21
Chapter 21
The Answer
The question hung between them.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Painful.
"Is Kabir my son?"
Anaya felt her throat tighten.
For five years, she had prepared herself for this moment.
She had imagined dozens of scenarios.
Aarav finding out accidentally.
Aarav finding out from someone else.
Aarav finding out from her.
Yet now that the moment had arrived, she couldn't speak.
Aarav took a step closer.
His eyes never left hers.
"Answer me."
The hurt in his voice was worse than the anger.
Much worse.
Because anger could be fought.
Pain couldn't.
"Aarav..."
His jaw tightened.
"Yes or no."
The apartment felt suffocatingly quiet.
Then, finally, Anaya nodded.
A tiny movement.
Barely visible.
Yet it changed everything.
"Yes."
The word came out as a whisper.
But it was enough.
Aarav went completely still.
As if the world had stopped moving.
As if time itself had frozen.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Anaya watched emotions flash across his face one after another.
Shock.
Disbelief.
Heartbreak.
Relief.
Anger.
Too many emotions all at once.
Then came the question she had feared most.
"Why?"
His voice cracked slightly.
Just enough for her to notice.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Anaya closed her eyes.
Because there was no simple answer.
Not after five years.
Not after everything.
---
Before she could respond, a sleepy voice came from the hallway.
"Mumma?"
Both of them froze.
Kabir.
The little boy stood near his bedroom door, rubbing his eyes.
Still half asleep.
Completely unaware that his life had just changed forever.
Anaya's heart nearly stopped.
Not like this.
Please not like this.
Kabir blinked.
Then smiled when he saw Aarav.
"Uncle."
Aarav stared at him.
For the first time, not as a possibility.
Not as a mystery.
Not as a question.
But as his son.
His son.
The realization hit with a force he wasn't prepared for.
Because suddenly every memory felt different.
The birthday party.
The school event.
The drawings.
The laughter.
The resemblance.
Everything.
It all made sense now.
---
Kabir looked between them.
Confused.
"Why are you both awake?"
Neither answered.
The little boy frowned.
Then walked closer.
"Mumma?"
Anaya crouched down immediately.
Her chest felt tight.
Painfully tight.
"Sweetheart, why aren't you sleeping?"
"I heard voices."
That made sense.
Aarav and Anaya hadn't exactly been quiet.
Kabir looked at Aarav again.
"Are you staying?"
The innocent question nearly broke something inside him.
Because for five years, he hadn't been there.
Not for birthdays.
Not for nightmares.
Not for scraped knees.
Nothing.
And he hadn't even known.
Aarav swallowed hard.
"I don't know."
Kabir accepted the answer surprisingly easily.
Then yawned.
A huge dramatic yawn.
"I'm sleepy."
The timing would've been funny under different circumstances.
Anaya gently guided him back toward his room.
"I'll be there in a minute."
"Okay."
The little boy disappeared.
Leaving the two adults alone again.
---
The silence returned.
This time it felt even heavier.
Aarav looked at the family photographs on the shelf.
The ones he'd seen before.
Now they hurt.
Because every picture represented a moment he'd missed.
Every smile.
Every memory.
Every milestone.
Gone.
Forever.
His gaze returned to Anaya.
"Five years."
The words sounded hollow.
She looked away.
"Aarav-"
"Five years."
This time there was anger.
Real anger.
"His first word."
Anaya flinched.
"His first birthday."
She couldn't meet his eyes.
"His first day of school."
Every sentence felt like a knife.
Because he wasn't wrong.
Not completely.
"Do you have any idea what you've taken from me?"
The pain in his voice filled the apartment.
And for the first time, Anaya couldn't defend herself.
Because part of her had asked that same question every day for five years.
---
Finally, she whispered:
"I was trying to protect him."
A bitter laugh escaped Aarav.
"From me?"
"No."
"Then who?"
The question lingered.
Anaya's hands trembled slightly.
Because this was the part she'd never wanted to explain.
The part connected to the reason she left.
The reason she disappeared.
The reason she'd spent years looking over her shoulder.
"A week before I left..."
Her voice shook.
"...someone followed me."
Aarav's expression changed immediately.
The anger remained.
But confusion joined it.
Anaya continued.
"At first, I ignored it."
Then she laughed bitterly.
"A stupid decision."
The memories still felt fresh.
Even after all this time.
"Then I found out I was pregnant."
The room remained silent.
Every word mattered now.
Every truth.
Every secret.
"And a few days later, someone threatened me."
Aarav's face hardened.
Dangerously.
"What threat?"
Anaya looked directly at him.
The fear she felt back then returning instantly.
"They told me that if I stayed with you..."
Her voice broke.
"...my child wouldn't live long enough to be born."
The apartment fell silent.
Completely silent.
Because for the first time since learning the truth...
Aarav wasn't thinking about betrayal.
Or lost years.
Or anger.
He was thinking about one thing.
Someone had threatened his family.
And whoever that person was...
Had just become the most important target in his life.
To be continued...