Chapter 6: A Shattered Reality

It was an ordinary afternoon as Dhruvansh walked home from school, lost in his own thoughts. The past two weeks of experiments had been draining yet rewarding, as his spider silk project was finally showing signs of success. His mind was already racing ahead to the next set of improvements he would make when something unusual caught his attention.

The house across the street, which had stood vacant for as long as he could remember, was now a flurry of activity. Workers moved in and out, carrying furniture, boxes, and luxurious pieces of décor. Parked outside the front gate of his home was a sleek, black luxury car, something that looked entirely out of place in their quiet neighborhood.

Curiosity piqued, Dhruvansh quickened his pace, reaching home and calling out as he entered, "Maa, Papa, I'm home!"

Instead of the usual quiet response or the sound of his mother preparing food in the kitchen, there was laughter and voices coming from the living room. He followed the sound, and as he stepped into the hall, his eyes fell on a surprising scene.

Devi and Karna were seated on the sofa, chatting with three unfamiliar faces. The man, around the same age as his father, had a commanding presence. His posture, the way he sat so straight, and the authoritative way he spoke gave off the air of someone used to being in charge—perhaps someone from the forces. The woman, who appeared to be his wife, wore designer clothes that screamed wealth and influence. But it was the little girl who caught Dhruvansh's attention the most. She looked about his age, with a pretty oval face, black hair as dark as the night sky, and sharp, inquisitive eyes. She seemed poised, even at her young age.

As Dhruvansh entered the room, Karna and Devi's faces lit up. Karna was the first to introduce the guests.

"Dhruvansh, come here. I want you to meet our old friends." Karna smiled warmly. "This is Dheeraj Chauhan, an old comrade of mine from our days in the forces. He's now a high-ranking officer in the Eastern Megaregion's force council."

Dheeraj stood up slightly, nodding to Dhruvansh with a firm, regal air.

"And this," Karna continued, gesturing to the elegantly dressed woman, "is his wife, Riya Rai Chauhan, the heir to Rai Industries."

Riya smiled, her expression soft and welcoming, though there was a certain aloofness to her demeanor, the kind that suggested she was used to being in elite circles.

Finally, Devi gestured toward the little girl. "And this is their daughter, Diya Chauhan. She's about your age, Dhruvansh, and as it turns out, she's going to be our new neighbor."

Dhruvansh offered a polite smile and greeted them with a quiet, "Namaste." His eyes briefly met Diya's, who gave a proud, almost haughty little smile, as if to suggest she was fully aware of her own importance.

Karna continued the conversation, turning to Dheeraj with a question. "So, Dheeraj, have you decided where Diya will continue her schooling? I assume she'll need to transfer to one of the academies around here?"

Dheeraj shook his head confidently. "No need. Diya's already ahead of her age group. She's been home-schooled and trained by the best tutors. We'll be enrolling her in the main branch of the Scholar Academy, but it's more a formality than anything. She doesn't really need school at this point."

Devi and Karna exchanged amused glances, smiling at the proud father. Diya puffed her chest out slightly, casting a glance at Dhruvansh as if waiting for him to be impressed. Dhruvansh, uninterested, simply nodded.

He excused himself politely. "I'll be in my room, Maa, Papa. Call me when it's time for lunch."

"Sure, beta," Devi replied, already used to Dhruvansh's routine of retreating to his room after school. She turned back to the conversation with their guests.

As Dhruvansh walked down the hallway, his ears caught something that made him stop in his tracks.

"Karna," Dheeraj's voice was low but audible, "isn't Dhruvansh the kid you adopted? Why are you keeping him here with you, treating him like your own? Why not keep him with the other kids you've adopted?"

Dhruvansh froze, the words hitting him like a punch to the gut.

There was a stunned silence in the living room. Karna spoke first, his voice tight with anger and fear. "Dheeraj, I don't ever want to hear you talk like that again. Dhruvansh is our son. He may not have been born to us, but he is ours. We've raised him as our own, and that's the truth. Don't ever mention this in front of him, understand?"

Devi's voice was equally firm, her tone unwavering. "We love him like he's our own flesh and blood. He is our child, and no one can change that. Please, Dheeraj, don't bring this up again."

There was a pause before Dheeraj sighed, his tone softening, apologetic. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I'll never bring it up again."

But the damage was done.

Dhruvansh stood frozen outside his room, his heart pounding in his chest. Adopted? The word rang in his ears. He had never thought about it. Karna and Devi were his parents—they had always been his parents. They had raised him, cared for him, and loved him unconditionally. But now, hearing that he wasn't their biological son, that they had kept this secret from him, his world suddenly felt as if it had tilted on its axis.

For a long moment, Dhruvansh stood there in the hallway, his mind swirling with confusion and disbelief. He had never questioned his place in the family. Karna and Devi had always treated him with the utmost love and care. Yet now, with a few careless words, everything seemed to shift. The foundation of his identity, something he had never even thought to question, felt suddenly unstable.

With a heavy heart, Dhruvansh walked into his room and quietly locked the door behind him. He felt a hollowness settle in his chest, a confusion and sadness he didn't know how to process. His mind raced with questions. Why hadn't they told him? Why did they keep this a secret? And what did it mean for him now?

He sat down on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest, staring blankly at the wall. For the first time in his life, Dhruvansh felt truly alone.

---

The silence in his room became suffocating as the hours passed. The familiar hum of his workshop, once a source of comfort, now felt distant and irrelevant. His projects, his experiments, even his recent breakthrough with the spider silk—none of it seemed to matter anymore. His entire identity had been thrown into question. Who was he, really?

His thoughts circled back to Karna and Devi. How long had they kept this from him? Had they always intended to tell him someday, or were they hoping he would never find out? Dhruvansh's heart ached at the thought that his parents had hidden something so fundamental from him. He felt betrayed, and yet, deep down, he still loved them. They had been nothing but kind, loving, and supportive throughout his life. Was this secret enough to undo all of that?

His thoughts wandered to the conversation in the living room. Dheeraj's casual mention of his adoption had been so callous, so dismissive. It was as if Dhruvansh's entire existence had been reduced to a footnote in someone else's story. And Diya, sitting there with her proud smile, seemed to belong to a world that Dhruvansh now felt excluded from. The gap between them, once invisible, now felt vast and insurmountable.

He thought about confronting Karna and Devi, demanding answers, but the thought of that conversation filled him with dread. What would they say? Would they apologize? Would they try to explain it away, as if it were just a minor detail in the grand scheme of things? Dhruvansh didn't know if he could handle hearing their justification.

---

As evening approached, Dhruvansh remained in his room, his mind still a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. He heard a gentle knock on his door. "Dhruvansh, beta?" Devi's voice was soft, filled with concern. "Dinner's ready. Come eat with us."

For a moment, he considered ignoring her, staying locked away in his room. But he knew he couldn't avoid them forever. Slowly, he got up and opened the door. Devi stood there, her eyes searching his face for any sign of what he was feeling. She smiled warmly, but there was a hint of worry behind her eyes.

"Everything okay?" she asked, her tone gentle.

Dhruvansh forced a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine," he lied.

As he followed her to the dining table, he felt the weight of the unspoken truth hanging in the air. The rest of the evening passed in a blur. Karna and Devi talked about their day, asked Dhruvansh about school, but he barely registered their words. His mind was elsewhere, tangled in a web of