A Necklace From the Past
Alice touched the delicate gold clasp at her neck. Rajesh had given her the necklace decades ago. She had never been able to unfasten it alone.

So, I stepped behind her.

The scent of jasmine filled the room. Instantly, it carried me back to the St. Xavier’s library in 1964. Time collapsed in a single breath.

My hands—aged by years of engineering work—remained steady. I eased the tiny clasp open. The necklace slipped free.

Yet Alice didn’t turn around.

Instead, she stared at a small, dented tin box on the nightstand.

A Pause Before the Beginning
“Brian,” she whispered.

Before we begin this new life, she said, I need to show you something.

Her voice trembled.

She explained she had found it in Rajesh’s desk after his funeral. More importantly, she said it explained everything. It was the reason she never searched for me. Not for sixty-one years.

The Letter That Never Arrived
Alice opened the tin.

Inside lay a folded piece of notebook paper. Yellowed. Brittle. Worn by time.

I recognized it instantly.

It was my handwriting—the rushed, slanted script of a desperate seventeen-year-old boy.

The words hit me like a blow.

Meet me at the station at midnight. I have the money from the cricket trophy and my grandmother’s savings. We can go to Mumbai. We can make a life. If you aren’t there, I’ll know you chose the life they want for you. I won’t ask again.

The Night That Broke Everything
The blood drained from my face.

“I waited at that station until sunrise,” I said quietly. “I thought you didn’t love me enough to leave.”

Alice shook her head. Her voice cracked.

“I never saw it,” she said. “Rajesh did.”

That night, he had come to her house to finalize the dowry with her father. Along the way, he intercepted my messenger.

He didn’t just steal a letter.

He stole her choice.

The Truth at Last
In that moment, everything became clear.

We hadn’t walked away from each other.

We had been torn apart.

And after sixty-one years, the truth finally found its way home.