LOGINInaayat followed behind him, still watching the plate with unmistakable curiosity. The dining hall was unusually quiet that morning. Sunlight streamed through the tall windows, falling across the long dining table and the polished wooden chairs. Ryker walked to the head of the table and, without giving it a second thought, pulled the chair out. "Come." He called her near him. Inaayat obediently walked toward him. But the moment she saw which chair he was indicating, she stopped. Ryker frowned slightly. It was the head chair where Ranvijay used to sit after Bhanu Pratap. "Kya hua bacche?" He asked. (Translation: What happened, kiddo?) "Hum... yahan nahi baith sakte ji." Inaayat looked at the chair and then at him. (Translation: I... can't sit here.) "Kyun?" He again asked. (Translation: Why?) "Ye jagah hamare liye nahi hai." She lowered her eyes. (Translation: This place is not for me.) "Aap se kisne kaha?" Ryker stared at her for a second. (Translation: Who told you that?)
Ryker walked out of their room and came to the kitchen downstairs. The kitchen was unusually quiet. After the chaos of the previous night, almost everyone seemed to have retreated into their own corners of the haveli. Ryker stepped into the large kitchen and glanced around. No servants. No cooks. No one. Good. He rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to his forearms and walked toward the counter. If Inaayat was going to have a proper brunch today, he wanted to make it himself. He opened the refrigerator and looked through what was available. Something warm. Something filling. Something comforting. And preferably something she hadn't eaten a hundred times before. His eyes settled on the potatoes. A small smile appeared on his face. He could imagine cooking a dish and her tasting in delight. He nodded. "Boxty…" He muttered to himself. An Irish potato pancake. Simple, hearty and something from home. He took out the potatoes, washed them thoroughly and placed several of them in a pot of
No one argued. They understood. One by one, people began leaving. Vishesh and Vibha also left in silence. Raghu's parents embraced Inaayat from a distance before quietly stepping towards their room because they knew she needed space for now. Piya and Sunaina wiped their tears and left with them. Urvashi paused near the doorway, looking once toward Inaayat. Her eyes were full of regret. But she didn't approach her. Not yet. Nancy gently guided Arjun away. Soon, the footsteps faded. The whispers disappeared. The doors closed one after another. And eventually the enormous haveli became completely silent. Only Ryker and Inaayat remained standing together in the middle of the hall. The birthday decorations still hung everywhere. The balloons still floated beneath the ceiling. The flowers were still arranged beautifully. The cake was still on the table. But the celebration felt like it belonged to another lifetime. Inaayat slowly tightened her arms around Ryker. And Ryker simply held her
Her mother's vision blacked out for a while. She couldn't process. Her father stood completely frozen. Raghu stared at the floor, unable to process the words. His little sister. The sister he had only just found. He couldn't even bring himself to look at her. Piya and Sunaina stood side by side, tears streaming silently down their faces. Urvashi took an involuntary step backward. It was as though Ryker's words had physically struck her. "No…" The word came out barely audible. Nancy immediately caught her by the arm. Urvashi's eyes remained fixed on Inaayat. She remembered all those years. Every cruel thought her mother had planted in her head. Every time she believed Inaayat was the problem. Every time she had looked at her without knowing what that girl was carrying inside her. And now she couldn't understand how she had ever been capable of hating her. Arjun looked as though someone had emptied every ounce of strength from his body. His lips parted. Nothing came out. He stared a
She couldn't say anything else. Raghu's eyes were filled with hurt. Not anger. That somehow made it worse. He looked at her for several long seconds. Then his gaze fell. He turned his face away. Urvashi's shoulders sank. And in the middle of the hall, surrounded by people who were finally learning the truth, another family member quietly realized just how many years of love, guilt, hatred and misunderstanding had been stolen from them. For a few moments, Ryker said nothing. He simply stood there, watching everything unfold. Sudha's tears. Ranvijay's silence. Urvashi's shattered expression. Raghu's wounded eyes. His family's grief. And Arjun, who looked as though the ground beneath his feet had disappeared. Ryker had given them enough time to process what had already been revealed. But there was still one person standing in the middle of the hall who hadn't answered the question that mattered most. Ryker's gaze settled on Arjun again. "Arjun." Arjun slowly lifted his eyes. Ryker's
Inaayat stood in the middle of the hall. Every pair of eyes had turned toward her. The birthday girl who had entered the room only moments ago wearing a beautiful magenta gown now stood completely still, tears shining in her eyes, her face carrying a confusion and pain that no one had seen on her before. "What happened to the little girl who was living on the darker side of this haveli?" Ryker's words kept echoing inside Arjun's mind. He looked at Inaayat. His little childhood friend. The realization was already unbearable. But what Ryker was about to reveal felt impossible to even imagine. Ryker didn't look away from Arjun. "You need to face the truth, Arjun." His voice was steady. "Your family wasn't simply cruel to her." He paused. "They were abusive." He completed. A collective gasp travelled through the hall. Someone whispered something under their breath. Another guest looked toward Sudha and Ranvijay in disbelief. Ranvijay looked down while Sudha shook her head in denial
The whole haveli was in chaos now everyone was running here and there leaving a confused Inaayat behind. She didn't know what was happening because no one bothered to tell her but she was happy that the chaos were not for her. She woke up early and did her with without any clumsiness. Her curious
It was again a very pleasant morning for everyone but except for Inaayat because she and pleasant can't be in a same line. When early morning she woke up, no one was in the haveli, so as usual she did all of the chores and when it was about the time for everyone's waking up she started preparing br
The next morning, everyone was up and the haveli was in chaos because Inaayat used to wake up early and do the chores which she assigned for but today when everyone woke up they didn't see their works done. Everyone started to call for Inaayat in their angry and loud voices scaring the timid girl w
Rajasthan, India. It was a very dark night, more dark than an usual night. Stars were shining in the night sky like some lights in a dark room but still there was some gloominess present in the atmosphere like something bad was about to happen. All the birds, animals and creatures were back to the







