Meant to be yours

The truth

Anamika's POV:

I always thought my family told me everything. That even when they sheltered me, it was only from the small things—the stress of Dad’s business, Maa’s health worries, the little cracks every house has but pretends don’t exist.

But that night, sitting in the living room with them, I realized how wrong I was.

Maa’s hands were clasped too tightly in her lap, her knuckles pale. Dad looked… tired. Not work-tired. Defeated-tired. Something in my stomach twisted before they even spoke.

“Beta,” Maa started, her voice careful, too careful. “There’s something we should have told you earlier. About Anshul.”

My chest tightened. “What about him?”

Dad exhaled, long and heavy, as though the weight of his words had been pressing on him for years. “He’s been using drugs.”

The world tilted for a moment. My brother—loud, arrogant, infuriating, but still my brother—hooked on drugs? “What?” I heard myself say, sharper than I meant. “Since when?”

They exchanged a look, and I hated that look—like conspirators, like they’d had this conversation a hundred times without me.

“Longer than we realized,” Dad admitted. “We thought it was just partying. But it wasn’t. It grew. And then… Payal.”

The mention of her name slammed into me. “Payal?” I whispered.

Maa’s eyes filled, and she shook her head. “He was cruel to her, Anamika. Controlling. Shouting. Accusing. Worse. abusive.  Her voice broke. “He wasn’t himself… or maybe he was, and we didn’t want to see it.”

For a second, everything inside me went quiet. Then the anger came—fast, sharp, unrelenting.

“He abused her?” The words scraped out of me.

Their silence was answer enough.

I felt my fists clench so tight my nails bit into my palms. Images of Payal flashed in my head—her jokes at breakfast, her little arguments with Riya, the way she carried herself like nothing could touch her. And behind all that… she’d been hiding this? My own brother had put her through hell, and I never knew?

Dad’s voice was low, guilt-ridden. “She left him. We told ourselves that was the end of it. That cutting him off would protect everyone. But Payal, she still carries those scars. She lost almost everything.”

I couldn’t sit still anymore. I shot to my feet, my chest heaving. “She went through that. And no one thought to tell me? You let me live here with her, laugh with her, while she carried that burden alone? How could you?”

Maa reached for my hand, but I pulled back. I didn’t want comfort. I wanted answers. I wanted time to rewind so I could stop whatever happened between her and Anshul,  my fists raised. To be the friend, Payal deserved.

The clock ticked in the silence that followed, steady, merciless.

For the first time in my life, I looked at my parents and saw them not as protectors, but as keepers of secrets. And my brother—my blood—was someone I couldn’t even bear to think about without feeling sick.

Everything I thought I knew about my family cracked in that moment.

And those cracks had already cut too deep. They then gave the document containing his drugs usage .
" Not only Payal, Ishika lost her mother because of him. " My dad said, shattering me further.
" Wh what? " I asked him in despair.
" That night, Anshul was high on drugs and drove with Payal. He hit Ishika's mom and crash the car at a pole. Both her mom and Ishika along with Payal are  injured. Her mom passed away after a while. "
" Does Ishi know about this? " I asked my parents as my mom came and hugged me.
" No. But her father knew. I told him when I arranged your marriage with her.  We covered entire accident as a minor one. Payal then broke up with Anshul and disappeared for a while. " My dad said as he came close to me.
I moved away from them as I looked at them angrily.
" Leave. " I said as I turned away.
" Anu, we don't want " I stopped them by shouting " I said leave. I don't want to hear you guys. "