Arnav’s eyes closed, the warmth of her arms washing over the coldness he had carried for half a lifetime.
“I know you hated me,” Chyntia continued, her words tumbling between broken sobs, “but do you know how I suffered, too? I was desperate, Arnav. Desperate when I couldn’t see you, couldn’t touch you. The misunderstanding between us, it poisoned everything. And we… we never truly spoke. Not once. We both turned away. We let our silence ruin us.”
Her grip tightened, as though she feared he might slip away again.
“Just like you, I was in torment,” she whispered, her tears wetting his shoulder. “I was consumed by guilt… by shame. I was childish, stubborn, and selfish. I hurt you… and I abandoned my duty as a mother.”
Then, with a shuddering breath, she spoke the words she had carried fo
