Third person's pov!

Anjana hardly missed a second before rushing to Shraddha's bedside, her quivering hands reverently cupping her daughter's face as though she may disappear any second. She drank in Shraddha's face, stroking over the delicate features that reflected her own from decades past.

"Until I saw you..." Anjana's voice trembled and her eyes sparkled with tears. "A part of me was afraid this was all some mistake, that Nina had given us false hope. That I would have to endure that heartbreak once more. But seeing you, there is definitely no doubt now." Her fingertips gently caressed Shraddha's cheeks, as if confirming herself her long-lost daughter was indeed here.

Shraddha struggled to understand the words while stiffly sitting, with her pulse racing frantically. Strangers got into her room, but this woman—this woman who looked so remarkably like herself—felt different. Her heart knew, even if her brain still lagged behind.

How was it possible?

Niranjan stepped forward, his face a mixture of love and grief as he placed a steadying hand on Anjana's shoulder.

"Shraddha, we have prayed for this moment every single day. We have missed so many years, so many memories. But we never stopped believing you were out there, somewhere."

Shraddha's chest felt tight as she looked from one face to the next, each of them holding an ache that matched her own in a way she couldn't explain. Abhay was at their side, staring at her as if he'd found a miracle. He was in awe, stunned by the resemblance to his mother that was now so painfully clear. He had never fully understood Nina aunty's insistence that Shraddha looked just like their Maa—but now it was impossible to deny.

By the door, Siddhu stood unmoving, watching her with a look of disbelief and wonder. Unshed tears glistened in his eyes, as though he couldn't believe the twin he had lost was at last here.

"Shrey..." Sid's throat struggled as he tried to talk and a single, rough syllable came from him, loaded with an intensity so raw it cut through Shraddha's heart.

Dhruv and Shraddha were jolted out of their daze by the sound of that name, so familiar and so intimate. With his pulse thumping more, Dhruv's hand automatically stretched for Shraddha's but she hardly noticed his contact as she turned toward the man near the door.

The shock widened Shraddha's eyes. Her whole being was joltingly altered by the name

'Shrey,' which connected with her in a way she couldn't ignore.

"Si... Sid? You are Sid?" She whispered, voice shaky.

The moment she said it, Sid broke.. A sob tore from his chest as he reached across the room in three-strides, drawing her into a tight hug. At first Shraddha's body froze, but as Sid tightened his hold, a sob finally tore out from her lips too. Her arms encircled him in return, as though she were revisiting long-buried but never forgotten memories.

"You remember me!" Sid cried as he listened to her. He buried his face in her hair, clinging to her as he spoke, as though he would never let go. "Shrey, all these years, I waited for this."

"I have dreamed of you," Shraddha mumbled through her tears, her hold on him tightening as the weight of it all sank in. "I never understood why, but I always dreamed of you..."

"I have too," Sid whispered, his own voice thick with emotion.

They clung to each other, both lost in their reunion, the years of separation collapsing in that one embrace. Their connection was unmistakable; time or distance could not change it.

Her heart hurting, Shraddha at last pulled back and stared up at him, a desperate question blazing in her eyes.

"Who are you?" Her voice broke, fragile and little. "Who are you to me?"

Sid brushed a tear from her cheek, smiling through his own heartbreak.

"I am your twin. Your twin brother. And this is our elder brother, Abhay." He gestured toward Abhay, who gave her a warm, emotional smile. "These are our parents—our mother and father. Niranjan and Anjana Agnihotri."

Shraddha's eyes filled with fresh tears as she looked from Sid to the others, her heart hammering with both joy and confusion. She was overwhelmed, barely able to process it all.

"We lost you in a landslide during a vacation in Mussoorie. After the rescue, the authorities declared no more survivors existed. They informed us that you were gone." Sid inhaled shakily, his voice softening as he said the words.

"But I never believed it, Shrey. A part of me knew you were out there. I used to come to Mussoorie every year since I turned eighteen, hoping that somehow... I will find you." The weight of those words caused his voice to break, thus he had to stop and tightly grab her hand.

Shraddha's heart ached for the family she never knew, her tears spilling freely. Living without answers all these years, she couldn't imagine the suffering they must have gone through.

"And now...," Sid forced out a faltering smile with a rough voice. "Now you are here with us once more."

A sensation of warmth and belonging swept over her. But the warmth was broken by a frigid shadow—Dhruv, standing at the brink of the drama, observing it play out, with raw anguish.

Dhruv felt, as he watched the reunion, as though he were on the outside of a world he could never access. He watched Shraddha go back to her family and saw the bits of her heart he was unable to touch.

The knowledge that she had a family—brothers, parents who loved her profoundly—only served to highlight his own empty gaps. He thought he was enough to be her home, her universe. But as he looked at the Agnihotris, their emotions running raw and unrestrained, he felt that perhaps he had always been the intruder in her life, the stranger keeping her from where she truly belonged.

The thought tightened his chest painfully. He could feel himself losing her—slip like sand between his fingers. Dhruv's world seemed desperately lonely.

Shraddha felt pulled back to the present as Sid's hand tightened on hers. She stared at him, the deep affection she recognized on his face. Even while she was unaware of it, this man had always been with her.

Fresh tears filled her eyes, she said, "All this time... you were looking for me."

"Yes," Sid responded, his voice a subdued whisper. "And now that I have found you, I am never letting go."

Dhruv took a step back, watching from the shadows, a ghostly figure in a moment that was not his own.

And when he saw Shraddha surrounded by a family that had always been waiting for her, his heart broke in a way he had never imagined was possible.

A/n

What do you guys think will happen next?

Give me 400 votes & 50 comments for an update tomorrow guys..

Love,

SF❤️