Note: I don't support cheating between couples and never will and I let it be only for this couple and the main focus of this extra is the beautiful bond between Akhila and her Mother (not biological) and to show how it happened.

#PAST#

*Third Person Pov*

"You do know that you can't let Priya stay with me forever, right?" She closed her eyes hearing her Mom's words.

"I know, Mom! But... but I can't let her stay here and witness all the fights, Mom." She whispered leaning back on the chair.

"It's been two years already. Do you think Priya will be happy by seeing you once a week? And that too you both never come here together. Just imagined how it will be for her." Her Mom pointed out.

"And all you can do is forgive him. It's been three years and you are still blaming him even though he is remorseful. I didn't see anyone regretting their actions like my Son-in-law is doing. Also, he is working so hard and your financial position is also really good now." Her Mom continued.

"I will come to a decision soon, Mom." Saying that she cut the call and brushed her tears away.

She knows that she has been avoiding this decision for the past two years and want to end it at once but thinking about her daughter who has to live with divorced parents and also thinking about the future fights that may happen regarding with whom she can live is stopping her from taking a decision.

However, it's not like Priya is happy right now by staying away from her parents, and so she decided to have a talk with him and get divorced.

She can't bring herself to forgive him no matter what and every time she sees him, all she can remember is that he slept with someone else. He cheated on her and it doesn't matter that he immediately confessed the next day or trying to apologize every day and do everything possible because she doesn't feel anything for him anymore.

If not for Priya's presence, she would have left him way back and after fighting with him for a whole year before her daughter, she realized how it is impacting on that kid's mind and immediately sent her off to her Mom's place.

At first, after realizing the impact she tried to not fight with him for a whole month and tried to act like everything is fine but that impacted her mental health and had gone into depression by keeping everything inside and acting normal with him.

She sighed and stood up to get ready to meet a lawyer and then tell him in the evening but walked towards the door hearing the doorbell.

She took the letter from the postman and checked the details of the person who sent it but the address is from an orphanage.

Is he donating money to the orphanage now? She thought opening the letter and went through the first few words and immediately stumbled back in shock.

#CONTENTS OF THE LETTER#

Mister,

I am writing this letter to let you know that I got pregnant three years back and then gave birth to a girl. As I couldn't take care of her, I left her in the orphanage more than a year back and she must be two years by now.

I am sick and going to die and that's why I am writing this letter. If it reaches you then I must have already passed away.

I am not writing this to make you take responsibility for the girl I gave birth to but just to keep an eye on her if she doesn't get adopted by anyone so that she will not follow in my footsteps.

I know you already have a wife and it was just a drunken mistake but still thank you for respecting me by not blaming me for it and helping me financially that day. I was able to give birth safely because of that help only.

That's all I want to say and if you want to ignore that girl then also it's fine. Whatever is planned in her fate will happen. And I got the address from the club membership you paid that year and hopefully, you are still staying there otherwise also it's fine. Even this letter will follow it's fake.

#END OF THE LETTER#

She stared at the date that is written on the letter and found it is dated nearly three months back.

She covered her mouth and read it repeatedly before rushing to the washroom and threw up feeling sick in her stomach.

After that, she returned to the room and lay down with tears rolling down her face. She cried silently and drifted off into sleep not knowing what to even think of this letter except for the fact that he has a two-year-old daughter.

He entered the house and found not a single light is switched on. This caused him to feel scared and immediately ran towards the kitchen and finding it empty, he checked the foot stand to see whether her footwear is still there and finding it there only, he rushed to the bedroom she is staying in and found her sleeping on the bed.

His heart finally calmed down and walked closer to her to adjust the blanket only to see her holding a letter.

He panicked again thinking she finally decided to leave him and that is divorce notice.

He wishes there is a solution to save his marriage somehow. It doesn't matter to him if she taunts him for his whole life for the mistake he did but he doesn't want her to leave him.

"You are finally here." He got startled hearing her voice while she pushed his hands away which paused over her while holding a blanket.

"I just wanted to cover you with blanket." He explained thinking she is mad that he entered her room.

