Yet, something felt… off.

Maybe it was the way Jay held her—light and fleeting, like she was just another girl in his world of endless admirers. Or maybe it was the way he glanced around mid-conversation, as if scanning the room for someone more interesting.

Or maybe it was the image of Aarav walking away, his expression unreadable, that she couldn’t seem to erase from her mind.

“Tanya?”

She blinked, looking up. Jay was watching her, amusement dancing in his eyes. “Where’d you go?”

Tanya forced a smile. “Nowhere. Just… taking it all in.”

Jay smirked. “Good. ‘Cause I was just about to say, you should come to my afterparty. It’ll be a lot more fun than this.”

An afterparty? Tanya hesitated. Part of her wanted to say yes—this was everything she had been waiting for, wasn’t it? But another part of her wasn’t sure if she even wanted to be here anymore.

Before she could answer, a voice interrupted.

“I think you’ve had enough of the spotlight for one night, Jay.”

Tanya turned, startled. Esha stood beside her, arms crossed, eyes locked onto Jay like she was ready to drag Tanya away if needed.

Jay chuckled. “Relax, I was just inviting her—”

“She’s not interested.”

Tanya frowned. “Esha—”

“Let’s go,” Esha said, grabbing Tanya’s wrist before she could protest.

Jay only shrugged, clearly unfazed. “Your loss.”

As Esha pulled her away from the dance floor, Tanya sighed. “What was that?”

Esha stopped when they reached a quieter corner. “That was me saving you from making a mistake.”

Tanya narrowed her eyes. “Esha, I can make my own choices.”

“I know,” Esha said, her tone softening. “But do you really think Jay is what you want? Or is it just because you spent so long chasing him that you don’t know how to stop?”

Tanya faltered. “I—”

Esha didn’t press her. Instead, she just sighed. “Aarav left.”

The words hit Tanya harder than she expected. “What?”

“I saw him walk out earlier. He didn’t look… okay.”

Tanya bit her lip. Why did that bother her so much? Aarav wasn’t her responsibility. He wasn’t even part of this.

And yet, she couldn’t ignore the ache in her chest.

Esha nudged her. “If you don’t care, then why do you look like you do?”

Tanya had no answer to that.

But as the night wore on, she realized something.

For the first time, she wasn’t sure if she was running toward Jay anymore.

Or if she had been running away from something else all along.