Married to My Brother-in-Law, In Love with His Brother (Early Acess Ch 20)

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Chapter 20: The Apology That Changed Everything

He hadn’t left.

The silence between them was no longer empty — it hummed with everything unsaid.

Aditya looked at her with a vulnerability she had never seen before — not after she married Rajveer. There had always been silence, always distance. But now, it felt like a barrier was cracking.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, softer this time.

Her breath hitched. She stayed rooted to the spot, heart pounding, hands clenched into fists at her sides.

Because apologies could be just words.

Or they could be the beginning.

He reached out slowly, tentative, as if afraid she might vanish if he moved too fast.

“I was a fool to leave you like that,” he whispered. Her heart fluttered with a flicker of hope—unsure of what would come next, but willing to hear it.
“Asking you to marry my brother… was the greatest mistake of my life,” he said at last, his voice thick with regret.

The weight of his words matched the heaviness in her chest. She remembered the way he once held her hand on the terrace of the haveli—promising forever with a smile he never kept.

But none of it changed the truth: she was his brother’s wife. There was no going back. She had chosen this path—no matter how difficult.

Not for herself.
Not for Thakurshahab.
But for Arun.

“You should leave,” she said quietly, her eyes drifting to her sleeping son. He deserved a mother unburdened by a past that still haunted her. She knew she had to protect him from the consequences of her choices, even if it meant sacrificing her own happiness.

Aditya swallowed hard. “Not again. I left once, and look where it led you. I’ve watched you all these years, Meenal. But today… I see you. And I’ve never seen you truly happy.”

His words hovered in the space between them—desperate, raw.

Meenal’s heart clenched. She didn’t want to hurt him. But she couldn’t let herself go back either. Her fingers tightened around the mangalsutra. Once, it was a choice to keep Arun close. Now, it felt like a chain—one she couldn't break, because it was the only thing tethering her to her son.

“I’m not the Meenal who once loved you,” she said, her voice steady despite the tears threatening her composure. “I’m a wife. A mother. I have to do what’s best for my son.”

She turned away, her saree trailing behind her like the remnants of a life she once imagined as she walked towards the door, leaving Aditya standing alone in the room, his eyes filled with regret and longing.

He dropped to his knees beside her.

“Please… I can’t keep watching you, please everyone,” he said hoarsely, “while losing yourself in the process.”

Guilt flickered inside her, but she forced herself to stand firm.

“Why do you care?” she asked, her voice cracking. “I begged you to marry me—and you walked away. You made your choice. And now you question mine?”

Aditya looked down, shame in every line of his face.
“I made a mistake, Meenal. I should never have let you go.”

She was torn—between the girl she had been and the woman she had become. Between old wounds and present duty.

She looked at him—really looked—and for the first time in years, something in her began to release.

“Time changed,” she said. “So did we. You’re my Devar now, Aditya.” Her voice cracked but held. “And that’s the truth.”

Outside the door, fists clenched, Rajveer stood listening—every word slicing through him like a blade.

He had ruined her life.

He never should have asked her to marry him. Not when he knew whom she loved.
Now he would live with that regret forever—knowing he took the woman his brother adored and made her his own, breaking all three of them in the process.

"Aditya…," Meenal's voice echoes into silence as Rajveer's heart sinks further into guilt and shame. "Leave before your presence does more harm than your absence did."

She didn’t look back.
Not because it didn’t hurt—
But because she finally knew who she was walking toward: herself.

Aditya stood frozen, his own heart heavy with the weight of the situation. He knew he had caused irreparable damage, and there was no way to make things right again.

Meanwhile, Rajveer outside could hear the faint sound of Meenal's sobs, a constant reminder of the pain he had caused. He knew he would never forgive himself for what he had done to his brother and the woman who he is his wife now.

******

💬 Author’s Note

This chapter wasn’t about love — it was about letting go.
Letting go of regret, old wounds, and haunting what-ifs.

Meenal didn’t just walk away from Aditya —
She walked toward herself.

But Rajveer heard every word.
What will he do now?

💔 Did this break you a little?
👩‍👦 Were you proud of her strength?

👇 Drop your thoughts below — I’m reading every single comment.

✨ Chapter 21 is coming soon… and it’s going to get even more intense.