"You got a letter!" saying that she passed the paper and as it is dark, he got sure that this is a divorce notice.

"Don't do this! Please! Let's... let's go to a counselor. I will repent for my whole life but don't divorce me." He pleaded to which she sighed and switched on the table lamp beside her bed.

"This is not a divorce notice yet. This is a handwritten letter from the person with whom you cheated on me." She stated and he froze before moving to tear the paper but she immediately stopped him and stared at him in shock.

"Read it! This is important." She said because there are the details of the orphanage where his daughter is at right now.

He frowned before glancing at the paper and after a few words, he felt his knees weaken and immediately sat on the bed before he could fall down.

After reading the whole letter, he glanced at her with fear covering his eyes before saying, "I... I... I didn't know. She could be lying to me and let's ignore it."

"So? We both will continue our lives by thinking this is a complete lie?" She asked snorting and shook her head before getting down from the bed.

"Take a leave from work tomorrow. We will go and visit this orphanage and find out whether this is a lie or not and then by next week let's apply for divorce." Saying that she walked into the washroom and locked the door while he continued to sit there in shock.

****

"Right! Her mother told us there may be a man who may visit her sometime in the future. But you are here earlier than she told us you will be, Mister." The head of the orphanage said looking at the couple standing before her.

"And her mother passed away last week. I am the one who sent that letter to your address even though I don't know the contents of the letter." She added which is a surprise for the two people who came here to see whether the letter is a lie or not.

"She is two years old now and she was here for the past year, and her mother visited her once a month if possible before she got succumbed to the illness. It's been two months since she came to visit her and she continued to wait for her. She didn't start talking for now." The head of the orphanage continued to talk and glances at the door after that to see a little girl slowly walking towards the door.

"Here she is!" the couple turned to see a little girl lifting her leg to step over the doorstep only to stumble and was able to fall over.

With an instinct, the woman stepped forward to catch her which saved the little girl from getting hurt and held her close to her.

After making sure she is safe, she was let go and then the woman stepped back realizing she just hugged the daughter of her husband.

She knows well that this little girl is definitely her husband's daughter as she looks so similar to his childhood picture.

"No one adopted her?" she asked turning to look at the head.

"No! As she doesn't talk, everyone thinks she is a disabled child and no one showed interest in her after meeting her. Of course, many wanted to adopt her the moment they saw her. She looks really cute and obedient but the poor child may never get adopted if she doesn't start talking." The head commented.

The woman glanced at her husband to find him still staring at the little girl in horror and his expression doesn't look polite at all.

So, the little girl didn't look at him twice and continued to stare at the woman that saved her just now.

After taking out the money in her bag, she passed it to the orphanage head's hand and mumbled, "Please take care of her."

She turned to step out of the room but felt a hold on her saree end and turned to find the little girl holding it tightly while staring at her.

Her heart got struck with those innocent eyes but she took the end of her saree away from her hands and continued to walk out of the room and her husband followed her shortly.

They both were silent in the car and both of them don't know what to say at this moment. She closed her eyes tightly as she couldn't remove that little girl's eyes from her mind.

After she got dropped at her workplace, she sat at her desk and tried to concentrate on her work but couldn't do a single work properly.

She turned to glance at her colleague and calmly asked her, "Do you know anyone who wants to adopt a child?"

"Adopt? I don't know but don't get involved with these things at all. I heard so many bad things relating to adoption matters." Her colleague shook her head.

"What kind of bad things?" she asked frowning.

"Like they adopt a kid because they don't have one on their own but then when they finally have their own kid, then they just treat that kid as a servant. Also, I found a recent article where some people adopt and do child assaults on such little kids." She froze hearing those words.

"So, if you want to recommend any orphan then only do with the people you know otherwise you will be part of that crime." Saying that her colleague continued to work and didn't realize the impact those words had on this woman.

That night after returning home, she glanced at her husband before asking, "What are you planning to do with your daughter?"

"I will continue to support her financially." He replied calmly.

"That's it? Do you know how many crimes are taking place when kids get adopted? Don't you feel anything to your own daughter?" she shouted looking at him.

