𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬

XXI

Also please don't be a silent reader. Do comment and vote.

-

I am my mother's unwanted extension of herself, the way she is mine.

-

The woman in the elegant white sari, with a composed but distant look on her face, glanced up slowly as the two men entered.

Her gaze settled on Arjun and Rishiv, a faint, unreadable smile playing at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes, dark and reflective, held a gaze that seemed to pierce right through them, and the room seemed to close in with a tension that could be felt by everyone present.

"You're finally back," she commented softly, as if she'd been waiting there for hours, or maybe even years.

Arjun and Rishiv halted mid-step. The air between them and the woman was electric, charged with years of unspoken words, forgotten pain, and abandoned promises. Arjun felt an uncomfortable tightness in his chest as he managed to find his voice.

"Ma?" he whispered, the shock in his voice almost inaudible.

Beside him, Rishiv's face was a mirror of disbelief, his normally sharp features softened by confusion and an edge of hurt that he couldn't mask no matter how hard he tried.

Bhavna Singhania, the woman who had once held the role of mother to them, the woman who had vanished from their lives without a trace, was standing there, gazing at them as if nothing had changed.

She looked calm, almost serene, as if she were simply another guest, completely unfazed by the weight of her return. Her expression was a mix of tranquility and poise, the kind of bearing that came naturally to her, yet her eyes carried something deeper-something that didn't belong in this scene.

Sara and Kashvi exchanged glances. Though they had heard the name Bhavna Singhania in passing, she was mostly a figure of mystery, often mentioned in whispered fragments, like a ghost that haunted the family's history. But seeing her here, in the flesh, they could feel the weight she held in the family dynamics, and the stillness that came with her presence was unsettling to say the least.

Arjun's body tensed, and his fists clenched by his side as he fought to keep his voice steady. He had imagined this moment in his mind a thousand times, each scenario filled with the fury and heartbreak he felt that day she left. Now that she was here, it was almost as if he couldn't contain the tidal wave of emotions he'd long since buried. Yet he fought to keep his face neutral, unwilling to give her any sense of satisfaction or remorse.

"What are you doing here?" Arjun's words were laced with ice, each syllable cutting the space between them.

Her smile faltered, but only briefly, before she recovered with the grace she was known for. "I heard you've been... busy," she replied, sidestepping his question. Her tone was calm, almost condescending, as if she were speaking to a couple of children instead of the two grown men standing before her.

Arjun's jaw clenched tightly, and a surge of old memories flashed through his mind. He remembered the exact day she left-the bitter, cold morning when everything changed. He was only a child, but the feeling of abandonment was as vivid in his mind as if it had happened yesterday.

He could still feel the weight of his desperation as he dropped to his knees, begging her not to go. He had clung to her arm, sobbing, pleading, begging her to stay, not to leave them alone with their father. He had never felt so helpless in his life.

But she had pushed him aside without a second glance, her face cold and unyielding. He remembered watching as she calmly got into the car, her departure as effortless and heartless as if she were merely leaving behind an inconvenience.