Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh (Completed)

Chapter 93 Daughter's Betrayal

Aarav sat alone in the dim, still darkness of the guest room, the faint creak of the rocking chair echoing like a melancholic lullaby in the silence. The steady motion of the chair was hypnotic, a slow, measured sway that mirrored the turbulence in his heart. Outside the room, the house was alive with sounds of joy and celebration. Laughter, clattering dishes, and muffled voices preparing for the next pre-wedding ritual filled the air, but the warmth and liveliness of it all felt distant like a world to which Aarav no longer belonged.

His mind churned with the memory of what he had overheard earlier between Manvi and Khushi. The conversation played on an endless loop, each word cutting him deeper, each revelation more painful than the last. His daughter had been secretly meeting with Maya-Maya-the woman who had once torn his life apart, leaving him shattered beyond recognition. Khushi, the child he had fought so hard to protect from the poison Maya had sown, was now pulled back into her web.

Aarav's heart constricted at the thought. He had spent years rebuilding his life, painstakingly stitching together the fragile pieces of his relationship with Khushi. Maya's cruelty had left deep scars, both emotional and physical. Aarav could still feel the phantom weight of the chains she had bound him with both literal and figurative during the worst of their marriage. The humiliations, the punishments, and the manipulation it had all left him broken. But what hurt most wasn't what Maya had done to him; it was how she had poisoned his daughter against him, turning her love into suspicion, her affection into cold resentment.

But somehow, against all odds, Aarav had rebuilt what was lost. He had regained Khushi's trust, and for a while, he had believed that the worst was behind them. But now, learning that Khushi had been meeting with Maya in secret the woman who had once been the source of their suffering felt like a fresh betrayal, a knife twisting in a wound that had barely healed. Silent tears slid down Aarav's face, the only outward sign of the emotional storm ravaging his insides. His chest ached with the weight of it all years of pain, loneliness, and the fragile hope that things could ever truly be okay.

The rocking chair continued its steady rhythm, offering a false sense of comfort against the tide of his grief. He wondered if there was more that he didn't know. Was there something else lurking in the shadows that could shatter what remained of his peace? He smiled bitterly, a smile devoid of joy laced with resentment. Every time he reached for happiness, it seemed to slip through his fingers, leaving only sorrow in its wake.

He had tried to move on to find love again in Manvi to build a future that wasn't tainted by the cruelty of his past. But now, even that future felt fragile delicate and easily destroyed by the weight of secrets and lies. As the tears fell freely, glistening on his cheeks, he cursed his fate. Happiness had always felt just out of reach, a dream he could never fully grasp.

The world outside continued as if nothing was wrong, the celebrations moving forward with their own momentum. But inside the guest room, enveloped in darkness and sorrow, Aarav felt utterly alone. The quiet creaking of the rocking chair was the only sound that filled the emptiness, a slow, rhythmic reminder that life moved on, even when it felt like it had come to a standstill for him.

Just then, the soft click of the door opening broke the stillness. The room flooded with light as Manvi entered, her presence a quiet comfort in the midst of his storm. She didn't say anything as she walked over to him, her footsteps light and careful, her eyes warm with understanding. Without a word, she knelt beside him on the floor, placing a gentle hand on his arm as if to anchor him in reality. Her other hand reached out and stopped the rocking chair from moving, stilling its haunting rhythm.

Aarav's tear-filled gaze locked onto Manvi's soft, compassionate eyes, a wordless connection of shared pain. Her heart broke for him, knowing all too well the deep hurt that weighed on him now, the betrayal from his own daughter-their daughter. The air between them felt heavy, thick with the intensity of emotions that neither needed to express aloud. The dim light from the hallway cast a soft glow over them, illuminating Aarav's vulnerability and the quiet, steadfast strength in Manvi's presence beside him.