A short story defining the stages of love.
Inara Khan was petulant: stubborn, short-tempered, blunt, and a middle child. She had her life planned until she stumbled on a betrayal by one she had never considered a possibility from.
Life threw a cur...
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Rahil was the only son of Rehaan Sohail and Afreen, a couple who married young out of love and leaving their small village to make a life for themselves in the city of Hyderabad. While Rehaan had climbed his way to general manager of a pharmaceutical company, Afreen had taken up the responsibilities of making their flat a home. A year into their marriage, Rahil had joined their paradise. They never wished for another child. They were satisfied with the small world they had created for them.
Before, they were offered residence from their company but with the years that passed, his parents realized their dream of purchasing a small apartment for their family. Her mother had decorated every inch of their current home over the years. From the balcony filled with vegetable and medicinal plants to the living room wall which was laced with every milestone they had attained together over the past 31 years. Their Nikah, her pregnancy, bringing small Rahil into their home, his first step, the first day of school, Rehaan's promotions over the years, Rahil's days in annual functions and sports days, his college days, all this and all that.
This wall had everything one should know, if one spared enough time going over the ice cream stick frames, he would know all their lives.
They had a happy trio. With some extended families thrown around, their life was a beautiful blend that the outer world would term as picture perfect. But only a few know the transformation of Afreen from a housewife to a school teacher. She had late-night study sessions with her son when he studied for his boards and she took exams to attain a B. ed degree. They could see them smiling in those pictures but only a few knew the fight they took over when Rehaan was diagnosed with third-stage blood cancer. With each frame that was added over the years, there were more smiles but none would see the tear-laden eyes of his parents, the reducing curve of Rahil's smile.
The day his father had lived his last breath, Afreen did not only lose her husband. Rahil lost his shield too, making the 21-year-old build a ginormous wall to hide his emotions from this world. He had changed a lot over the years, the invisible wall now could be felt from 100 meters away.
While Afreen took over more household responsibilities, Rahil decided never to enter the employment market. He had to build something of his own, seeing his father work dedicatedly for a company that couldn't even cover medical expenses had made him bitter towards the corporates.
Taking engineering as his base course, he completed his graduation while working for developers and creators followed by a master's to strengthen his knowledge in upcoming technological advancements. Now, having an on-ground experience of 7 years in building health-tech platforms, he had dived into Artificial intelligence to build his own genesis that could change a little something in the world.
A micro change but good enough to affect this world.
His world.
His mother, family, friends, and now Inara.
She stepped inside his home of two decades with a curiosity and repugnance to his presence.