"What do you want me to do? I just met her today and all I can think is how you are going to file for divorce within a few days. I don't want to lose you or Priya and that is my first priority. I know I am a bad guy for not thinking about that little girl but... but I am fine to be a selfish person than to lose you." He shouted back with tears filling his eyes.

"If you want to be with me so much then why did you cheat on me." She said covering her face to stop the tears.

"I don't know! I was not conscious at that time completely and I wish I can kill myself to prove how much I regret it but then I will not be able to live with you." He said closing his eyes.

They both stayed like that for a few minutes and she calmed herself down before saying, "Fine! Let's work on our marriage and even go to that counselor from tomorrow."

"Really?" he asked with his eyes widening in surprise and also fear that this is just a dream.

"However, let's adopt her and bring her here. I can't live with myself knowing she is there. I am not saying I accept her as my daughter but I will care for her because she is your daughter." These words from his wife's mouth really shocked him and he felt the knot in his heart loosen up.

After meeting his daughter, he couldn't do anything at his workplace and even got scolded by his higher officials.

He doesn't know what to do except to support her financially, meet her regularly, and make sure she is adopted by good people. And if she doesn't get adopted, he is ready to get her good education so that she can be independent in the future.

The next day they returned back to the orphanage and adopted her with not much hustle as the head already got permission from the girl's mother long back that the little girl's father can adopt her at any time.

This time the little girl didn't move closer to the woman like yesterday and stayed back. When the man reached over to hold her hand she took another step back in fear.

"Why don't you try?" The head of the orphanage suggested looking at the woman.

Yesterday she got surprised when the little girl tried to stop the woman from leaving. She doesn't hold anyone's hand anymore after she was able to walk on her own properly but for the first time, she saw such a scene.

The head of the orphanage smiled at the little girl saying, "She is your Maa and he is your Paa. You are going to live with them. Okay?"

The little girl nodded and took a step towards the woman who is still looking at the older woman in surprise after hearing the suggestion that she need to try and hold her hand.

Why can she succeed when the little girl's father failed to show that it is safe with him? She shook her head thinking maybe this older woman thinks she is now a mother and a child feels safe near a mother.

She sighed and glanced at the girl before forwarding her hand and this time she didn't move away and let the woman hold her little hand.

"What is her name?" the woman asked after suppressing her surprise because of the trust the little girl felt for her.

"We just call her little girl. You can give her any name you want and we will handle the details at our end." The woman shook her head after hearing those words and glanced at her husband who is still frowning at the way his wife and his daughter held hands in a natural way while he failed to do that.

"Name her!" his wife's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Me?" he asked looking at her and she nodded frowning at him.

"She is your daughter!" she pointed out and he sighed before glancing at his daughter in silence.

"Her name would be Akhila." Hearing this name his wife froze and he expected that.

When she got pregnant, he chose a girl name while she chose a boy name. However, as she gave birth to a girl, they ended up naming her Priya which was chosen by him.

And what his wife chose as a boy name is 'Akhil'. So, he couldn't think of any and uttered that name by changing it a bit to make it a girl name.

When she gave birth to Priya, she suggested to use the name she chose by adding the letter 'A' at the end but he didn't let her no matter how much he said.

Who would have thought that name will get shifted like this and get an owner to it? He thought glancing at his wife thinking she will object but she didn't say anything and he got a slight hope in his heart.

Within two hours, all the process is complete and the three of them walked out of the orphanage slowly as she couldn't walk at a fast pace.

When the woman saw the road is not good near the car, she picked up Akhila after a moment of hesitation after remembering how she was about to fall yesterday.

She realized, Akhila needs a bit more practice with walking otherwise she will fall like that repeatedly as she saw one of her friend's daughter doing it.

After they got settled into the car and placed Akhila in the back seat, the woman said, "Let's go to my mother's place and bring Priya back."

"Really?" he asked feeling surprised and couldn't help but think all this was a dream as everything is going so well.

"Really! If we can bring your daughter home, then how can I let my daughter stay away from home." He sighed hearing those words but ignored those words before driving towards the town where Priya is staying with his mother-in-law.

