Married to My Brother-in-Law, In Love with His Brother (Early Acess Ch 9

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The lamps of heaven went out as storm clouds swallowed the sky, plunging the village into darkness. The howling wind added to the eerie atmosphere, making it difficult to see even a few feet ahead.

Meenal stared at the sleeping baby in the crib. She covered him with a soft blanket, a fierce protectiveness rising in her chest. Pressing her palm to his chest, she felt his tiny heartbeat steady beneath her touch.

"Massi will always keep you safe," she whispered. "Even if I have to break my own heart to do it."

With a deep breath, she stepped out to the balcony and found Aditya standing in the cold storm, his face briefly illuminated by flashes of lightning. It wasn't raining yet, but the clouds hung low, ready to break.

Her heart raced as she rushed to his side, knowing they needed to seek shelter before the skies opened.

He stood at the railing, arms folded. His eyes weren't lost—they were certain. And heavy.

"You shouldn't have come," he said flatly.

"Aditya—"

"I heard everything." His voice was quiet but edged with something jagged. "The conversation with Bhai. The proposal. The deadline."

Meenal's lips parted in surprise, but she didn't deny it.

"I haven't made up my mind," she said softly. "I needed to see you."

Aditya gave a bitter laugh. "Why? To say goodbye? Or to check if the 'mistress's son' is still your backup plan?" The clouds above darkened, a distant rumble of thunder echoing through the air. "Leave," he snapped, stepping back as if her presence burned. "Because you don't deserve someone like me." Aditya's gaze remained steady, his expression unreadable as he waited for Meenal's response.

Her face flushed with hurt. "Don't say that. You know I don't think of you like that."

"Then leave," he snapped, stepping back as if her presence burned. "Because you don't deserve someone like me."

"Someone like you?" she repeated, eyes narrowing. "You mean kind? Honest? A man who's never asked anything from me except the truth?"

His hand shot out—furious, unthinking—and knocked the aachar jar from the shelf. It shattered on the floor, porcelain shards scattering like splinters of their past.

Blood welled from a gash on his palm where the glass had caught him.

They had made the aachar together—laughter, love, and stolen moments now broken and bleeding on the floor.

Meenal rushed forward, instinct overpowering caution. "Aditya, your hand—"

"Don't touch me," he warned, but she ignored him, trying to grab the edge of her dupatta to press against the wound. Blood streaked across her fingers, staining her skin.

"I love you," she said quietly, looking up into his broken expression. "No past—no name—no shame will change that."

He flinched. As lightning flashed outside, illuminating the shattered jar and blood on the floor, Aditya finally met Meenal's gaze. But his lips remained sealed, unable to form the words he longed to say.

She went on. "If I marry you, I can stay here. As Chachi, not Maa. I can still raise him, keep my promise—"

He pulled his hand away, his voice trembling with more than anger. "You think calling yourself his aunt gives you power? You think that changes the fact that he'll grow up wondering why you weren't brave enough to choose the hard path?"

She froze.

"Your sister left her child in your care," he said slowly, bitterly. "And now you want to run from that. You say you can't marry Rajveer because he was your sister's husband? And when he asks who you were to him, what will you say? The woman who left?"

Her voice cracked. "He's my nephew. I—how can I marry my sister's husband? That feels like betrayal."

Aditya stepped closer, eyes locked to hers. "Then think again. For him. For the child. What do you want him to remember? That his mother died, and every adult who loved him walked away?"

She shook her head helplessly, tears finally threatening. "I don't want to lose you."
"You already have," he murmured. And this time, it did sound cruel. "Marry me, and you'll be nothing but the wife of a man born in scandal. But marry my brother... and you'll be Thakurian. His mother. His protector. His future."

Why can't she understand the child needs a mother, not an aunt? He didn't say it aloud—but the truth was clear. The child didn't need an aunt with a bleeding heart. He needed a mother who could protect him from the world.

She stared at him, bleeding hand clutched in hers, the floor smeared with blood between them—proof that love was never clean. Never easy.

Only necessary.

The cloud finally broke, and rain began to fall outside, a fitting backdrop to the storm raging within her heart.

"But I love you..." She fell to her knees.
Aditya turned without another word. But halfway down the stairs, he paused—just for a moment. His shoulders shook, barely, before the storm swallowed him.

The rain fell harder, but she stayed kneeling beneath it, the weight of goodbye heavier than the storm. She struggled to find the strength to stand up and move on from the man who had once held her heart in his hands.

Both Meenal and Adiya are crying. Their tears fell as steadily as the rain—neither able to stop, neither brave enough to turn away. The storm outside mirrored the storm within.

"Why did you leave me, Didi?" Meenal whispered, her voice breaking with emotion. Aditya watched from the stairs as his own tears mingled with the raindrops on his cheeks. He wanted to wipe her tears away and tell her he never meant to hurt her, but the words caught in his throat. The storm raged on around them, a reflection of the turmoil within their hearts.

But soon a loud cry from the baby interrupted their moment of vulnerability. Meenal looked up, her eyes filled with both sadness and determination. She knew they had to put aside their own pain for the sake of their child. Nothing mattered more to her than ensuring their baby's well-being, even if it meant setting aside their own emotions for the time being.

"I am his Massi. Maajaysi. I will be his mother. I can't trust anyone else with his care," she said, her voice steady despite the storm.

She looked up at the sky. "I'm sorry, Didi. I have to betray you... and marry the man you loved," she whispered. "But I promise to keep him safe. Always."

The child's cry pierced the storm like a plea. Meenal wiped her face, steadied her breath. There was no time for sorrow. Not now.

She looked around at the mess on the floor—the glass, the blood, the remnants of what they'd once made together.

She would carry that too, she thought. The mess. The memory. The pain.

She rose slowly, picked up the broken jar lid, and tucked it into her dupatta—sharp edges and all.

****

💔Author's Note 💔

Hey, you reading this 👀

Let's get one thing straight—girl code is real. We don't date our best friend's ex, and we definitely don't fall in love with the man our sister married. That's a sin in our world... right?

But what if love doesn't play by the rules?

What if the child she left behind calls you "Ma," not "Massi"?
What if the only way to protect him... is to betray her?

This story isn't about perfect choices.
It's about bleeding hands, broken hearts, and love that refuses to die—even when it should.

If you've ever loved someone you weren't supposed to... this story is yours.
Drop a 💔 if it hit somewhere deep.

— With all my heart,
Shaar Shree🖤