CHAPTER40 [SECRET REVEALED] （PART1）
A month passed after that night.
Thirty days.
Thirty silent days.
---
Even though Aarohi and Vihaan stayed in the same room-
they lived like strangers.
No arguments.
No conversations.
No emotions.
---
Vihaan buried himself in work.
Aarohi stayed busy in the hospital.
And slowly-
silence became normal between them.
---
One afternoon, Aarohi was sitting in her cabin during break time when her phone suddenly rang.
She looked at the screen-
Mom Calling.
Her expression instantly changed.
Without a second thought, she silenced the call.
She didn't want her mood ruined again.
---
But the phone rang again.
And again.
---
Frustrated, Aarohi finally picked it up.
"Ab kya hua?"
(What now?)
"Aap kyun call kar rahi hain mujhe itna sab kuch karne ke baad?"
(Why are you calling me after everything you did?)
---
From the other side, her mother's shaky voice came.
"Beta... tere dad ki company bankrupt ho gayi hai..."
(Beta... your dad's company has gone bankrupt...)
"Humara ghar bhi humse chhin gaya..."
(We even lost our house...)
"Mujhe samajh nahi aa raha main kya karun..."
(I don't know what to do...)
---
Aarohi's eyes turned cold instantly.
"Kyun?"
(Why?)
"Ek million liye the na..."
(You took one million, didn't you?)
"Mujhe becha tha..."
(You sold me...)
"Usi paise ka istemal karo."
(Use that money.)
---
There was silence for a second.
Then her mother spoke emotionally-
"Beta... tu aise kaise bol sakti hai?"
(How can you say that?)
"Maa hoon main teri..."
(I'm your mother...)
---
Aarohi laughed bitterly.
"Maa?"
(Mother?)
"Haan... wahi maa jisne kabhi mujhse pyaar nahi kiya."
(Yeah... the same mother who never loved me.)
"Wahi maa jisne hamesha mujhe bojh samjha."
(The same mother who always treated me like a burden.)
"Wahi maa jisne apni aulaad ko bech diya."
(The same mother who sold her own daughter.)
---
Her breathing became uneven.
"Wahi maa jisne kabhi ek baar bhi nahi poocha ki main kaisi hoon..."
(The same mother who never once asked how I was...)
"Par aaj zarurat padi hai... toh yaad aa gaya ki main beti hoon?"
(But now that you need something... suddenly I'm your daughter?)
---
Her mother stayed silent.
Maybe because deep down-
she had no answer.
---
Aarohi's eyes filled again, but this time with anger.
"Aur ek baat..."
(And one more thing...)
"Wo mere dad nahi hain..."
(He is not my dad...)
"Wo aapke pati hain."
(He's your husband.)
"Toh agli baar mujhe call karne se pehle... ye yaad rakhna."
(So next time before calling me... remember that.)
---
And she cut the call.
Her hands were shaking.
Years of hatred and pain burned inside her chest.
---
But before she could calm down-
her phone rang again.
Same number.
---
Annoyed, Aarohi picked it up again.
"Ab kya hai?"
(What now?)
---
This time-
her mother's voice sounded different.
Scared.
Broken.
---
"Theek hai..."
(Fine...)
"Tujhe yahi jaana hai na..."
(You want to know this, right...)
"Ki tere dad ki death kaise hui thi..."
(How your dad died...)
"Main tujhe sab sach bata dungi."
(I'll tell you the whole truth.)
"Har baat..."
(Everything.)
---
Aarohi froze.
Her heartbeat stopped for a second.
---
"Tu yahan aa..."
(Come here.)
"And then... I'll tell you everything."
Aarohi's grip tightened around her phone.
Her eyes turned cold again.
"Har koi ek hi baar dhoka khata hai, Mrs. Mehra..."
(Everyone gets betrayed only once, Mrs. Mehra...)
"Har baar nahi."
(Not every time.)
---
From the other side, her mother spoke quickly-
"Nahi beta... bas ek baar meri baat ka bharosa kar le..."
(No beta... just trust me one last time...)
"Aakhri baar."
(For the last time.)
---
Aarohi stayed silent for a few seconds.
Then finally-
"XYZ Café."
"Wahan aaiye."
(Come there.)
"Lekin yaad rahe..."
(But remember...)
