The Rathore's Family

Advait's POV

The last thing I ever wanted to hear came from my brother’s mouth: "Am I really becoming like our father?"

Those words—they’re like venom, burning inside me, eating away at everything I thought I understood about my life. How?

How could he, the person I once looked up to, who I admired, want to become like him? The man who betrayed us so thoroughly that even after all these years, the wound is still raw.

He never thought about us. Not his wife, not his children. And it kills me—because I remember when he loved my mother. If he truly loved her, then why? Why did he shatter everything? All the promises he made, all the ties he had to us... he broke them without a second thought. It’s like we never even mattered.

I was just ten years old. How does a child make sense of something like that? To have the one person you trust most in the world...just walk away. I idolized him, you know? I thought he was invincible, and then—he was gone. He didn't just leave us; he betrayed everything. Our relationships, emotionally, financially, in every possible way. And then he ran off with her, leaving my mom, my brother, Vihaan, and my sister behind.

He left us.

TEJ SINGH RATHORE,LEFT US SHATTERED IN EVERY WAY

That was the end of my innocence, the end of emotions. I killed that part of myself. The part that cared for him. For years, I pretended he didn’t exist, and I convinced myself I never needed him.

Nine years later, when I was 19, I saw him again. In the office, of all places. After all those years of silence, there he was with another sob story. The woman he left us for? She betrayed him. Tit for tat, I guess. Karma, right? But I didn’t care. I couldn’t care.

He tried to convince Chachu and Dadu to let him back into our lives. He used every emotional trick in the book, but it didn’t work. They were stronger than me. But Dadi? He got to her. Of course, he did. "A mother’s heart is too soft to see her child in pain," they say. But I say—what good is a soft heart if it grows a seed that poisons everyone else’s happiness?

And then, while I was away fighting for our future, for my brother, for my mother, for our happiness—he wormed his way back into our house. Some people accepted it, some didn’t. But once things are out of your hands, what can you do?

And as much as I hate Dadi for this...I hate my mother more. Why didn’t she fight? Why didn’t she stand up for herself? For us? When I confronted her, when I demanded to know why she allowed him back in, she said she just wanted a "happy family." What a joke. The words make me laugh even now. A happy family. What does that even mean? Was it just a label to her? A hollow word to justify everything we lost?

The sound of my phone ringing pulled me back from the mess that is my life. I looked at the screen, and the caller was the last person I expected—my wife.

In all this darkness, she’s the one bright spot. She shines, even in the faintest light. But what’s she doing calling at this hour? She should be asleep.

I answered, and before I could speak, I heard her voice, firm, commanding, "Where are you right now?"

I glanced around at the trees and the grass, feeling the cool breeze on my skin. "I’m asking you!" Her voice was sharper now, more impatient.

"I... I’m at the office," I lied. How could I tell her where I really was?

"At this time?" Her suspicion was clear in her tone.

I hummed in response, not knowing what else to say, and then... she cut the call.

Wow. Tonight is full of surprises. Should I be angry? Should I laugh? I don’t even know anymore. But why did she call me in the first place? I redialed her number, but of course, she didn’t pick up.