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She slowly looked away, her eyes scanning the ground. Then, she spotted it, a sharp, jagged splinter of wood, no longer than her hand, but pointed like a dagger. The corners of her lips curled into the faintest smile. With quiet determination, she dropped to her hands and knees and crawled toward it. Her fingers wrapped around the piece of wood, and she pulled it close to her chestlike it was something valuable, something meant only for her. Vikrant was watching every movement carefully.

Sonia, moving slowly but with eerie calm, returned to Ravindra’s side. She sat beside him and gazed at the sharp wood in her hand, turning it slowly, thoughtfully, almost like she was admiring a treasured relic. Ravindra’s eyes widened with terror. His lips quivered. With great difficulty, he turned his face slightly toward Vikrant, searching for mercy, for intervention. Vikrant met his gaze, gave a soft, cold smile, and said quietly.

"You deserve this…"

Suddenly, Ravindra’s eyes froze, locked in a deep, final shudder, and his entire body stiffened. Vikrant immediately turned to look at Sonia. And there she was, her hand gripping the jagged piece of wood, now buried deep into Ravindra’s chest. She didn’t flinch. She didn’t tremble. She simply leaned over and stared at him, calmly, intently, like one would study a painting or a memory. She keeps staring at him; he is not moving. The sight gives her immense happiness. Then, as if sealing a long-awaited chapter, she smiled, turned her gaze toward the doll lying silently, and softly whispered:

"Now he’ll never hurt you again… I’ve saved you."

A stillness settled over there, not just silence, but the kind that follows the end of something that should have ended long ago.

CHAPTER 43

PEACE AND CALMNESS

Vikrant just keeps staring at Sonia, who sits silently, gazing at Ravindra's lifeless, cold body. Parag and Akhil’s eyes are also fixed on her. After a few moments of silence, Akhil leans slightly towards Parag and softly says,

“Did you never feel like meeting your family? You must have sent them money regularly, but didn’t they ever ask who was sending it?”

“I felt like going to them every single day… But my concern for their safety always outweighed my own desires. That’s what held me back. And the friend who delivered the money had clearly told them that he had no family of his own and that I had once saved his life. Since then, he said, he would keep helping them in every way he could. But now… my children have grown up; they’re earning their living. I think now the time has come—I might finally be able to go meet them, embrace them in my arms.”

Akhil smiles faintly and subtly signals to the man standing nearby to escort Parag away. Yet his eyes remain fixed on Vikrant, not wavering even for a moment. Vikrant, still lost in thought, continues to look at his mother, Sonia. He doesn’t know what to do next, paralyzed by a mix of emotions. Understanding his silence, Akhil quietly approaches and gently says,

“Sir, we should leave now. Morning is about to break… and there’s still a lot that needs to be done before then.”

Vikrant seems to snap out of a deep daze, as though he’s been pulled from the depths of his thoughts. He finally looks at Sonia with so much love. Sharda smiles at Vikrant and gestures for him to leave. Taking her cue, he walks over to Sonia and sits beside her. In a soft, tender voice, he says,

“We should go…”

Sonia immediately turns to him and looks closely at his face, as if she is trying to recognize who he is. But it seems she doesn’t. Her eyes squint slightly in confusion as she asks in a faint voice:

“Who are you?”

“Vikrant…”

The moment she hears the name, a gentle smile spreads across her face. She adjusts herself to sit more comfortably on the dusty ground and, with a dreamy tone, replies:

“Vikrant… That’s my son’s name too. When he grows up, he’ll be just as handsome as you.”

Vikrant lets out a soft chuckle, an attempt to hide the pain deep inside. The mother he had hated all his life sits right before him now… and she doesn’t even recognize him. Perhaps this is the punishment for all the hatred he harbored. At this moment, the most important thing to him is the fact that Sonia is alive and standing right in front of him. And he knows he’s willing to do whatever it takes to help her heal. Still, every time she fails to recognize him, it wounds him deeply. He nods gently while looking at Sonia, concealing both his joy and his pain. He says,

“Yes, absolutely. He is your son. He should be just like you. We should go now… Your clothes are dirty, and you need rest.”

Sonia scratches her head absentmindedly and nods slowly, looking at her clothes. She turns back, as if to search for her doll, but before she can even move, Vikrant is already on his feet, walking over to where the doll is lying. With a deep tenderness, he picks it up and cradles it gently in his arms, just the way Sonia used to. Sonia watches him silently, her eyes following his every move with quiet intensity. Vikrant walks back to her and hands the doll over with the utmost care. He leans in and softly says,

“She’s sleeping… There’s too much noise here. If she wakes up, she might trouble you.”

“Don’t say that about my Manayta… She’s such a sweet girl.”

The moment Vikrant hears that name—Manayta—his face lights up with a genuine, heartfelt smile. As he gently lifts his mother in his arms, carrying her away, he speaks with affection:

“Manayta… You’ve chosen such a beautiful name for your daughter.”

“I know, my son will love it too. Manayta will only trouble her brother… no one else… Because my Vikrant loves her so much, he always wants a little sister.”

“Absolutely, she should. After all, if a brother doesn’t get troubled by his sister, who else will?”

Sharda follows them, smiling warmly, listening to their conversation from behind. After many long years, the child hidden within Vikrant, the one who had always longed for his mother, has finally begun to surface again, giggling softly in the shadows of lost time. The three of them get into the car—Vikrant, Sonia, and Sharda—and as they drive away into the fading night, Akhil slowly walks toward Ravindra’s body. He surveys the people standing silently around, then announces with a cold edge in his voice: