“The second test?”
Harshavardhan nodded.
“Your blood contained a rare genetic marker.”
“And Gauri inherited it?”
“Yes.”
I looked at my daughter.
“So that’s why they tested her.”
“Yes.”
“Who else knows?”
He hesitated.
“Your mother-in-law.”
I looked at Amma.
“You knew my baby had the marker.”
“Yes.”
“And you wanted to take her from me.”
“I wanted to keep her alive.”
“You called me a useless wife.”
Amma began crying.
“I was trying to make you angry enough to leave.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“If the wrong people believed you were leaving the house, they might stop watching you.”
I shook my head.
“You humiliated me.”
“I know.”
“You took my baby.”
“I know.”
“You told your son he married the wrong woman.”
“I was trying to convince them that you were not important.”
I felt tears burn my eyes.
“You could have told me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because someone was listening.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who?”
Before she could answer, the lights went out.
Gauri stirred in my arms.
Harshavardhan immediately moved toward the door.
“Stay here.”
I held my daughter tighter.
A sound came from downstairs.
Metal striking wood.
Then another.
Amma whispered:
“They found us.”
Harshavardhan turned off his phone.
“Ma, take Mrinalini to the back room.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Please.”
I shook my head.
“I’m not hiding anymore.”
He stared at me.
Then nodded.
We moved silently toward the rear corridor.
The house was completely dark.
Suddenly, glass shattered downstairs.
Gauri woke and began crying.
I covered her mouth gently.
Harshavardhan froze.
Footsteps.
Someone was inside.
Three men.
I could hear them moving through the living room.
One voice said:
“Find the report.”
Another answered:
“The baby?”
“Take her.”
My entire body turned cold.
Harshavardhan looked at me.
His expression changed.
There was no fear anymore.
Only determination.
He whispered:
“Run.”
We moved toward the back staircase.
But before we reached it, a figure appeared at the end of the corridor.
Harshavardhan pushed me behind him.
The man raised something in his hand.
Then a voice came from downstairs.
“Stop.”
Everyone froze.
Dr. Charulata walked into the hallway.
She wasn’t alone.
Two police officers stood behind her.
The man lowered his hand.
The officers moved immediately.
Within seconds, the hallway exploded into shouting.
One man ran.
Another was caught.
The third dropped his weapon.
I stood against the wall, shaking.
Dr. Charulata came toward me.
“Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
She looked at Gauri.
Then at me.
“I am so sorry.”
“For what?”
“For letting you believe this was only about your husband’s identity.”
I stared at her.
“What else is there?”
She looked toward Harshavardhan.
He nodded.
Dr. Charulata handed me a folder.
“This was found in the hospital archive.”
I opened it.
Inside were records dating back twenty-four years.
My father’s name appeared repeatedly.
Then I saw something that made my knees weak.
A photograph.
My father.
A younger Dr. Charulata.
And a third person.
Harivansh’s father.
On the back, someone had written:
**Project Gauri.**
I looked at my baby.
“Why does it have my daughter’s name?”
Dr. Charulata shook her head.
“It doesn’t.”
I looked again.
The date was twenty-four years before Gauri was born.
“Then who is Gauri?”
She pointed to a handwritten note.
“That’s what we’ve been trying to determine.”
I read it.
**Subject G-1. Female infant. Genetic marker confirmed.**
My heart stopped.
“This isn’t my daughter.”
“No,” Dr. Charulata said softly.
“Then why is her name here?”
“Because your daughter is not the first child in your family to carry that marker.”
I couldn’t speak.
“My father?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
She looked at Amma.
Amma began crying.
“Your mother.”
I stared at her.
“My mother?”
“She was the first known carrier.”
The room went silent.
I looked at Gauri.
“Then why did they want my daughter?”
“Because the marker passed to her.”
“What does it do?”
Dr. Charulata lowered her voice.
“It may allow doctors to treat the disease your father was researching.”
I stared at her.
“So my daughter is valuable to them.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why they came.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Harshavardhan.
“And that’s why you lied to me.”
He nodded.
“I thought if I kept you close, I could protect you.”
I wiped my tears.
“You should have trusted me.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Of losing you.”
I looked away.
For four years, I had believed I was married to a man who didn’t exist.
Now I understood something even more painful.
El hombre que me había mentido también era el que se interponía entre yo y todos los que querían aprovecharse de mi hijo.
Pero yo no estaba preparada para perdonarlo.
Aún no.
La policía se llevó a los hombres.
La casa volvió a quedar en silencio.
