I came back after 15 years. Yes fifteen long years away from her. Everything looks the same, yet something feels missing.

The street, the scent of the air, the rustle of the trees they all welcomed me like an old friend. I didn't miss this place, or my family. But I missed her....my little bird.

She has been with me since I was ten.. I can still see her, those deep, deo shaped eyes that sparkled with mischief, her chubby cheeks that used to turn rosy when she laughs. Her waist length long hair that danced with the winds. Her tiny feet pattered around the house, her little palm wrapped around my finger, I remember everything.

I still remember the day, when I tugged on my granny's saree and told her "I want her." The memory hasn't faded, not even a little. It's all still so fresh, like it happened just yesterday.

________

"No Dadi, she'll stay with me! My voice pierced through the quite drawing room like a crack in glass. My small face, flushed with frustration, quivered with determination. At only ten year old, i already spoke with the authority of a conqueror, one who was never denied anything.

Dadi looked down with a mix of confusion and unease, "she's....the cleaner's daughter, Raghav. You shouldn't befriend someone like her."

"I don't care." I shouted, fist cleanched "I want her, only her." There was a pause, a long one, Mrs Malhotra who stood nearby her expression tight and unreadable.

Finally,

She exhaled, "Alright, alright." She muttered, defeated by love, "How can I go against you wish my prince."

***************

"Rajesh," said the madam of the house, her manicured fingers drummed against the polished wood of her thron like chair.

Rajesh blinked, unsure if he had heard correctly, "Madam...but she is just a child."

"Your child," she said coldly "is now important to our raghav, he wants her." She paused letting the words sink in before leaning back. " Twenty thousand monthly, you will get, if she stays.... If she obeys."

Rajesh lowered his eyes to the floor, he had never seen such money in his life, "okay madam." He wishpered, "she will stay, she will do whatever the prince says."

*************

"Mommy" the luttle girl sobbed, clinging to her mother's dress, "Please don't send me there, I will be good here.....I don't want to go away."

Her mother pushed her away roughly, voice like ice, "you unlucky girl, what do you think this is? A choice."

The woman eyes flashed with cruelty, "You have always been a burden, one we never asked for. Now finally you're worth something. Twenty thousand every month, and you are saying no?"

She grabbed the child's face in her calloused hands bringing it close, "Listen carefully, if they tell you to sit, you will sit. If they ask you to stand, you will stand. If they say it's morning than it is, even if the moon is right above your head."

Tears streamed down the girl's cheek. Her mother hissed," if you dare to come back here, then you'll see what I will fo to you."

**************

The mansion loomed like a silent palace, all marbel and shadows. At the dinner table, Raghav sat quitely the plate untouched.

"Raghav darling," dadi said gently "eat something my love."

He turned to her with serious eyes, "Where is she?"

Mrs Malhotra blinked, "who?"

"The girl," he said "Bring her, I won't eat without her."

Minutes later, a small fighre emerged from behind the heavy curtain drapes, her tiny feet barely making a sound against the cold floor. She moved like a ghost, her big eyes scanning the unfamiliar faces.

She stood at the edge of the dinning room her hands clasped in front of her, heart pounding. She had never seen such a large table.... Or such silence.

Raghav looked at her, then picked up his spoon and began to eat, peacefully. She didn't spoke, didn't move, just stood there Still. Silent. Present.

******************

"She shouldn't be near him!" Raghav's mother seethed later that night.

"She's nothing, A flithy child from the slums."

Dadi waver her hand dismissively, "Our prince wanted her, and he'll have everything his heart desires." She took a sip of her night herbal tea, calm and composed. "Planes, estates... and even girls."

Raghav's mother stared at her, "You really think this is wise?"

Dadii smiled faintly."let him enjoy. It's just a phase. In a few days, he'll get bored of her, and when he does..." She stood up slowly, adjusting her silk shawl."...we'll throw her out like yesterday's garbage."

Flashback ends

______________

My dadi welcomed me at the gate of the mansion, her eyes misty, her arms open wide. The walls, the corridors, the scent of old wood and jasmine, everything looked the same.

Yes ...... Something was missing.

Her

Her presence.

That gentle, growing warmth that once filled every corner of this place.

My eyes searched for her desperately scanning every face, every shadow.

Hoping to catch even a glimpse.

But she was nowhere. I had gone abroad for my higher studies. Leaving behind the only person I never wanted to part from.

