His Bride

19 / The Truth We Hide

Arushi's POV

Everyone in the family had accepted Aadhi and me without hesitation. Their warmth, their smiles, their words—it was as if we had always been a part of this world. But despite their acceptance, a nagging doubt stayed with me, heavy and unrelenting. They believed us. They believed the lies we had spun, the story we had woven for them about our supposed love, our marriage, and Aadhi's place in our lives.

But none of it was true. The truth was buried beneath a web of deception, and I could feel it slowly strangling me.

I stood in Dhruv's room, staring out the window, my mind racing. The weight of the moment felt heavier than ever. I had become a part of his life in ways I never expected, but now that his family had accepted us, I couldn't help but wonder—what would happen when they learned the truth? What would happen when they realized that Aadhi wasn't his daughter by blood, that our marriage wasn't a fairytale romance, but a contract forged out of necessity?

I didn't hear him at first, lost in my thoughts, until I felt the presence behind me. Dhruv had entered the room, closing the door quietly behind him. I turned to face him, my chest tight.

"Dhruv..." I started, my voice trembling despite my efforts to remain calm. "This is wrong. Your family is so good to us. They've accepted me, they've accepted Aadhi. And I... I feel like I'm cheating on them."

I looked at him, unable to hold back the conflict swirling inside me. "They all believe that Aadhi is your daughter and we married out of love. But it's all a lie..."

The words hung between us, heavy with unspoken truths. I couldn't ignore it anymore. The weight of this deception had become unbearable, and it gnawed at my conscience with every passing day. It felt like we were living in a bubble, pretending to be something we weren't. And I hated myself for it.

"I can't do this," I whispered, my voice strained. "I can't keep living a lie, Dhruv."

There was silence for a moment. The air around us seemed to grow thick, suffocating. His eyes were fixed on mine, dark and unreadable, as though trying to gauge the depth of my words, the sincerity behind them.

Finally, he stepped closer to me, his presence commanding and yet somehow gentle in that moment. He didn't say anything right away. His gaze softened, and for the first time, I saw the vulnerability behind his usual façade of strength.

"Arushi," he said, his voice low, yet filled with authority. "You don't need to apologize. I understand how you feel. We never planned for any of this—neither of us did. But the truth... the truth is complicated. I know that. But this—" He paused, glancing toward the door, as if to ensure the privacy of the moment. "This is bigger than both of us now."

I looked down at my hands, the weight of his words settling in. "But Dhruv, they deserve the truth. They deserve to know who we really are, what we really are."

He exhaled, his jaw tightening. "Do they? Do they really need to know everything? They've accepted us. They see Aadhi as my daughter. They see us as a family. I won't let that get ruined by the past we're trying to bury."

I shook my head, my chest tightening with the frustration of it all. "It's not about ruining anything, Dhruv. It's about the fact that we're living a lie. The longer we hide this, the worse it will be for them when they find out. It won't just be about our past anymore—it'll be about the foundation of everything we've built. I don't want to be the reason their trust in you, in us, is shattered."

His eyes softened at the sincerity in my voice, but his expression remained guarded, like he was weighing every word. "I get it. Believe me, I do. But we've made a choice to stay here, to stay with them, to let them think what they think."

"But it's not just about us anymore. It's about Aadhi too." My voice broke slightly as I said her name. "She's not just caught in this web of lies because of us. She's a part of this family now, and we owe it to her to tell them the truth. We owe it to ourselves to stop pretending."

There was another silence, longer this time, as Dhruv seemed to battle with his own thoughts. I watched him closely, my heart beating loudly in my chest. This wasn't just about us anymore. This was about everything we had built, the fragile foundation we had created with our lies. But it was also about Aadhi, about giving her something real, something she could hold onto when she grew older.

Finally, Dhruv spoke, his voice quieter now, but there was something resolved in his tone. "I can't promise when, Arushi. But I hear you. I do." He paused, his gaze never leaving mine. "We'll tell them, when the time is right. We won't do it all at once. Not yet. But we will."

I wanted to argue, to press him harder, but I saw the look in his eyes—the same look that had always kept me at a distance, but now seemed to hold something more. Perhaps it was regret, or maybe it was something else, something deeper. But there was a promise in his gaze that I wasn't sure I could trust yet.

"For now," he continued, his hand moving gently to mine, "let's keep this between us. Let's keep the family safe, together. You and Aadhi... you're my family now. I won't let anything tear that apart."

His words were final, and though I still felt the weight of the truth, something in his conviction made me pause. Maybe this wasn't the right time to reveal everything. Maybe there was more at stake than we knew.

I nodded slowly, though the unease didn't quite leave me. "Alright, Dhruv. But you know that sooner or later, the truth will come out. And I don't want us to lose everything we've gained... especially Aadhi."

"I know." He squeezed my hand gently, his gaze never leaving mine. "We'll figure it out. Together."

The promise in his voice lingered in the air as he pulled me closer, holding me for a moment longer. And even though my mind was still clouded with doubts, for the first time in a long while, I allowed myself to believe that maybe, just maybe, we could navigate this lie without losing everything we had built.

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