Siya’s attention, which had drifted toward Luv playing hide and seek, snapped back to Raghav. ‘What?’ the word slipped out, taut with disbelief.
‘Yeah, Dhruv was the one who suggested this place.’
Her heart thudded and she repeated her question in her mind.What?
Chapter 27
It was like her breath vanished from her lungs.
‘Dhruv Kashyap?’ Siya asked, unsure if she’d heard the correct name.
‘I’m scared to ask how many men you know by the same name. Anyway, he texted me last night,’ Raghav said.
‘What exactly did he say?’ she asked before she could stop herself.
Without a word, he passed his phone over to her. ‘You check it. I’ll be right back.’ Raghav said and walked away with everyone as kids called them to play hopscotch.
Siya quickly tapped on the messages icon and spotted his name.
Hey, it’s Dhruv, Siya’s brother. I’d overheard you during the engagement brunch that you’re looking for somewhere to celebrate Meera’s birthday. I hope you don’t mind me overstepping bounds and suggesting you a place, and I hope we can keep this between us. I think you should go to Lumora Children’s Home. Meera will like it there, and there are others too who need this. You’ll share a lot of joy if you take a chance at this. Oh and also, happy birthday to Meera.
Through the rumble in her ear, she heard Vihaan say, ‘Yeah, he called me last night after we spoke. It was quite last minute, and we usually have playgroups scheduled for the weekends,but…’ he glanced over at Siya before continuing, ‘once he explained the reason, it was hard to say no.’
‘But why would he…’ her voice trailed off, too many questions swirling in her mind.
‘That man doesn’t say much, but when he does… it usually means more than we realise,’ Vihaan offered.
Confusion swirled inside her, and in that storm, her gaze sought Abhay. He was looking at the screen too, reading the message. The crease between his eyebrows softened as realisation dawned on him.
He turned to Vihaan and asked, ‘Do any of these children get adopted?’
Her heart stirred as she understood the reason behind his question.
Vihaan shook his head, then adjusted the rim of his spectacle as it slipped. ‘Sometimes, but not nearly often enough. Most of them stay here until they turn eighteen, hoping all those years to find a family. People still don’t realise that family can be made in so many ways.’
‘How do you manage it?’
‘We have our own capital, but donations certainly help. Dhruv is one of our biggest benefactors.’
‘That doesn’t seem like the Dhruv I know,’ Abhay muttered, more to himself.
Vihaan chuckled under his breath. ‘People can surprise you in many ways. You never really know what someone’s capable of until they stop hiding it.’
‘I still don’t understand why he sent us here,’ Siya trailed off.
‘Because this place means a lot to him, because he understands the struggles of this life, because he knows the pain and longing that comes from being an orphan.’
Shock coursed through her like an electric current. She was caught between disbelief and regret. Her grip tightened around Raghav’s phone.
Vihaan shifted his weight from one leg to another, biding his time. ‘He stayed with me in the same orphanage where I grew up. His mother left him there when he was two. He stayed with us for a few years, until one day Kartik took him home.’
‘I didn’t know…’ was all she could muster. She was ashamed that she’d shared a home with Dhruv for years, yet had never known his story.
‘You may think you know him, but I don’t think you really do,’ Vihaan said, his words laced with sympathy.
But Siya did finally understand it. She’d been four when news about Kartik’s affair with Sunita had gone viral. Seven years later, Kartik brought Dhruv home. Sometime in between, he must have stayed with Vihaan at the orphanage.
She remembered now. They must have stayed in touch through decades because a younger, leaner Vihaan was in one of the photos framed in Dhruv’s apartment from his school days. She’d only been there a handful of times, but she could recall that picture vividly because of the carefree smile he sported in it.
