Dadi finally raised her hand, her frail but firm voice breaking the thick silence. "Enough!" she said, her tone sharp enough to still both Veena's pleading and Sharda's anger. "This is not the time for arguments. While we fight among ourselves, Kamini grows stronger. If she returns—and she will—we must be ready to counter her. Our unity is the only weapon she fears."
Sharda exhaled, still visibly bristling, but she bowed her head to Dadi's words. Then she turned her gaze back to Veena, her eyes hard but resolute. "Dadi is right. But Veena… before we can stand united, you need to atone for your crime against Gauri. You nearly traded her life away, and still she risked everything to save Vihaan." Sharda stepped closer, her voice low yet piercing. "If you truly want forgiveness—for yourself, and for the son you claim to love—you must apologize to Gauri and reveal the truth about what you did. She deserves to hear it from you, not from anyone else."
Veena's lips trembled, her hands clutching the edge of the bedspread. The weight of guilt pressed down on her chest as Urvashi and Dadi looked on, their faces expectant, waiting. For the first time, Veena's pride seemed to shatter, leaving only shame in its place.
Later that night, after finally coaxing Charvi to sleep, Gauri quietly tucked the blanket around her and whispered, "Rest now, your condition will improve with sleep." She rose softly from the bedside, about to leave the room, when a gentle knock sounded at the door.
It was Veena. Her face looked pale, her eyes red as though she had been wrestling with herself for hours. "Gauri… can I speak with you?" she asked, her voice fragile.
Gauri hesitated, but nodded, following her into Veena's room. Once inside, the silence was so heavy that even the ticking of the clock seemed intrusive. Gauri crossed her arms and asked plainly, "What do you want to say?"
Veena lowered her gaze, fingers knotting together nervously. "I need to tell you the truth… something I should have said long ago." She took a deep breath before continuing, her voice trembling. "I never liked you, Gauri. I judged you. To me, you were just a selfish dancer with no morals, someone unfit to enter this family."
Gauri's brows furrowed, but she stayed quiet.
"But I was wrong," Veena admitted, tears welling in her eyes. "Time and again, you have proven me wrong. You stood by this family when darkness surrounded us. You even stood against Kamini herself, when any other girl would have fled. Yet you—" her voice broke "—you stood, even knowing you might lose your life."
She turned fully to face Gauri, her eyes shimmering with remorse. "You deserve the truth… about this family's past, and about why Kamini's shadow still looms over Vihaan."
Veena's fingers trembled as she clasped the edge of her dupatta, her voice low and heavy with years of buried guilt. "Twenty-five years ago…" she began, her gaze distant as if she were staring straight into the past. "I found out my husband, Ravikant, was having an affair… with a dancer from the bar he visited every week. Kamini."
Gauri's eyes widened but she remained silent, sensing the depth of the confession.
"I kept quiet at first," Veena continued, her voice cracking. "Because I knew I couldn't give him what he wanted most — a child. But my silence was poison. My marriage fell apart, and the day came when Ravikant came back to me — trembling, begging. Kamini had given birth to a son… Vihaan."
Veena's eyes flicked up to Gauri's for the first time, wet with unshed tears. "He told me Kamini planned to use the boy… to attain immortality. He told me she wasn't just a woman, but a serpentine witch. A Sarvansh's mother. He begged me for help… because he knew I had a best friend once, Vedika, a Reevavanshi… a witch hunter."
Her hands balled into fists. "But I refused. His betrayal burned too deep. Why should I help him? Why should I save his child? But then… he showed me a photo of Vihaan. A tiny boy with the same eyes I see today…" Her voice broke into a whisper. "My heart melted."
Gauri's throat tightened, but she still didn't interrupt.
"I made a demand," Veena confessed. "If I saved Vihaan, he would not be Ravikant's son. He would not be Kamini's son. He would be my son." Her voice rose like a vow. "Ravikant agreed."
She began pacing, lost in the memory. "I contacted Vedika, but she had just given birth herself and could not come. Instead, she gave me a weapon… a powerful one… the sacred gem sand, Seth Mani — a weapon no witch can resist. So we planned a trap. Ravikant invited Kamini home, telling her his family had accepted her. She came… with Vihaan."
Veena's voice shook now, as though she were reliving the moment. "We attacked her. I snatched Vihaan from her arms while Ravikant wielded the Seth Mani. We petrified her, sealed her away. But before the stone covered her eyes, she looked at me… and swore. Swore she would return for Vihaan… after twenty-five years."
Her hands fell to her sides, her shoulders sagging under the weight of her confession. "And now she has."
Gauri stood frozen, stunned by the revelations. Everything she thought she knew about Vihaan's past — about Kamini — had just unraveled before her eyes.
Veena finally met her gaze, voice breaking. "This… this is my sin, Gauri. The shadow you fight today exists because of the choice I made twenty-five years ago."