The day had started like any other, with Bella at the hospital attending to her duties as a junior resident doctor and Vidyut buried in meetings and contracts at his office. Little Ruhani, their precious four-month-old bundle of joy, was at home under the loving care of her grandmother. The house echoed with the soft jingles of her anklets and the sound of her giggles, filling every corner with happiness.
Bella's heart swelled with contentment whenever she thought about her little angel. Even at work, amidst the chaos of the hospital, her mind often drifted to Ruhani’s chubby little hands and the way she cooed whenever Vidyut played with her. But deep inside, there was always a nagging worry—a mother’s instinct, an unexplainable feeling that something wasn’t quite right today.
Meanwhile, Vidyut sat in his office, his fingers tapping against the desk as he stared at a report, but his mind was elsewhere. He hadn't seen Bella and Ruhani since the morning rush, and his heart ached to be with them. Just as he picked up his phone to send Bella a message, his device buzzed with an incoming call. It was Vihaan.
The moment Vidyut answered, his world stopped.
“Bhai! Ruhani… something’s wrong. She’s been crying non-stop, her skin looks flushed, and Maa—she's panicking. I’m taking her to the hospital right now,” Vihaan's voice trembled on the other end.
Vidyut felt the blood drain from his face, his heart thundering in his chest. "What? What happened? Is she—" His voice cracked, his mind racing with terrifying possibilities.
"I don’t know, Bhai. Just come fast."
Vidyut didn’t waste a second. He grabbed his car keys, barely remembering to inform his assistant before storming out of the office. His hands trembled on the steering wheel, the usually short drive to the hospital feeling like an eternity. His thoughts spiraled—was it something they missed? Had they not been careful enough? Was she in pain? The idea of his little girl suffering was enough to crush him.
Bella, too, received the news just moments later. She was in the middle of writing patient notes when her phone buzzed. Seeing Vihaan's name, she answered with a smile, but it faded instantly at his frantic words.
"Di, Ruhani... she's not well. We are bringing her to your hospital!"
Bella's breath hitched, and she dropped the pen in her hand. "What happened to my baby, Vihaan?!" Her voice cracked, her heart hammering against her ribs as panic set in.
"I don’t know... but she’s burning up."
Bella felt tears prick at her eyes as she whispered, "I’m coming." She tore off her white coat, rushing through the corridors, her legs weak with fear. The thought of her little girl in pain was unbearable. What kind of mother was she to not have been there?
As soon as Vidyut arrived at the hospital, his eyes searched frantically for his daughter. The sight of Vihaan pacing outside the emergency ward with their mother, who was visibly shaken, made his heart sink. He rushed to them. "Where is she?" he demanded, his voice thick with worry.
Vihaan swallowed hard. "Inside... the doctors are checking her."
Bella arrived seconds later, breathless and disheveled, her eyes already welling with unshed tears. Without a word, she rushed into Vidyut’s arms, sobbing softly against his chest.
"I should have been with her," she whispered brokenly, guilt weighing heavily on her.
Vidyut held her tightly, pressing a firm kiss to her hair. "We’re here now, Bella. She’ll be okay... she has to be," he murmured, though his own heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vice.
Minutes felt like hours, and every passing second gnawed at their souls. Bella's fingers clutched Vidyut's shirt, her knuckles turning white, while Vidyut's eyes remained fixed on the door to the emergency room, as if willing the doctor to come out with good news.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the doctor stepped out. Bella and Vidyut nearly stumbled over each other in their desperation to hear what he had to say.
"Doctor?" Bella's voice quivered, her eyes pleading for reassurance.
The doctor gave a small, reassuring smile. "She’s going to be fine. Ruhani had an allergic reaction—"
"Allergic reaction?" Vidyut cut in, his brows furrowing. "To what?"
The doctor sighed, glancing at the report in his hand. "It appears she has an allergy to vitamin C sources."
The doctor adjusted his glasses and looked at Bella and Vidyut with a calm yet firm expression. “It’s most likely genetic. Allergies like this are often passed down from parents. I assume one of you is allergic to vitamin C?”
Bella, who had been holding her breath, immediately shook her head. “Vidyut isn’t allergic to vitamin C... I guess Shikha—” She stopped mid-sentence, her voice trailing off as the realization hit her.
Before she could finish, Vidyut’s voice cut through the air, sharp yet laced with something unspoken. “But you are allergic to vitamin C, Bella.”
