5 years later
*Aditi's POV
I was leaving home at night.
Not sneaking out. Not running away.
Just....leaving.
The world outside was silent, the streets bathed in the dim glow of streetlights. The house behind me-the place that had once been home- felt foreign now. A cage disguised as shelter.
What do they even think? Do they want me to get me married so soon just after the college?
And they're telling me not to stay if I'm not getting married...
Huh? Do they even think it's fair?
I called Shruthi but seems like she went on an emergency to her native.
All worse things happen to me all at once. Thank God the person who came to see me in bride seeing ceremony was a good person, he did understand my concern. I just spoke to him about 15 minutes, and he understood me. Yet here are my parents who can't understand me in the last 23 years.
How would they, they always care only of him "My brother"!
Look now also he is in abroad enjoying all his life. They literally don't even care about what he does.
They tell him to enjoy his life and tell me to take life seriously. Does it even make sense. Can gender change how to lead a life? Or is it same for everyone.
Since childhood they used to put him in hostel so that he can grow well. But I never felt bad, it's that I don't even know how to speak to him. Like basically I don't remember the childhood of the sibling era. To be honest, if I meet him now, I don't even know how to address him or talk to him. Though I talk to him whenever he calls me. I don't know if he even cares about me. Shouldn't he take care of me being the eldest?
He is basically not that bad indeed, but my parents are. It's really not easy to say that parents are bad, but yet they made me say. I'm surely grateful for them to at least provide me with studies and shelter. But I can no longer prolong staying in that house. They always say no to do this or that saying I'm a girl. They don't allow me to dress up as I want saying that I might gain unwanted attention from others.
This is literally so bad, being a law student I had to go through all these in my own household. I have desperately wanted them to at least behave like how other parents be with their daughter. I have envied girls who have that type of parents.
My home has always been like -- I don't even know how to describe it!
Now that I'm going, I don't even know where to go. Maybe I'll just book a ticket to Yizag.
Yeah, this is the only way I can do, I'll leave and rent a room near the firm.
Then my phone buzzed.
I froze. A message from him, my so-called brother!
"Aditi... I know I haven't been there for you. I should have stood by you when you needed me. I should have fought for you. I'm sorry for all these years of silence. But listen to me now—wherever you go, whatever you do, you won't be alone. I'm on your side. Always."
My breath hitched. He knew. Somehow, he knew I was leaving.
I stared at the screen, my fingers tightening around the phone. My brother. The one who had barely spoken to me in years. The one who had stayed away, across borders and time zones, distant and unreachable. Not because he didn't care, but because our family had built walls between us.
And I had believed he was okay with it.
But this message... this message told me otherwise.
For a long moment, I stood still, the words sinking in. Then, before I could overthink, I slipped my phone into my pocket and walked ahead. Though I didn't want to admit his message made me tear up.
I didn't have a destination. Just a need to breathe. To be.
So, I walked.
The city at night was different—quieter, slower. The world felt wider, and for once, I wasn't suffocated by expectations. I passed closed shops, flickering neon signs, and empty benches. My feet ached, but I didn't stop.
I saw a park nearby where I'd often come as a child, I walked to a swing and sat down. The night air was cool against my skin. For the first time in hours, I let myself feel it all—the exhaustion, the loneliness, the weight of leaving behind everything I had known.
I pulled out my phone again, staring at my brother's message.
I wanted to reply. But what could I even say?
"I missed you too."
"I wish you had spoken sooner."
"I don't know where I'm going, but I'm glad you're there."
Instead, I typed a simple, raw truth.
"Thank you."
And for now, that was enough.
I pushed off the ground slightly, the swing swaying under me. The world hadn't changed. My problems hadn't disappeared.
But somehow, knowing he was on my side made it just a little easier to breathe.
And for tonight, that was enough.
As night was passing, I had nowhere to go. I went to the airport as my flight was early morning. I felt so pathetic, but I know what I'm doing.