Ruhi’s POV
After hearing everything Vikrant said, my mind simply… stopped.I couldn’t process any of it. Not the truth. Not the lies. Not the way my past had been twisted without my knowing. So I made an excuse, my voice barely steady, and told them I needed to use the washroom.
Inside, I stood there for a long time.Just staring at my reflection.
The woman looking back at me felt unfamiliar pale, hollow eyed, carrying years of pain she never chose.
That woman… I don’t even want to call her my mother.
She had turned my childhood into a living nightmare. And now I knew she hadn’t just taken my childhood from me.
She had taken my father too.
My hands trembled as anger, grief, and betrayal twisted together inside my chest. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run to her, grab her, and ask
What did I ever do to you?
Why wasn’t hurting me enough?
I turned on the tap and splashed cold water onto my face, trying to ground myself, trying not to fall apart right there.
After a few moments, I stepped out.As I neared the table, voices reached me.
Aayansh’s voice and Vikrant’s voice.
I stopped. Without realizing it, I froze in place.
“Do you know what promise we made?” Vikrant was saying. “Even her father knew about it.”
“What?” Aayansh asked, disbelief sharp in his voice.
Vikrant replied calmly, almost smugly,
“The promise was that when we grew up… we would marry each other.”
The world tilted.
“What?” Aayansh shouted, standing up abruptly.
My breath left my lungs.I stood there unable to move, unable to think every sound around me fading into nothing but the pounding of my heart.
Aayansh turned.And then he saw me.
His expression changed instantly shock, fear, guilt, all colliding at once.
Neither of us spoke.
We just stared at each other.The promise hung between us.Heavy. Unwanted. Unforgivable.
And in that moment, I realized some memories don’t hurt because we forget them.
They hurt because they return at the worst possible time.
No one spoke.
The restaurant suddenly felt too small, the air thick and suffocating. Conversations from other tables faded into a dull hum, like I was underwater.
Aayansh was still standing. Vikrant was still sitting. And I was frozen at the edge of a moment that had just shattered something inside me.
“Ruuh ” Aayansh started, my name breaking in his voice.
I flinched.
Not because of him. But because hearing my name out loud made everything real.
I took a step forward. Then another. My legs trembled, but they moved anyway. My eyes never left Vikrant.
“Is that true?” I asked quietly.My voice didn’t sound like mine.
Vikrant looked at me. Surprise flickered across his face then something else. Relief? Confidence? I couldn’t tell.
“It was a promise,” he said carefully. “We were kids, Ruhi. You were scared. You needed something to hold on to.”
I swallowed hard. “You said my father knew.”
“Yes,” he replied. “He didn’t oppose it.”
My chest tightened painfully. “Did he agree because he wanted it… or because he thought it would keep me safe?”
Vikrant didn’t answer right away.
For the first time since we sat down, he looked uncomfortable.
“I didn’t come here to claim you,” he said defensively. “I came because you deserve the truth.”
“Then tell the truth without games,” Aayansh cut in sharply. “Without manipulating her memories.”
Vikrant turned to him. Really looked at him this time.
“You love her,” he said flatly.
“Yes,” Aayansh replied without hesitation.
Something in my chest ached at the certainty in his voice.
Vikrant exhaled slowly, leaning back in his chair. “Then you should understand why I stayed away.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Because I knew,” he said, his gaze returning to me, “that if I came back into your life properly, I’d drag the past with me. And you were finally healing.”
“Then why now?” I asked.
His expression hardened. “Because the people who hurt you are getting desperate. And because your mother is running out of places to hide.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“What do you know?” Aayansh asked.
“Enough to know,” Vikrant said quietly, “that your father’s death wasn’t just murder. It was a warning.”
My hands curled into fists. “A warning to whom?”
His eyes didn’t leave mine.“To anyone who tried to take you away from her.”
The words sank in.
Slowly. Painfully.
