FORCED MARRIAGE WITH BROTHER IN LAW

chapter 67

It was Kittu's birthday when the first pains struck.

Y/N had spent the day fussing over her cousin — cooking her favorite food, decorating their small basement apartment with balloons from the dollar store, saving every tip she'd earned just to buy a small cake.

But by evening, Kittu was doubled over, sweat pouring down her face. Hours later, in a stark hospital room with the scent of antiseptic thick in the air, a baby's cry broke the silence.

A boy.

Y/N was the first to hold him. Her arms trembled as she cradled the tiny, wrinkled body, his fists waving, his mouth wide with sound. Tears streamed down her cheeks — not from exhaustion, not from fear, but from something deeper.

"You won't be like me," she whispered, pressing her lips to his forehead. "You won't feel unwanted. Not ever. I'll give you everything you need. Everything I never had."

Kittu's Refusal

But when the nurse tried to place the baby in Kittu's arms, she turned her head away.

"I don't want him," she muttered hoarsely. "Take him. I can't—"

The nurse blinked in surprise. Y/N's chest tightened.

"You have to feed him," Y/N pleaded softly.

"No," Kittu snapped, her eyes dull with exhaustion and shame. "I said no. I want him gone."

Her words echoed like poison in the sterile room.

The nurse hesitated, unsure what to do. And so Y/N stepped forward, clutching the baby close, rocking him gently.

"If you won't be his mother," she whispered, "then I will."

The Name

Days later, when the paperwork came, Kittu refused to even write a name. She waved her hand, as if the baby were a burden she wanted erased.

"You name him if you care so much," she said coldly.

Y/N looked at the boy in her arms, sleeping peacefully against her chest. His tiny breath warmed her skin, his heartbeat steady against hers.

"Khwaab," she whispered. "Because he is my dream. The one I never knew I needed."

Four Years of Love

Time passed. While Kittu focused on regaining her body, shedding weight, and preparing for her future, Y/N carried the baby through sleepless nights and long days. She worked shifts with him strapped to her chest, studied with him napping beside her, soothed his fevers, and smiled at his first steps.

She was his mother. His father. His everything.

And for four years, Khwaab never once felt unwanted.

When Kittu's marriage was finally arranged, Y/N agreed to return to India for two months. The thought of leaving Canada filled her with unease, but there was no choice — family expected it, and Kittu demanded it.

She carefully folded Khwaab's tiny clothes, tucking them into a small suitcase. His blanket, worn thin at the edges from years of comfort, still carried his scent. His favorite toy — a stuffed rabbit with one ear drooping — lay at the top.

But as much as she longed to take him, she couldn't.

No one in India knew. Not their parents, not Taehyung, not anyone. The truth about Khwaab would explode their carefully held lies. And Y/N couldn't risk him being taken from her — or worse, being treated as the mistake Kittu had always called him.

Raj

Raj was the only person she trusted. A quiet, dependable friend she had met during her first year in Canada. He had seen Y/N struggling — studying late nights, working two jobs, rocking a baby who cried from colic — and instead of walking away, he stepped in.

He would buy groceries when she had no money left. Hold Khwaab for an hour so she could rest. Sometimes he'd show up at her door after a shift, just to ask, "Have you eaten?"

So when the time came, Y/N turned to him.

"I need you," she whispered, her voice breaking as she looked at the boy curled in her arms. "I have to go to India for Kittu's wedding. Just two months. Can you... can you take care of him?"

Raj hesitated only for a moment before nodding. "He's like family to me too. Don't worry, Y/N. He'll be safe with me."

Leaving

The night before her flight, Y/N sat on the floor beside Khwaab's crib. He was four now, his soft snores filling the small apartment. She brushed his hair back from his forehead, tears slipping silently down her cheeks.

"I'll be back before you know it," she whispered, kissing his temple. "You are my dream, my Khwaab. And I will never let anyone take that from you."

Her heart felt torn in two as she left him with Raj the next morning. The boy reached for her, tiny hands outstretched, confusion clouding his big eyes. Y/N forced herself to smile, hiding her own breaking.

"Be good," she said softly, pressing the rabbit toy into his hands. "Mama will be back soon."

And then she turned away, because if she looked back, she knew she wouldn't be able to leave.