Chapter -2

Revti asked her

How did you meet my son?”

Avni opened her mouth to answer.

But before she could say anything, Harshvardhan's voice interrupted from the doorway earlier that evening.

“Everyone should rest tonight.”

His tone had been final.

“We will discuss everything tomorrow.”

And so they had.

But Revti hadn't been able to sleep.

She needed answers.

Later That Night

The Rayzada mansion had never felt this silent.

Avni sat quietly in the guest room, her fingers resting against the edge of the bed.

She had been surrounded by the most powerful family she had ever heard of, yet strangely, the only thing she could thi.nk about was him.

Arnav.

The man whose name had brought her to this mansion.

The man whose absence had left an emptiness she couldn't explain.

She slowly walked toward the window.

The curtains moved gently with the night breeze.

Outside, the moon illuminated the vast Rayzada estate.

Avni stared at it silently.

For the first time in years, she allowed herself to wonder—

Was Arnav somewhere beneath this same moon?

A soft click came from behind her.

The door opened.

Avni turned.

Revti stood there.

In her hands was a tray of food.

“You haven't eaten anything,” she said softly.

Avni immediately stepped aside.

“You didn't have to…”

“I know.”

Revti smiled faintly.

“But mothers don't wait for an invitation to worry.”

Something about those words made Avni's expression soften.

Revti placed the tray on the table.

For a moment, neither woman spoke.

Then Revti turned toward her.

There was hesitation in her eyes.

Pain too.

She gently reached for Avni's hand and held it between both of hers.

“Tell me something.”

Avni looked at her.

She squeezed Avni's hand.

“If you came here because you need money…”

Her voice trembled.

“I can give you whatever you need.”

Avni looked at her silently.

“But please…”

Revti's eyes filled with tears.

“Don't play with our emotions.”

Her voice broke.

“Just tell me the truth.”

A tear slipped down her cheek.

“Is my son really alive?”

Avni stared at her.

Something inside her shifted.

Slowly, she withdrew her hand.

Revti's fingers remained suspended in the air for a moment.

Then she lowered them.

Her eyes dropped.

For one painful second, the hope that had brought her here seemed to disappear.

But then—

Avni reached for the bag beside her.

She opened it.

And pulled out a small velvet box.

Revti looked at it curiously.

Avni opened the box.

Revti's breath stopped.

Inside lay a black-and-gold heir ring.

The Rayzada family crest was engraved across its surface.

Revti recognized it immediately.

Her trembling fingers reached toward it but stopped before touching it.

“Where…”

Her voice barely came out.

“Where did you get this?”

Avni looked at the ring.

“Your son gave it to me.”

Revti's eyes filled again.

Avni finally looked directly at her.

Then she whispered—

“Your son isn't dead.”

Revti covered her mouth.

A sob escaped her.

She pulled Avni into her arms without thinking.

For a moment, Avni remained frozen.

Then Revti held her tighter.

“My son…”

Her voice broke.

“Arnav is alive…”

Tears streamed down her face.

“He's alive…”

Avni's eyes became wet too.

But she didn't cry.

Not yet.

When they finally separated, Revti held Avni's face gently between her palms.

“Tell me everything.”

Avni sat down.

Revti sat beside her.

And Avni began.

---

4 Months Earlier

“I didn't meet Arnav in a normal way.”

Avni's eyes remained fixed on the floor.

“I was trying to escape.”

Revti listened silently.

“I grew up in an orphanage. The man who ran it was supposed to be my guardian.”

Her fingers tightened around the fabric of her dress.

“But he wasn't.”

“He had debts.”

“And he decided that I would become the payment.”

Revti's expression changed.

Avni continued calmly.

“He arranged my marriage with a much older and dangerous man who had been trying to get hold of me for years.”

“I refused.”

“So they locked me inside the orphanage until the wedding.”

“One night, I managed to escape.”

“I ran without knowing where I was going.”

“I only knew one thing…”

“I couldn't go back.”

Her voice remained strangely emotionless.

“As I was running, I collided with someone.”

Revti already knew the answer.

“Arnav?”

Avni nodded.

“I didn't know his name.”

“He looked at me once and immediately understood that I was terrified.”

“I didn't even have the chance to explain everything before the men searching for me found us.”

Avni's eyes darkened.

“Arnav stood between me and them.”

“He didn't know me.”

“He had no reason to help me.”

“But he did.”

Revti listened without interrupting.

“He took me somewhere safe.”

“And when those men came looking for me again, Arnav realized that simply hiding me wouldn't be enough.”