Bella froze. The words hung in the space between them, heavy and suffocating. She blinked, confusion clouding her features as her lips parted, trying to process what he just said. “What?” Her voice was barely above a whisper, the weight of the doctor’s words sinking in deeper.
She shook her head, almost as if trying to dismiss the absurdity of it. “But... how does it matter?” she asked, her voice trembling. “I’m not Ruhani’s biological mother... I—”
Her words died on her lips as her eyes widened, realization hitting her like a tidal wave.
Bella's heartbeat roared in her ears as the pieces of an impossible puzzle fell into place. She slowly turned her gaze toward Vidyut, her breath hitching in disbelief. Her eyes, filled with a silent storm of emotions, locked onto his, searching, pleading for an explanation.
Vidyut stiffened, his jaw tightening as he realized what he had just blurted out. His lips parted, but no words came out. The truth that he had hoped to shield her from, the truth that he had buried deep within, had just slipped out at the most unexpected moment.
Bella’s entire world spun. The surrogacy... the medical procedures... everything she believed, everything she had accepted—was it all a lie? Her mind raced through memories, moments that suddenly carried new meaning.
She stumbled back a step, clutching her chest, her breathing shallow. Her voice cracked as she whispered, “Ruhani... she’s mine?”
Vidyut's throat bobbed as he tried to reach for her, but the damage was done. Bella’s wide eyes shimmered with tears, her mind trapped between shock and overwhelming emotions.
The doctor, sensing the tension, cleared his throat awkwardly and excused himself, leaving the couple standing in the middle of the hospital corridor—one drowning in realization, the other in regret.
And in that moment, as Bella's world shifted beneath her feet, she knew that nothing would ever be the same again.
...
Bella stood frozen, her heart pounding so loud she could barely hear anything else. The hospital corridor felt suffocating, the walls closing in on her as the truth settled deep within her bones. She could feel Vidyut’s presence right beside her, his eyes filled with silent pleas, but all she could focus on was the whirlwind of emotions storming inside her.
"You lied to me," her voice was low, shaky, yet laced with undeniable fury. Her brown eyes, once filled with warmth for him, now burned with pain and betrayal. "All this time... you lied to me."
Vidyut reached out, desperate to hold her, to explain, but she took a step back, raising her trembling hand to stop him. "Bella, please, just listen to me—"
"Listen?" She let out a humorless laugh, tears brimming in her eyes. "You want me to listen? After you've kept me in the dark... after you've made me believe I was just a surrogate? How could you, Vidyut?" Her voice cracked as she choked on the words, the weight of the truth pressing against her chest like a crushing boulder.
Vidyut ran a frustrated hand through his hair, his own emotions clawing at him. "Bella, I... I didn't want to hurt you. I—I thought it was for the best. I was afraid... afraid you'd leave, afraid you wouldn't want this life." His voice was raw, laced with a vulnerability that she'd never heard before.
But Bella shook her head, tears slipping down her cheeks. "For the best?" Her voice rose, drawing the attention of a few passing nurses, but she didn't care. "You thought keeping something this huge from me was for the best? You let me believe I was just carrying someone else’s child when all this time... she’s mine. My blood. My flesh." Her hands went to her belly instinctively, as if to protect what was once inside her.
Vidyut took a tentative step closer, his eyes desperate, pained. "I didn't want to lose you, Bella. I fell for you the moment you walked into my life, but I was scared... I thought if you knew, you’d leave."
Bella let out a sob, covering her mouth with her hand as her shoulders shook. "You should have told me, Vidyut. I had the right to know... I had the right to choose!" Her voice broke, laced with anger, with sorrow, with betrayal so deep it left her breathless.
"Bella, please..." Vidyut's voice cracked, his eyes shimmering with regret. "I love you... I always have."
She let out another laugh, but this time, it was filled with nothing but heartbreak. "Love?" Her tear-filled eyes locked onto his, searching for the truth that now seemed too distant. "No, Vidyut... you didn't marry me because you loved me."
Vidyut froze, his heart sinking into his stomach at her words.
Bella took a deep breath, wiping her tears away, though her pain remained etched on her face. Her voice dropped to a whisper, but it held more weight than any scream could. "You only married me... because I was the mother of Ruhani."
Silence engulfed them, heavy and unbearable.
Vidyut opened his mouth to say something, anything to fix the shattered pieces between them, but Bella didn't wait. She turned around and walked away, leaving him standing in the middle of the corridor, haunted by the undeniable truth in her words.
Write a comment ...