Adhura Alviida 2

secrets

Aditya washed his face in the mirror before running his fingers tightly over the skin in order to reduce the burning sensation. He was worried for his dear life. Now that Zoya was here, the chances of his secret being revealed intensified even more. He could tolerate anything in the world but not that secret being revealed. If she found out, she would snatch Aadhya away from him. And he couldn't let her take Aadhya away, their baby girl was his only reason to live again. And moreover, he couldn't bear to watch the disgust in Zoya's eyes when she found out the truth about him. Despite only coming to know of it in the last four years, it still carried immense burden to destroy his little family. And Aditya would not let it. He wouldn't let his wife go away nor his daughter. He would fight his own demons for them, but he would never allow them to go from him again.

**

Zoya looked on in amusement as her little girl walked into the kitchen with her stuffed teddy bear in one hand and her eyes rubbing the other. Her formerly neatly plaited braid was now ruffled out as she had moved a lot in her sleep. She yawned coming into the kitchen. When her vision settled, her eyes opened wide as the realization sunk in. Aadhya ran to her mother and engulfed her in a hug as Zoya fought back tears embracing her little one. She had missed so much of her life, her own daughter was not used to seeing her.

"Good morning, ammi!" Aadhya said, while embracing her mother even tighter. "I can't believe you're really here!"

Zoya wiped her tears before placing a kiss atop her daughter's forehead. "And I'll never not be here, baby." She said while cupping her chin. She couldn't stop admiring the little lady her daughter had become. She had missed eight whole years of her life and nothing was ever going to separated them again, she swore.

"What would you like for breakfast, love?" Zoya hated the fact that she didn't even know her own daughter's likes and dislikes.

"Ammi, leave it! Today I want to prepare breakfast for you!" Aadhya said proudly while opening the fridge's door and taking out a carton of eggs.

"Really? You know how to cook?" Zoya asked in confusion.

"Of course, ammi! I cook all the time! It's my favorite hobby, I even make dinner for Papa sometimes." She exclaimed.

Zoya looked on in confusion as her daughter began chopping up some remnants of mushroom and spinach before mixing it in a bowl along with the egg yolk. How did an eight-year-old child know how to cook so skillfully, she was confused. Why was Aditya allowing her to do all of this? A child should be outside playing with their friends, not inside doing household chores.

"Aadhya, leave this! Who taught you how to cook?"

"No one, mumma."

"So, how come you decided to do this yourself, baby?"

"Sometimes I just get bored at home and Papa doesn't talk to me much so I tried to make his fav—"

Aadhya bit her tongue when she realized what she was saying. She didn't want to instigate her own mother against her father. She saw how brutally they fought yesterday and the scene replayed itself in front of her eyes. The last thing she needed to do was give her mother another reason to fight with her father. She wanted to have a happy family like her other friends did, with a mother and father, she didn't want to be the cause of problems between them.

Zoya trembled hearing her daughter speak of Aditya and her's faltered relationship. It hadn't even occurred to her the relationship dynamics of what they shared. She understood that Aadhya was attached to her family in Mussorie yet she wanted to stay with Aditya and Aditya, too, insisted on them staying here. It was utter confusion in her mind. She needed clarification.