Ikshika looked up at the sky as its water mixed with her own tears. Despite the cold, the rain had suddenly begun to pour. Beside her stood a five-year-old girl, gripping a tiny bag tightly to her chest and staring at Ikshita with heavy eyes.

“Mausi…” the girl whispered.
Ikshita didn’t look at her; she only kept staring at the sky.

Her day had been the same as always until she came home from her job. Her sister, who had run away from home to marry her love, had somehow come to meet her… but not in the way she expected. Ikshita didn’t even know she had come. She only found a little girl standing outside her apartment door, holding a small bag and a letter.

Ikshita’s thoughts halted when she felt the little girl beside her shivering, clutching the side of her T-shirt tightly.

“Go back inside,” Ikshita whispered.
The girl quietly walked back into the house.

Please accept her. She is the apple of my eye, but I didn’t have her under the right circumstances. I love my husband, but one night I accidentally slept with someone who wasn’t him… and I got pregnant. I never told my husband. I always hid it. But a few days ago, he found out.

After endless fights, he forgave me… but his behaviour toward my little Advika changed. He started hitting her for the smallest mistakes. Not normal hits—he broke her ribs.

I can’t let her stay in a place where she’s abused. I don’t want to leave her in an orphanage either. I’m dropping her to you. I can’t meet your eyes after this, so I’m leaving her outside our parents’ house. I will not interfere in your life. I don’t want anything from our parents’ property or money. After Dad’s accident, you took care of him alone. I have no right to be called their daughter—I abandoned you when you needed me most.

But please take care of my precious daughter. Her name is Advika. She’s such a sweet girl. Please accept her. Please accept motherhood—it’s a beautiful feeling.

The rain-soaked letter slipped from her hands and dissolved into the mud.

A heart-wrenching scream tore from her lips. She fell to her knees, clutching her hair.

“Why… just why? Why? My life had just begun to feel stable and now everything is ruined again. First, when Didi ran away, Dad was so depressed he met with that accident and ended up paralyzed. I took care of him believing he would get better, but he left me. He left me alone in this world. And now—now I have to become a single mother. What about me? What about my life?” she cried, every word soaked in anguish.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

“Why can’t you just show me your reports?” Advik whisper-yelled.

Aryan opened the folder on his phone and only showed him the last line:

“Due to severe end-stage cardiomyopathy and progressive heart failure, the patient’s prognosis is extremely poor with limited time remaining.”

“Forward me your report. I want to go through it once,” Advik said in the most serious tone. Aryan’s face remained emotionless. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and stared at the dance floor.

“Aryan, come on, man. Don’t sit here like Devdas. Show me the report. Something is fishy.” Advik failed to hide the worry in his voice.

“I’m going to die soon. How will my parents live? My reports were clear last year, and suddenly this shows up? Now that I have only a few days left, I’m going to do all the things I never did.” Aryan downed his drink.

“Dude, stop your bullshit,” Advik said, snatching the half-empty glass and patting his shoulder.

“How am I supposed to break this news? Dad has asked for my reports a thousand times. How do I tell them their handsome son is going to die soon?” Aryan whispered, lowering his head onto the counter. His shoulders shook as though he were crying.

“I’m asking for your report, you motherfucker,” Advik said and smacked his head.

“I’m not sharing it. I’ll go home and hug my mother until I die. What happened to my heart suddenly? Everything was fine last year,” Aryan cried.

“There must be some issue, idiot. You always had heart conditions but nothing this severe. You got these tests done early because of a cold—and we both know your tiny body can’t handle even a cold. Yet the report mentions nothing about your lungs. Let me read it once,” Advik said, growing more anxious.

Aryan glared at him.

“I’m a doctor too, right? Or did I buy my degree from the market?”

“You’re a pediatrician…” Advik zipped his mouth shut under Aryan’s glare.

“So what? You think I can’t read my own report? And don’t remind me that I couldn’t choose the specialty I wanted because of my dad and my weak heart. None of it matters now. I’m going to die.” Aryan muttered, reaching for another glass—but Advik snatched that too.

“I think the rain has stopped. Shall we go?”

“Nah. You’re staying with me until I leave. I want bhabhi to scold you for coming home late,” Aryan murmured, resting his head on Advik’s shoulder.

“That, she’ll definitely do,” Advik muttered.

“Go away. I’m going to do all the things I never did, so I don’t regret dying,” Aryan mumbled, pushing him off.

“Take care,” Advik chuckled and left.

※※※

Ikshita stepped off the cab wearing a short black dress that ended mid-thigh. Her makeup hid her puffy, tear-stained eyes perfectly.

“Before becoming a single mother, I’m going to enjoy tonight. Before accepting my fate, I will live. Truly live. I want to know how it feels to be touched, to be held—something I’ve never felt in my twenty-four years. I will drink, dance, and take a man tonight. I don’t care. Tomorrow, I’ll forget all of this and embrace motherhood. I used to wonder how love feels. But now I know—I’m never getting love. Who would marry a woman with a child? Even though she isn’t mine, I won’t leave her alone. Tonight… I’ll do whatever I want.” she whispered to herself.

With determination, she walked inside. A few drinks later, her eyes drifted toward the dance floor, but she shook her head—she knew she couldn’t dance.

Then her gaze fell on a man sitting alone, staring at his drink like it had stolen something precious from him before setting it down.

After avoiding a few creepy faces, she approached the only man who looked decent in a place like this.

“Hey,” Ikshita’s voice was half-drunk, half-steady.

Aryan loosened his grip on his hair and glanced sideways, finding Ikshita in pointed heels, a short black dress, and loose hair. He looked away.

“Give me something else,” he muttered to the bartender, his voice heavy with sadness.

“Do you want to sleep with me?”