Not everything in the heart can be spoken aloud, so God created sighs, tears, cold smiles, and trembling hands.
Naira squeezed her eyes shut, allowing her silent tears to stream down her cheeks.
It was too much.
The suffocating pain in her chest, the weight of memories she had spent years trying to bury—tonight, it all felt unbearable.
"Why, God? Why?"
Fate had played its cruelest trick on her.
The very family she loathed with every fiber of her being—the family responsible for her misery—stood side by side with her to-be in-laws, laughing, celebrating, living their lives as if they carried no bloodstains on their hands.
The family that stole her happiness.
The family that turned her and her brother into orphans.
The family that murdered her parents.
The family of cold-blooded killers.
Knock! Knock!
Her swollen eyes fluttered open at the sound of soft knocking. Hastily wiping her tears, she forced herself off the bed. A glance in the mirror reflected the mess she had become—her disheveled hair, her blotchy face, her broken soul peeking through her hollow eyes.
Sighing, she stepped toward the door, hesitating for a moment before pulling it open.
Akhankshya stood there, her face tense, her eyes filled with unspoken worry.
Naira tried to muster a smile, to pretend, but the moment she met her badi-maa’s gaze, the dam broke. Tears spilled down her cheeks, betraying the pain she had tried to suppress.
Akhankshya didn’t wait—she pulled Naira into a firm, protective embrace.
"Shh... dear, calm down. My child, please..." she whispered, her voice laced with sorrow as she gently rubbed Naira's back.
"I can't, badi-maa!" Naira choked out between sobs. "How can I? How can I pretend to be happy when the murderers of my parents stand before me, laughing, celebrating—as if their hands aren't stained with blood?"
Her grip on Akhankshya tightened as her body trembled with grief.
Tonight was supposed to be one of the happiest nights of her life. Her engagement, the beginning of a new journey. She should have been glowing with joy, basking in love.
Instead, she sat in the shadows, drowning in pain.
"Baccha..." Akhankshya cupped Naira’s face, brushing her tears away with trembling fingers. "Crying like this won’t change the past. Don’t let them steal your happiness the way they stole everything else. You just got engaged—you deserve to smile, to celebrate, to live."
She tried to sound strong, but even her heart wept seeing the broken girl before her.
"I can’t, badi-maa… I just can’t." Naira whispered, pulling away, turning her face to the side, hiding her vulnerability.
"Don’t turn away from me, my child." Akhankshya’s voice softened as she placed a hand on Naira’s cheek. "I promised your mother I would love you as my own, and I will never break that promise. You know this, but let me say it again—no matter what, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, if you ever feel lost, your badi-maa will always be here for you."
Naira looked up at her, her vision blurred with tears, but this time, there was warmth in them—love, understanding, a flicker of solace.
"I know," she murmured before collapsing into her badi-maa’s embrace once more.