Even back then, a part of me whispered, "Don't go." But sometimes, life doesn't ask. It just takes.

And now......after fifteen long years, I've returned.

This time Older, Changed but one thing remains the same.

And this time....I won't let her slip away from me. I'll keep her. I'll make her mine forever.

So what, if she is married?

She will be mine.

After greeting my granny and my little baby sister, I settled beside them on the custom made traditional velvet couch in the living room. The same one where I made so many memories with her.

Mom and dad had flown to England for my convocation, and now what felt like a lifetime. I'm here. I had missed her. Her voice, laughter, the warmth of her home.

But if I'm being honest....I missed everything about her the most. But I know she's not here. Deep down, I know it. But still....I want to believe my man was wrong.

Yes! My man

Because when it comes to my little bird, I trust no one here. Not a soul....except my baby sister. She's the only one whose heart ever softened for her.

That's why I placed a guard, not just any guard, but one sworn to care for her in anything she might need. And to report to me the moment something anything felt off. Because even if I was away my heart hasn't let her go.

The day she got married....I was at my convocation. Busy smiling for cameras shaking hands completely unaware of the strim back home.

Vivek tried to reach me, he did called, messages everything. But by the time I saw it, it was already too late. She was married

To Rahul, The driver's son, Rahul.

Can you believe that? After everything, after all the love, protection, sacrifices. She chose him.

Why? What the hell happened? What made her do this?

No answer. No explanation. Just silence....and a thousand question burning in my chest.

With every passing second, a strange impatience rising in me.

My heart was already searching, racing ahead of me.

I couldn't hold it in any longer. I turned to dadi, my voice soft but edged with longing, "where is Nandini?" I asked, the name trembling on my lips like a prayer. Which I used to whisper for years.

Dadi didn't even look at me when she spoke.

Her voice was flat, almost careless. "She doesn't live here anymore," she said as if. It were just another piece of old news.

My heart skipped although it knew everything.

"What does that mean?" I snapped, unable to mask the anger rising in my throat.

She finally looked at me, unbothered and stern "she got married, last week." Just like that. No hesitation, no softness.

As if she doesn't know how much those words were tearing something inside me apart.

As if it didn't matter.

But it did. To me, it did.

More than anything.

I shot up from the couch, fists clenched breath ragged.

My heart thundered in my chest, anger surging through every vein. "Where is she?" I demnded, my voice sharp, barely holding back the rage.

Dadi looked at me calmly too calm, "she doesn't live here anymore," she said.

My hands clenched into fists, "it was me who used to pay for her, she is mine to decide, not yours not anyone else's." My voice rose, shaking with fury.

I took a breath, "call her back." The words weren't a request, they were an order. Because whatever had happened. Whatever the madness this was-it will end now.

Before she could answer, a deeper voice cut through the tension.

"Raghav!" My father Harish Malhotra stood up, his expression hard. "Is this how you speak to your grandmother? Have you forgotten your manners completely?"

But no amount of warning, no sharo tone could stop the firs rising in me. The rage was louder than reason. I wasn't just angry, i was shattered

Dadi's vouce cut through him, calm, cold, and deliberate. "It's alright, son," she said without even looking at him. "Let me handel this."

She turned to me then, her expression unreadable stone-like, untouched by any emotion, "I know this is hard for you to accept, Raghav. But it's the truth and you'll have to live with it.'

She paused, her eyes narrowing slightly, hatered flickering behind them, "that flithy girl has gotten married." She didn't flinch, didn't soften. As if every word wasn't another knife to my chest,

As if she didn't know how much nandini meant to me.

How could she do this? How could she, of all the people, betray me like this?

No, she can't, She wouldn't. There has to be more to this. There must be something deep.

Because the Nandini I knew, the Nandini I adroed woul've never walked away without a word. Not from me,not like this.

*****************************************

Three days. It's been three fucking days and still there is no sign of her, not even a glimpse.

It's been three days since I returned, since I demanded for her to be brought back. But it's like she is daring me. Like she's dancing on the edge of a blade, testing how far I will go before I snap.

And today I was done waiting, I was completely ready to drag her back with my bare hands if she didn't come. Drag her straight into my damn room and make sure every ounce of fury burning inside me. No more patience, no mo

re mercy.

But then....she came. Finally she is here, right in front of my room.

And now the storm I have been holding in is just inches away from being unleashed.