SHIVANSH POV:

"Maa," (Mother,) I called, forcing a deep, regulating breath that still shuddered on the exhale, my gaze fixed on the portrait of my mother. "Usne mujhe 'Misti ke papa' bulaya," (She called me 'Misti's father',) I whispered, the words tearing their way out of my throat, cracking with the agony I'd suppressed for years. Hot tears instantly spilled, betraying the stone I had become. She had that power—to shatter my carefully built composure.