Siya had felt envious of Vihaan who had such a happy, easy friendship with her stepbrother. Now he stood in front of her, giving her a rare glimpse into Dhruv’s life. She couldn’t reconcilethis thoughtful, generous man with what she thought she knew. Or maybe, like Vihaan observed so accurately, she didn’t know her brother at all.
‘He never told me.’ It was a pathetic excuse and Siya knew it too.
‘We don’t often talk about that part of our lives,’ Vihaan said, with a small shrug. ‘Dhruv, especially, has always worried that people would judge him if they found out about his roots. But he’s the most thoughtful, loyal friend I’ve ever known.’
‘I’m beginning to see that,’ Siya mumbled.
‘Over the years, you’ve missed a lot. You have no idea how many times he’s helped you and Kashvi behind the scenes.’
‘What do you mean?’ she croaked out, unable to believe.
‘That’s not my story to tell, you’ll have to ask him, but I can tell you that he helped you more than once and in ways you’ll never hear about.’
‘But why? Why…’ she couldn’t push the words out of her, but Vihaan understood.
There was a depth of pain in his eyes as he said, ‘When you’ve grown up not knowing what it means to be chosen and protected, you spend the rest of your life trying to make sure no one else feels that kind of loneliness. That’s who he is.’
She swallowed the ache that rose in her. His words cut deep and Siya looked away, her hands clasped tightly into a knot. Her mind flooded with all the moments she’d misread.
When he’d hung around her as a kid, she’d assumed him to be their father’s spy. When he’d ask to play with them, she’d say no because it hurt Kashvi to see him around. When he’d askfor help with school projects, she’d been too occupied with her studies and Kashvi’s to listen to him.
All along, he’d been hopeful, looking for love and affection, and she’d assumed he got everything he wished for from Kartik and his mother. After all, he was the golden child, the only son of the family.
Now, the bitter truth sat heavy in her gut. She’d never tried hard enough to look beyond the complicated “stepbrother” and see the lost child in him.
She shut her eyes as a wave of nausea rolled over her.How many other people have I been wrong about?she asked herself and the thought began to haunt her.
That revelation, combined with Dhruv’s text, told her everything. He was still helping her, silent behind the scenes, by throwing her a lifeboat in the storm. She looked toward her friends, who looked at home with the kids sprawled around them.
He’d sent her here to see a way out of her misery, to see a hopeful future with these kids. Her heart thudded like it was trying to break through bone. Her fingers twitched to call him, to thank him for this precious gift.
Vihaan was watching as the games came to an end, and the kids pulled everyone to the wide wooden dining table that held the huge birthday cake. His assistant was gesturing at him to do final checks, but he had one more thing to say before he left.
‘Look at them,’ Vihaan said, pointing to where Raghav held a toddler in his arms who was trying to tickle Meera. ‘Who would say they’re not related by blood?’
Abhay glanced at Vihaan, and nodded. He reached out and tangled his fingers with hers as he said, ‘I understand what you mean.’
‘We may not share blood with these kids, but that doesn’t make them any less ours. Kids are innocent and giving, and they build a lifelong bond with the ones who love them. Love is a choice, and sometimes the people we choose are the ones who save us. DNA has got nothing on a family forged with love.’
With a nod, and those pearls of wisdom, Vihaan stepped back and ran toward the group. Everyone emptied the area in a flurry of footsteps and laughter, but they stood rooted in the sudden hush.
Siya looked down at their joined hands, and trailed up to see his brown eyes. This close up, she could clearly see the shadows under his eyes. His posture was rigid in a way that showed the last three days had been hard on him, but Abhay was gently caressing her knuckles.
‘How are you, Siya?’ he asked, his voice rough with emotions.
She wanted to tell him she was sorry for leaving, that she’d hated herself every hour since she walked out of their home with a suitcase full of fear. She wanted to tell him she didn’t know how to be with him when she felt broken, but she’d missed him every minute of the day.
She wanted to cry about how she couldn’t stop picturing him as a father, and it gutted her to think she’d stolen that future from him. Her grief, sharp and hard, was trying to claw its way out of her soul.
‘I’ve been better,’ was all that came out, and his earnest eyes broke the dam.
Words spilled out of her, driven by fear, before she could make sense of them and she rambled, ‘I didn’t want to tell you like this but I can’t keep holding this inside. I got all the tests done and Dr Lalita confirmed the bad news. No surgery can fix it, and no miracle is waiting around the corner. It’s official. I can’t have children.’
She paused to catch her breath, but her mind was racing ahead, dragging her voice with it. ‘I know this wasn’t part of the deal when you agreed to marry me. This isn’t what you signed up for. So if you want to end this, I’ll give you a clean break.’
Her gaze dropped to the little cracks in the floor, her fingers twisting the hem of her sleeve in anxious loops. ‘No drama. No fights. No alimony. We can say it didn’t work out and go back to our lives. I owe you that.’
Abhay was silent for a long minute, and when she finally glanced up, she saw a ghost of an amused smile playing at his lips. ‘Are you done?’
