everything glow. She stood there with a book in her hands, her hair gently swaying in the breeze. Nishith had never believed in love at first sight, but something about her smile felt different. It wasn’t just beautiful—it stayed with him, like a melody he couldn't forget.

At first, they were just friends. Then, slowly, love took over. Long conversations over coffee, quiet evening walks, endless laughter—it all felt like a dream. One evening, Nishith told her, “I can’t imagine my life without you.”

Tithi smiled, a strange sadness in her eyes. “But what if you have to?”

Back then, he had laughed it off. He believed that love could overcome anything. He had no idea how harsh reality could be.

The more their love grew, the more cruel fate became. Tithi’s family was conservative, while Nishith came from a simple, middle-class background. Her parents would never allow their daughter to marry for love—especially not to someone whose future was uncertain.

Then one day, it happened. Tithi’s father arranged her marriage. She fought, she begged, but in the end, she lost. The last time she saw Nishith, her eyes were filled with tears.

“Love isn’t always enough, Nishith,” she whispered. “But please… just know that I will never forget you.”

Nishith felt the ground slip from beneath him. Her words left a scar so deep, he knew it would never heal. Their love had become an unfinished story—one he never imagined would end like this.

The Last Letter

On the night of her wedding, Tithi wrote Nishith a letter.

“The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do is leave you behind. I know I’m weak. I lost. But believe me, you will live in every breath I take.”

But Nishith never got to read it in time. Before the letter could reach him, the news arrived—Tithi had taken her own life that very night.

Everything stopped. Time, sound, even the air around him—it all froze. When he finally held her letter in his hands, he realized how deeply she had loved him. And how cruelly life had taken that love away.

Five years have passed. Yet every night, Nishith still falls asleep clutching that letter to his chest. He closes his eyes, and there she is—smiling, just like before.

He knows love never truly dies.

People surround him, but he remains alone. Her absence is louder than any noise around him. He still goes to the coffee shop where they once sat for hours, lost in conversation. He sits in their usual spot, remembering her laughter, the way she used to look at him.

He knows she’s gone. But her love? It still lives within him.

Love doesn’t always get a happy ending. Sometimes, it remains unfinished.

But true love? True love never dies.

Tithi was, and always will be, an unfinished chapter in Nishith’s life. But every word, every moment of that chapter still beats within his heart.

Love may not always win. But it gives meaning to everything.

And Tithi… she was that meaning. The reason Nishith still finds the strength to keep going.