Chapter 4 The Returned
Aadhira's POV
The plane landed in Rajasthan.
For a few moments, I remained seated.
Staring out of the window.
Seven years.
Seven years since I had left this country.
Seven years since I had seen my family.
Seven years since my life had been destroyed.
Slowly, I stood up.
The passengers began leaving the aircraft.
I followed them.
Calm.
Composed.
Unaffected.
At least that's what everyone believed.
---
The familiar desert air greeted me as I stepped outside the airport.
Home.
A word that no longer felt like mine.
My driver was already waiting.
Within an hour, the black car stopped in front of Devraj Mansion.
The same mansion.
The same gates.
The same walls.
Nothing had changed.
Except me.
I stared at the mansion for several moments.
A place that once held my happiest memories.
And my worst nightmare.
Then I stepped inside.
---
No one was waiting.
No one welcomed me.
No one asked how I had been.
No one even looked for me.
The realization should not have hurt.
Yet somehow it did.
As I walked deeper into the mansion, familiar voices reached my ears.
Laughter.
Arguments.
Teasing.
Conversations.
I followed the sound.
And froze.
The entire family was gathered in the living room.
Smiling.
Laughing.
Living.
For a second something twisted painfully inside my chest.
Not jealousy.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Hurt.
Because once...
I should have been there too.
Sitting between them.
Arguing with Vedha.
Annoying everyone.
Talking endlessly.
Making them laugh.
If that night had never happened...
This would still be my place.
But it wasn't.
Not anymore.
I pushed the thought away.
And walked into the room.
---
The sound of my footsteps echoed.
One by one.
Heads turned.
The laughter stopped.
The conversations died.
And silence filled the room.
Everyone stared.
As if they were looking at a stranger.
Maybe they were.
Because the girl they sent away seven years ago no longer existed.
The Aadhira they remembered had bright eyes full of curiosity.
The woman standing before them had eyes that quietly assessed everything around her.
The Aadhira they remembered smiled constantly.
This Aadhira didn't smile at all.
The Aadhira they remembered wore her heart on her sleeve.
This Aadhira revealed nothing.
For the first time, the family realized just how much seven years could change a person.
And somehow...
That realization hurt.
Harshvardhan understood then that the voice he had heard over the phone had not deceived him.
This was not the Aadhira they remembered.
---
Harshvardhan cleared his throat.
"Sit down."
I obeyed.
The silence stretched once again.
Nobody knew what to say.
Nobody knew how to begin.
Then suddenly-
"You are getting married."
Everyone turned toward Vedha.
Her voice was indifferent.
Cold.
Sharp.
I looked at her.
She looked back without emotion.
"The groom is Arjun Rathore."
The room remained silent.
Nobody interrupted.
Nobody corrected her.
Even though everyone knew this wasn't how the conversation should happen.
Vedha continued.
"The Rathores are our biggest business partners and closest family friends."
I remained silent.
"The proposal originally came for me."
A few family members shifted uncomfortably.
"But I have no interest in marriage right now."
Her voice remained emotionless.
"I want to focus on my business."
Then she looked directly into my eyes.
"So you will marry Arjun Rathore instead."
The words landed like stones.
"The Rathores only asked for a daughter of the Devraj family."
She folded her arms.
"They don't care which one."
The room felt suffocatingly silent.
Then came the final blow.
"Consider it repayment."
A dangerous look appeared in her eyes.
"For what you did to me."
The hatred in her voice was impossible to miss.
And nobody questioned it.
Because to them...
Vedha had every right to hate me.
I simply looked at her.
Then nodded once.
"Okay."
That was all.
No arguments.
No complaints.
No resistance.
Just acceptance.
For the second time in seven years, my future had been decided by someone else.
And for the second time...
Nobody cared what I wanted.
---
### Seven Years Ago
### Vedha's POV
Darkness.
Pain.
Fear.
That was all I remembered.
Then suddenly-
I opened my eyes.
Bright hospital lights greeted me.
A sharp pain exploded inside my head.
Fragments of memories flashed before my eyes.
The kidnapping.
The abandoned warehouse.
The knife.
Blood.
Then nothing.
The door burst open.
My family rushed inside.
Relief flooded their faces.
Tears filled their eyes.
Everyone was talking at once.
But there was only one person I searched for.
"Aadhu?"
The room fell silent.
I frowned.
"Where is Aadhu?"
Nobody answered.
Confusion settled inside me.
Something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
---
The family eventually left after the doctor instructed them to let me rest.
Only one person remained.
Kavya.
My childhood friend.
She sat beside my bed.
Looking unusually serious.
"What happened?" I asked.
Kavya slowly explained everything.
The kidnapping.
The coma.
The month I had spent unconscious.
Then she said something that made my entire world stop.
"Aadhira was responsible."
I laughed.
Actually laughed.
Because it sounded ridiculous.
Impossible.
My Aadhu?
Never.
But then...
Kavya showed me the messages.
The videos.
The evidence.
The same evidence shown to my family.
I stared at the screen.
Unable to breathe.
Unable to think.
Unable to understand.
The girl who shared my childhood.
My secrets.
My dreams.
The girl I considered my sister.
My twin.
My soulmate.
Had she really done this?
Over a bracelet?
Over a stupid argument?
The hurt was unbearable.
And slowly...
The hurt transformed into anger.
---
"Where is she?"
My voice was ice cold.
Kavya hesitated.
"She was sent to London."
Silence.
The anger remained.
The betrayal remained.
The hatred remained.
I slowly looked out of the hospital window.
Then I spoke.
Every word filled with certainty.
"I'll make her regret it."
My fingers clenched around the bedsheet.
The pain in my chest refused to disappear.
The memories.
The trust.
The love.
Everything felt like a cruel joke.
"I'll never let her forget what she did."
For the first time in my life...
I wished I had never trusted someone so much.
---
### Present
### Devraj Mansion
The room remained silent.
Vedha's gaze never left Aadhira.
Seven years had passed.
Yet the anger in her eyes remained unchanged.
To everyone in the room, it seemed as though nothing had been forgiven.
Nothing had been forgotten.
And perhaps...
Nothing ever would be.
---
No one noticed the small smile that appeared on Kavya's lips.
A smile filled with satisfaction.
Because after seven years...
Everything was still exactly as she wanted.