"Bonds beyond blood"(on Hold)

chapter 16: shocking news and jealousy?

Hello everyone!!
Hope you like this chapter
And sorry for the late update

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Adwait entered the room, his footsteps hesitant yet deliberate, as if the very act of stepping into this space demanded a kind of reverence. The room was dimly lit, with soft, golden light filtering through the curtains, casting long shadows on the wooden floor. The air was thick with the scent of sandalwood and something unspoken that lingered in the corners, like the remnants of old conversations.

Dadi was seated on the edge of the bed, her frail fingers tracing the edges of an old photo album resting on her lap. Her eyes, slightly misty with the weight of memories, were fixed on the pictures of days gone by. The soft rustle of pages filled the room as she turned them, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips, though it was tinged with melancholy. The album was an archive of happiness, of moments captured in time, now softened by the passage of years.

She was lost in thoughts of how things used to be-when the house was filled with laughter, when the echoes of children's giggles and the warm hum of family gatherings were a daily melody. Those were the carefree days when the family was united and unburdened by the complexities that now surrounded them. The faded photographs captured moments of pure joy, of festivals celebrated together, of her children growing up, of Yuvraj and Aditya as boys, their smiles wide and innocent, their eyes bright with dreams not yet touched by the harshness of the world. But now, everything had changed. The smiles were fewer, the laughter quieter, and the weight of responsibilities had drawn invisible lines between them, lines that were only growing deeper.

As Adwait quietly approached, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt and sadness.

He stood by the door for a moment, observing the scene, the weight of his own burden pressing heavily on his shoulders.

He cleared his throat softly, a sound that seemed almost out of place in the stillness of the room.

Dadi looked up, her face lighting up at the sight of her grandson, though the light was fleeting, shadowed by an undercurrent of concern.

"Adwait, come in,"

she said, her voice warm but tinged with an undercurrent of unease, as if she sensed the storm brewing within him.

The lines of age and wisdom on her face seemed to deepen as she studied him, as if trying to read the unspoken words behind his troubled eyes.

Adwait greeted her with a soft smile, though his face betrayed the inner turmoil he was trying so hard to conceal. His greeting to Dadaji was met with a teasing smile playing on the old man's lips, a smile that spoke of the resilience that had carried him through decades of life's trials.

"Dadi," Adwait began, his voice calm but with a sharp edge of restrained anger

"I need to talk to you alone

His words were measured, controlled, but the tension was palpable, like a taut string ready to snap.

Dadi's eyes narrowed slightly as she studied his face, sensing the tension that radiated from him, the way his shoulders were set, the tightness around his mouth.

Before she could respond, Dadaji chimed in, his tone playful yet carrying the weight of an old joke that had been told too many times to lose its charm.

"malti this isn't fair,Even Adwait is here to share everything with you.

And I'm the one who worked so hard to bring them up, but still, they love you more than me."