When they reached the house and walked inside, their daughter shouted "Mom! Dad!" before rushing towards them and hugged their legs tightly while Akhila nearly slipped from the woman's arms.

"Who is this?" Priya asked realizing her Mom is holding a child.

"Your sister!" Her Mom replied and this shocked Priya a lot.

She thought maybe this is why they left her there as she remembered her friend complaining about how because of her baby brother, her parents are ignoring her.

Maybe because her parents didn't want her to suffer and sent her to her grandmother's place.

She felt so happy thinking like this and immediately liked her little sister before asking her Mom to put her down so that she can show her toys to her.

Her Mom paused before letting the little girl down saying, "This is your big sister, Akhila."

Akhila slowly nodded and reluctantly let go of her Mom's hand before walking away with her big sister and nearly fell down as Priya was rushing her.

"Be careful, Priya! She can't walk fast." Her Mom said making Priya walk slowly this time and started showing all the toys while feeling the joy that she finally has a sister and can tell everyone about her.

"What is the meaning of this? Who is this?" Her Mom finally asked after Priya and Akhila were out of reach from them.

She calmly explained what happened and her Mom glared at her Son-in-law. She shook her head in anger while he stayed calm to receive any kind of words from his Mother-in-law.

"I was trying all this time to make her forgive you but you brought your illegitimate daughter to make my daughter raise her?" The woman got shocked hearing those words from her Mother.

"Mom! It was my idea." She replied before he could open his mouth.

"What?" Her Mom asked in a shocked tone.

"Yes, Mom! It was my idea to adopt her as I... I couldn't just leave her there and live peacefully. It is for my sake and also we are going to try and work on our marriage from today onwards." She explained making her Mom frown at her.

"I am happy that you are going to work on your marriage but why bring that girl to your home. You don't know what kind is her mother and we don't know her mother's background." Her mom continued but she just shook her head.

"It's already done, Mom! We are going to take Priya with us and thank you for helping me to raise her during this time." Saying that she hugged her Mom and walked towards Priya's room.

She found Priya putting all her toys on the floor and explaining how to play with each one of them while Akhila just gave her full concentration to each word but didn't move to touch anything.

"Mom! She doesn't like me." Priya complained after finding her Mom standing near the door.

"She just met you today, Priya. Give her time to know you and then she will like you." Her Mom said before kneeling before Priya smiling at her complaining face.

Then she took a doll and shifted towards Akhila asking, "Do you like dolls?"

Akhila didn't reply but finally took the doll from her Mom's hands which caused Priya to laugh and her Mom to get stunned.

"Mom! Touch all these things and give them to Akhila. She will definitely play with them." Priya suggested still laughing and Akhila calmly stared at the two of them.

"Mom! I missed you!" Priya said suddenly leaning over to hug her Mother's neck and she immediately felt guilty for leaving her daughter here and not being able to control her emotions.

"I am sorry! I will never leave you again." She promised and let out a few tears but felt a small hand brushing them.

She opened her eyes in shock to see Akhila touching her face to brush the tears away.

Her heartstring is again pulled by this little girl but she is unable to actually think of her as her daughter no matter what.

Because every time she sees Akhila, all she can think of is her husband's cheating but because she decided to give everything a chance, she is staying calm.

Also, as she mentioned to her mother, she adopted Akhila for her peace of mind and she doesn't know whether she can think of her as her own daughter anytime in future but she will try to take care of her.

She is trying to act as if she is at someone else house and saw this girl and communicating with her but not at all thinking like she is now the mother of Akhila and she doesn't have that much strength to even think like that.

She is not that of an amazing person too to think in that way. So, she didn't reach out to hug Akhila but she didn't mind and continued to brush her tears away until there were none left on her face.

After that, she sat down and continued to hold the doll tightly before staring at her mother and sister hugging each other with a calm look.

In the living room, his Mother-in-law stayed silent for a few minutes before opening her mouth asking, "Are you really going to let my daughter raise your mistake?"

"Mom! It is not Akhila's fault..." she cut him off saying, "Don't call me Mom after what you have done."

"Do you know how much I tried to get her to forgive you? I didn't want her to lead her life alone after getting divorced. But you are making me regret not advicing her to divorce you immediately." She stated and he looked down in silence.

