❝𝐌𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞.❞

What happens when life's thunder strikes, shatters an unbreakable bond and leaves behind it a path of heartbreaking betrayal?

For Karan, Jayant, and Arav, their friendship meant everything─until Arav vanished without a trace that leaves a hollow silence in its place. When he returned a year later, he was a stranger cloaked in shadows─his return both a relief and a riddle. What twisted path did he walk, what shadows danced in his wake?

Reunited in 2007, the trio sets out on a mission─this time, guided by a reluctant mentor who becomes their unlikely ally. As they expose long-hidden secrets, they're drawn into a dangerous world of corporate espionage, unknown adversaries, and shockingly brutal crimes. Each step reveals a game played by invisible hands, where their lives are just pieces on a ruthless board.

When the quest for justice lands them in a courtroom battle that could shatter them for good─Karan, Jayant and Arav must confront not only the web of lies but also the fractures within their bond. Will they rise above the deceit and find a way forward, or will the scars of the past prove too deep to heal?

Life is all about second chances they say, but how long can you break before you're finally shattered?

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Before You Read:

The story contains mature themes of bullying, violence, verbal and physical abuse, assault, sexism, injustice, mental health among many others. I've tried to make the warning list as inclusive as possible, however, I cannot guarantee a full-list that encompasses everything. Please read at your own discretion. You must be at least 15+ to be eligible to read this story. Constructive criticism is always appreciated! <3

Mature chapters will be marked with * at the beginning of its title, and at certain instances, you'll have "⚠️" to indicate potentially triggering parts. Feel free to skip ahead, the context will be explained later.

Translations for words will be given in a separate part (or at the bottom for now), so you can always view it in another tab or device to have a seamless reading experience.

That being said, if you're here to enjoy, feel free to leave your suggestions/honest feedback/constructive criticism :)

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Warning List:

● Death

● Alcoholism (i DO NOT promote alcohol consumption, yet they do form a part of this story through some characters, in it's effects on the characters and the negative consequence.)

● Blood (mild)

● Bullying

● Depression

● Verbal Abuse

● Child Abuse (for legal reasons, the said person turns 18 on that day but you'll never see the graphic version of it in any instance.)

● Homophobia (very mild)

● Human trafficking (is it a dystopian story if i don't have this? okay, no, that was a bad joke. but a "shadows around the egg" principle applied; nothing explicit.)

● PTSD

● Seizures

● Sexism

● Stalking (please NEVER stalk someone in real life or think that it's romantic when someone does it, there's always help.)

● Violence (non-graphic description)

● Self-Harm (non-graphic description)

● Foul Language (mild)

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General guide for formatting:

Italics- thoughts

'Italics'- response by thoughts/intrusive thoughts/inner monologue by mind

❛Italics❜ - excerpt of some kind

Bold Italics- either author's note (a/n) or an important information

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Disclaimer:

This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

The author is providing this book and its contents on an "as is" basis and make no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to this book or its contents.

NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author's exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to "train" generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.