"Ye aapka aakhri chance hai, Mrs. Mehra."
(This is your last chance, Mrs. Mehra.)
And she disconnected the call.
---
A while later-
Aarohi entered the café.
Her eyes instantly landed on her mother sitting in the corner.
Nervous.
Restless.
Almost scared.
---
Aarohi walked towards her and sat down.
Before her mother could speak-
Aarohi interrupted coldly.
"Jis liye bulaya hai... seedha wahi baat kijiye."
(Whatever you called me for... get straight to the point.)
---
Her mother took a deep breath.
Then slowly began-
"Hum teeno ek hi college mein padhte the..."
(The three of us studied in the same college...)
"Main... tere dad... aur tere stepdad."
(Me... your dad... and your stepfather.)
---
Aarohi immediately corrected her.
"Correction, Mrs. Mehra."
"Wo mere dad nahi hain."
(He is not my dad.)
"Only Mr. Mehra."
---
Her mother lowered her eyes and continued.
"Hum teeno bohot acche dost the..."
(The three of us were very close friends...)
"Tere dad ke paas zyada paise nahi the..."
(Your dad didn't have much money...)
"Wo aksar lunch bhi skip kar dete the..."
(He often skipped meals...)
"Toh hum log unke saath share karte the."
(So we used to share with him.)
---
A small sad smile appeared on her lips.
"Dheere dheere waqt guzarta gaya..."
(Slowly, time passed...)
"Mr. Mehra bohot ameer the..."
(Mr. Mehra was very rich...)
"Unka business already bohot acha chal raha tha..."
(His business was already doing well...)
"Wo hamesha gaadi mein college aate the..."
(He always came to college in expensive cars...)
---
Aarohi listened silently.
---
"Phir dheere dheere..."
(Then slowly...)
"Meri aur Mr. Mehra ki dosti... pyaar mein badal gayi."
(My friendship with Mr. Mehra turned into love.)
"Hum dono ek dusre ko date karne lage."
(We started dating each other.)
---
"College khatam hua..."
(College ended...)
"Aur phir Mr. Mehra higher studies ke liye bahar chale gaye."
(And then Mr. Mehra went abroad for higher studies.)
"Jaane se pehle unhone mujhse kaha tha-"
'Main do saal mein wapas aaunga... mera intezar karna.'
(I'll come back in two years... wait for me.)
---
Aarohi's expression slowly started changing.
---
"Ye baat tere dad ko nahi pata thi..."
(Your father didn't know about us...)
"Hume laga tha unhe sab pata hoga..."
(We thought he already knew everything...)
---
"Phir ek din..."
(Then one day...)
"Tere grandfather... jo mere father ke dost the..."
(Your grandfather, who was friends with my father...)
"Unhone tere dad ko dekha."
(They saw your father.)
"Unhe unki parvarish... unka nature... sab pasand aaya."
(They liked his upbringing and personality.)
"Wo hum dono ki shaadi karwana chahte the."
(They wanted us to get married.)
---
Aarohi's mother's voice started shaking.
"Main mana kar rahi thi..."
(I kept refusing...)
"Par koi meri baat sun hi nahi raha tha."
(But nobody listened to me.)
---
"Aakhir mein maine sab sach bata diya..."
(In the end, I told everyone the truth...)
"Ki main kisi aur se pyaar karti hoon."
(That I loved someone else.)
"Main ye shaadi nahi kar sakti."
(I couldn't marry him.)
---
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Mere ghar walon ne jab ye suna..."
(When my family heard this...)
"Toh unhone mujhe bohot maara..."
(They beat me badly...)
"Kamre mein band kar diya."
(And locked me in a room.)
---
Aarohi's fingers slowly tightened around the coffee cup.
---
"Main sirf ye soch rahi thi..."
(I kept thinking...)
"Ki tere dad kuch kyun nahi bol rahe..."
(Why your father wasn't saying anything...)
"Unhe toh sab pata tha na..."
(He knew everything, right?)
---
Her voice cracked.
"Agar wo ek baar bol dete..."
(If he had spoken once...)
"Toh shayad wo shaadi ruk jaati..."
(Maybe the marriage would've stopped.)
---
Silence spread between them.
Heavy.
Painful.
---
And for the first time-
Aarohi realized...
Maybe the story she believed all these years-
was incomplete.
Wait for next part.