“He asked me something that night.”

Avni's lips curved into the faintest, saddest smile.

“He asked…”

'Do you trust me?'

“I said yes.”

“Then he married me.”

Revti's eyes widened.

“Just like that?”

Avni shook her head.

“Not because he loved me.”

“Because he wanted to give me a legal identity that no one could easily take away.”

“He made sure the marriage was legally registered.”

“He gave me his name.”

Revti looked at the ring.

“But you didn't know who he was?”

“No.”

“To me, he was simply the man who saved me.”

Avni lowered her eyes.

“We stayed together for a short time.”

“Not long enough for me to understand him.”

“But long enough for me to realize that there was something terribly lonely about him.”

“One morning, he disappeared.”

“He left a note.”

Avni's voice became quieter.

“He said the marriage had been necessary to protect me.”

“That I shouldn't wait for him.”

“That I should consider it something that never really happened.”

Revti closed her eyes.

Her son.

Even when he had disappeared from his family, he had been carrying someone else's burden.

Avni continued.

“I tried to find him.”

“I couldn't.”

“So eventually…”

“I stopped looking.”

“I returned to my life.”

“I convinced myself that Arnav was simply a chapter that had ended.”

She paused.

“Until one night…”

Revti looked at her.

2 months later, he came back.”

Avni's eyes became distant.

“I almost didn't recognize him.”

“He looked…”

She struggled to find the words.

“Empty.”

“Like something inside him had died.”

“I don't know where he had been.”

“I don't know what had happened.”

“He didn't tell me.”

“But he came to me.”

Revti listened, completely still.

“He didn't ask for anything.”

“He simply sat there.”

“Like he needed someone beside him.”

Avni swallowed.

“And I stayed.”

Her voice softened.

“I don't know when it happened.”

“When I stopped seeing him as the stranger who once saved me…”

“And started seeing him as the man I had been waiting for.”

A faint smile appeared through the sadness.

“I had fallen in love with him.”

Revti's eyes softened.

“That night…”

Avni looked away.

“It felt like everything I had lost had suddenly been returned to me.”

“He was finally there.”

“With me.”

“For one night, I thought…”

“Maybe this time he wouldn't leave.”

But morning came.

“And he was gone again.”

Revti's heart sank.

“He left another note.”

Avni's fingers trembled slightly.

“He said he didn't know why he had come to me.”

“He apologized for taking advantage of my feelings.”

“And he told me not to wait for him.”

Avni looked toward the window.

“He left the ring behind.”

“He said it was the only thing he could give me in return for everything.”

Revti looked at the heir ring again.

“That ring…”

Avni nodded.

“I didn't know what it meant.”

“I only knew it belonged to him.”

“I tried searching for him again.”

“But this time…”

“I had another reason.”

Revti's expression changed.

Avni placed a hand gently over her stomach.

“I found out I was pregnant.”

Revti's eyes immediately filled with tears.

“I didn't know where to find the father of my child.”

“Until I discovered the truth about the ring.”

“I found out it belonged to the Rayzada family.”

“And that was how I found you.”

Silence filled the room.

Revti stared at Avni for several seconds.

Then she reached for her hand again.

This time, Avni didn't pull away.

“You should have come sooner,” Revti whispered.

“I was afraid.”

“Of us?”

Avni shook her head.

“Of losing the last piece of him I had.”

Revti's eyes filled again.

She gently touched Avni's cheek.

“You didn't lose him.”

Avni looked at her.

“You brought him home.”

A tear finally escaped Avni's eye.

Revti pulled her into another embrace.

For the first time since entering the Rayzada mansion, Avni allowed herself to cry.

Revti held her like a daughter.

After a while, she gently pulled away.

“Whatever happened between you and my son…”

She looked at Avni with quiet certainty.

“If Arnav chose you when you had no one, then you will not be alone here.”

Avni looked at her, speechless.

Revti smiled through her tears.

“Now eat something.”

A tiny smile appeared on Avni's lips.

“Yes, Ma'am.”

Revti stood.

She walked toward the door, then turned back.

“Good night, Avni.”

“Good night.”

Revti paused.

Then softly added—

“And thank you… for keeping my son's ring safe.”

The door closed.

Avni sat alone once again.

Her smile disappeared.

She looked toward the velvet box resting in her hands.

Her eyes turned unreadable.

Because there was still one thing she hadn't told Revti.

The truth about that night was not as simple as she had made it sound.

And neither was the reason Arnav had disappeared again.