He became more realistic.
Everything that has happened was like a nightmare he never wanted to remember... He wanted to move on and he tries.....
He finally understood that he could not rebuild the same family again. No matter how badly he wanted to, some things were gone forever. He knew he could try to find Lia and Aryan one day, but even that hope felt fragile and distant. There were limits to what he could do, and he had learned that the hard way.
What he could do was force himself to live again.
He knew he could never fill the place his grandmother once held. No one could replace her warmth, her voice, or the way she made him feel safe. That space inside him would always remain empty. Still, he didn't back off. He refused to completely give up. He told himself that trying to live was better than slowly dying.
And the truth was cruel but simple — life, no matter how painful, was still better than death.
So he chose to live.
Not because he was happy.
Not because he was healed.
But because he was tired of being weak.
He chose to rise again.
Somewhere deep inside, he wanted his parents to see what they had abandoned. He wanted them to see the Zayan they left behind — the one they failed to protect. The one they never believed in. The diamond they lost.
So he started working.
He found a job as a servant in a café. Every day, he carried dishes, wiped tables, and stood on his feet until his body ached. The work was exhausting, and the pay was barely enough to survive. But he didn't complain. He told himself that pain was familiar — he had lived with worse.
He worked really hard.
Every shift felt like a punishment, but also like redemption. He tried to bury his nightmares under long hours and aching muscles. He forced himself to look ahead, even when the past pulled him back. Slowly, painfully, he tried to believe that there might be something brighter waiting for him.
And somehow… he did.
The job didn't give him much money, but it gave him something else — dignity. For the first time in a long while, he felt useful. His boss noticed his effort and praised him for his work. Those small words meant more to him than anyone could imagine.
But the darkness never truly left.
Every smile was forced.
Every night was still heavy.
Every breath still carried pain.
And yet, someone was watching him.
A professor who came to the café every day saw him — not just the tired boy serving food, but the broken soul hiding behind tired eyes. He noticed the silence Zayan carried, the way he worked without complaint, the sadness that never left his face.
And without Zayan knowing it yet, that quiet observation was about to change everything.