"You could have just supported her financially and even meet her regularly. Why do you need to adopt her? Do you know how it will be when people find out? My daughter will become a laughing stock near our relatives and in this society, as now everyone will find out about your actions." She continued while her words struck him.

After hearing her say the exact things he decided to do, he realized how much of a big heart his wife have.

Even being a biological father to Akhila, he didn't care about her as much as his wife did even though Akhila is born because of his adultery.

It is his mistake but he doesn't want Akhila to be known as a mistake. He will work hard and reach a level where no one will point a finger at his wife or his daughter.

However, he stayed silent and continued to listen to his wife's Mom scolding him and waited for his wife to walk out with Priya and Akhila so that these scoldings can stop for some time.

"You will not change your decision?" His Mother-in-law asked breaking his thoughts and he immediately shook his head in negative and she sighed seeing that.

"We both feel she will not be safe at the orphanage even if she gets adopted as we don't know how will she get treated by the people who will adopt her. I am not saying my wife deserves such punishment to raise my daughter but I will make up for it ten times more." He promised and she frowned hearing those words.

"Fine! Leave her with me and I will raise her properly." He stared at her in shock after hearing those words.

"Don't worry! I will treat her properly and raise her in a good manner. You need not think that I will harm her in a way just because I am angry at you. However, I don't want my daughter to go through this situation no matter what." He frowned not knowing how to tell her that he doesn't want to leave Akhila with her.

However, he knows if his wife decides to accept her Mom's advice then he can't do anything except to do the same thing that he did for the past two years to meet Priya and also make sure she doesn't miss him much.

While thinking like that he couldn't think that maybe Akhila will not even miss him as he remember her fear towards him and she actually accepted his wife but didn't glance at him properly even once.

So he couldn't help but think will it be painful if Akhila stays too close to his wife like this? Is it the right thing to accept his Mother-In-law's solution?

He frowned not able to take a proper decision no matter how much he tried to think and this irritated his Mother-in-law which he can see but he doesn't want to take a decision hastily.

As they continued to stay silent, his wife stepped out of a room and walked towards them while frowning at the silence.

"Sit here!" Her Mom made her sit down and after a second she silently listened to her Mom's words.

"I will raise her and make sure she gets proper education and also life values. I don't want you to go through this and I know you are kind-hearted but think about this properly. This is not for a single day or a week but for a lifelong decision." She frowned listening to those words.

"What will you do when she grows up in your care and hates you thinking because of you her mother died? Will you be able to bear it? Why torture yourself in this way? I will live for the next ten years and during that time I will care for her and after that, you can get her to join the hostel and support her financially." She continued.

"What will you tell others who is she?" When he heard his wife ask such a question he panicked thinking maybe she really is going to accept her Mom's advice.

He opened his mouth and immediately closed it knowing well he can't demand her to take care of his daughter no matter what.

"I will say that my daughter found her situation pitiful and asked me to take care of the girl and I decided to take her into my care as I need someone with me in my old age after a few years." He froze hearing such words from his Mother-in-law.

He opened his mouth to immediately object but his wife beat him to it saying, "Then she will be like a helper in your house, Mom. Do you think it is fair for her to grow in that way thinking she is nothing but a helper because of her parent's mistakes?"

"Even you know she is a mistake." Her Mom pointed out.

"I am not calling her a mistake but the way she is born is definitely one. She didn't choose to be born and I am not saying this because I have any affection for her because more than you I don't want to care for her as my daughter." He closed his eyes hearing those words from his wife.

"However, I don't even know why but I want to do this and I will. If this is a bad decision then let it be a bad decision as I am ready to face any kind of consequences." She calmly said before glancing at the doorway where she found Akhila standing with a confused expression and seems like she raised her voice just now.

"I am not asking you to treat her as your granddaughter but don't treat her like a mistake is all I am asking you, Mom." Saying that she reached towards the place where Akhila is standing.

"Priya! Did you pack your toys?" She asked as she already packed her clothes but Priya couldn't decide on what toys she wants to take with her.