Second Chances

Abhimanyu stared at the test reports on his desk, his hands clenched into fists. His breath was ragged, his heart pounding so loudly he could hear it in his ears. Abhir Sharma – DNA match: 99.9%.

His son.

His.

Not Abhinav's. Not someone else's. His own blood.

The door burst open before he could even process his emotions. Akshara.

She must have heard.

Her eyes locked onto the reports in his hands, her face pale but defiant. "Abhimanyu—"

"Don't," he cut her off, his voice shaking with barely contained rage. He slammed the file onto his desk, shoving it toward her. "Don't you dare say my name like nothing happened. HOW LONG, AKSHARA?! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN LYING TO ME?"

Akshara flinched but held her ground. "I wasn't lying—"

"Oh, really?! Then what do you call this?" He pointed at the DNA test. "You had a child—our child—and you never told me? You let me believe he wasn't mine?! HOW COULD YOU?"

Tears welled in her eyes, but she lifted her chin. "Because you didn't deserve to know!"

Silence.

Abhimanyu stumbled back as if she had slapped him. His chest heaved, his fingers digging into his palms. "I... I didn't deserve to know?" He laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable."

"You abandoned me, Abhimanyu!" Akshara shot back, her voice breaking. "When I needed you the most, you threw me out! You refused to listen, refused to trust me. I was alone—pregnant, grieving—and you think you had a right to know?!"

His face contorted in anguish. "I MADE A MISTAKE! But you punished me in the worst way possible. You stole my son from me, Akshara!"

Akshara's hands trembled. "I protected him. From you. From this family. From the same fate I suffered. I couldn't let my son grow up in a house where love is conditional!"

Abhimanyu's nostrils flared. "And who gave you the right to make that decision alone?!"

"He is my son!" she cried.

"He is OUR son!" Abhimanyu thundered. "And nothing—NOTHING—you say can justify what you did. You had no right to keep him from me!"

Akshara wiped her tears angrily. "And you had no right to decide I wasn't worthy of being in your life! You threw me away, Abhimanyu. What was I supposed to do? Come running back to you like nothing happened? Let you play father when it suited you? You lost that right the day you abandoned me!"

Abhimanyu's breathing was ragged, his eyes burning into hers. "I lost you, Akshara. I lost everything. And now... now I have lost years with my own son. You stole that from me."

A heavy silence filled the room.

Akshara's lips trembled. "Abhir loves Abhinav. He is his father. Not you."

Something inside Abhimanyu shattered. His hands shook as he gripped the desk, trying to steady himself.

"He is my son," he whispered, voice raw. "And I will fight for him, Akshara. I will not lose him too."

Akshara's eyes widened in horror. "No. No. You can't—"

"It's too late," he said coldly. "You made this a battle the moment you decided to keep him from me."

Tears spilled down Akshara's face, but Abhimanyu turned away.

This wasn't over.

This was just the beginning.