“I don’t want promises,” I said at last. “Not from the past. Not from anyone.”
I straightened my shoulders, forcing myself to stand taller.
“I want the truth. I want proof. And I want this to end.”
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Vikrant nodded. “Good. Because that’s exactly what I came back for.”
Aayansh stepped closer. His hand brushed mine asking, not assuming.
I intertwined my fingers with his.
Whatever this was… Whatever waited ahead…I wouldn’t face it alone.And this timeNeither would my past.
……
The drive back home felt endless.
The city lights passed by outside the window, blurred and distant, just like my thoughts. Everything Vikrant had said kept replaying in my head, over and over, until it felt too heavy to breathe.
Aayansh didn’t speak the entire ride.
Neither did I.
Silence wrapped around us, thick but not empty. I knew he was giving me space. I also knew he was holding himself together for me.
When we finally reached my place, he parked the car and turned to me. He took my hand in his, squeezing it gently.
“Ruuh,” he said softly. “Don’t worry. Don’t overthink, okay? Now that things are clearer, all we need to do is find out what that woman is planning.”
I nodded. That was all I could manage.We went inside together.
The moment we entered the hall, I saw everyone sitting there Bade papa, chachu, chachi, badi maa, Rishabh bhai, Riya bhabhi.
Waiting.
My chest tightened. Of course they were.
They all stood up at once when they saw me.
“Are you okay?” “Did anything happen?” “Ruhi, beta…”
Questions came from all sides.
I sat down slowly on the sofa, Aayansh beside me, his hand still firmly holding mine. I didn’t let go.
Bade papa spoke gently, but his eyes were sharp with worry.
“Tell us, beta. Who was that boy? What did you talk about?”
I opened my mouth but no words came out.
My throat closed up.
So I turned my head slightly and looked at Aayansh, silently asking him to speak for me.
He understood instantly.
Aayansh took a deep breath and began. He told them everything who Vikrant was, how he knew me, why he came back now, how he had helped Papa back then, and how he believed Papa’s death wasn’t an accident.
The room grew heavier with every word.
Chachi was the first to react. “That woman!” she snapped. “She destroyed this child’s life and now”
Then Aayansh paused.
His grip on my hand tightened slightly.
“There’s one more thing,” he said carefully. “Something important.”
Everyone looked at him.
He swallowed. “Vikrant said… there was a promise. A promise made when Ruhi was a child. About marriage. And… Hiten's uncle knew about it. He didn’t oppose it.”
Silence crashed into the room.
Bade papa said quietly.Everyone turned toward him.“I want to say something too,” he added.
I looked at him, my heart pounding. “What is it, Bade papa?”
He sighed deeply, like he had been carrying this weight for years.
“The day Hiten’s accident happened,” he said slowly, “before he left the house… he spoke to me.”
My breath hitched.
“He told me about a promise,” Bade papa continued. “About wanting you to marry a boy someday. At that time, he didn’t tell me the name. I asked him if he was serious.”
Bade papa looked at me gently.
“He said yes. Because he trusted that boy. He believed the boy would protect you.”
My fingers trembled.
Aayansh’s hand tightened around mine so suddenly, so firmly, like he was afraid I might disappear.
I looked at Bade papa. “Then… why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Pain flickered across his face.
“I wanted to,” he said honestly. “Hiten wanted to tell you himself. But then the accident happened. And after that… you weren’t in a condition where I could bring up something like this.”
He paused.
“When you came back, I thought I would tell you then. But I found out about you and Aayansh,” he glanced at him briefly, “and that boy never came forward. So I believed it was just a childhood promise. Something innocent. Something that no longer mattered.”
My heart clenched painfully.
So many truths. So many silences. So many years lost in between.
I lowered my head, my grip on Aayansh’s hand tightening instead of loosening.
Nothing felt simple anymore.But one thing was clearThe past hadn’t ended.
It had only been waiting for the right moment to return.
Write a comment ...