I slammed the boy’s old schoolbag onto the floor and stared at the 12-year-old with cold, detached eyes.

The boy did not cry.

He simply bent his head, softly picked up his torn bag, turned, and walked away—without saying anything.

Ten years later, as the truth was eventually revealed, I desired more than anything that I could go back in time.

I am Rajesh, and I was 36 when my wife, Meera, passed away because of a sudden stroke.

She left behind more than me—a 12-year-old son named Arjun.

However, Arjun was not biologically mine.

He was Meera’s son from a previous relationship.

Meera was 26 years old when I married her, and she had already experienced heartbreak – a love without a name, a pregnancy she carried alone.

“Get out.” I don’t care if you survive or die.

I expected him to cry. To beg.

Yet he did not.

He departed.

I felt nothing.

I sold my house and moved.

Life continued on. Business prospered. I met another woman with no baggage and no children.
For several years, I had sporadic thoughts about Arjun.

Not out of anxiety, but out of curiosity.

Where is he now? Was he still alive?

However, time erases even interest.
A 12-year-old boy, alone in the world—where could he possibly go?

I did not know.
I didn’t care.

I even persuaded myself, “If he’s dead, perhaps it’s for the best.”
Ten years later.

I got a call from an unknown number.

“Hello, Mr. Rajesh? Would you be able to attend the grand opening of the TPA Gallery on MG Road this Saturday?

Someone very much hopes you’ll come.”

I was about to hang up — but the next sentence made my hand freeze:

“Don’t you want to know what happened to Arjun?”

My chest tightened.

That name — Arjun — I hadn’t heard it in ten years.

I paused. Then replied, flatly:

“I’ll come.”

The gallery was modern and full of people.

I strolled in, feeling oddly out of place.

The paintings were striking—oil on canvas, cold, distant, and frightening.

I read the artist’s name, T.P.A.

The initials hurt.

“Hello, Mr. Rajesh.”

A tall, slim young man in plain clothes stood before me, his gaze deep and unreadable.

I froze.

It was Arjun.

Gone was the frail boy I had abandoned.

Before me stood a composed and accomplished man.

Familiar. Nonetheless, it feels far away.

“You…” I stammered. “How…?”

He cut me off, his voice smooth but cutting as glass.

“I wanted you to see what my mother had left behind.”

“And what you left behind.”

He brought me to a canvas covered in red cloth.

“It is named Mother. I have never shown it before.

But today, I want you to see it.

I lifted the cloth.

There she was: Meera.

Pale and emaciated, lying on a hospital bed.

She held a photograph of the three of us from our only trip together.

My knees gave way.

Arjun’s voice did not waver.

“Before she died, she wrote a journal.

She knew you didn’t love me.

But she still believed — one day — you’d understand.

Because… I’m not some other man’s child.”
I stopped breathing.

“What…?”
“Yes. I’m your son.

She was already pregnant when you met her.
But she told you I was from someone else — to test your heart.

And later, it was too late to confess.”
“I found the truth in her journal. Hidden in the old attic.”

The world collapsed around me.
I had cast out my own son.

And now, he stood in front of me — dignified, successful — while I had lost everything.
I had lost my son twice.

And the second time — was forever.

I sat in a corner of the gallery, devastated.
His words resonated in my head like swords piercing my soul.

“I’m your son.”
“She was afraid you only stayed out of duty.”

“She chose silence… because she loved you.”
“You walked away because you feared responsibility.”

I previously thought I was heroic for “accepting” another man’s child.
But I had never really been kind. Never fair. Never had a father.

When Meera died, I rejected Arjun as if he were undesirable.
Not knowing… He was my own blood.

I attempted to talk.
Arjun had already turned away.

I ran after him.
“Arjun, please wait…” If I’d known you were mine—”

He cast a glance back. Calm. However, it is remote.
“I am not here for your apologies.

I do not need you to claim me.
I wanted you to know that my mother never lied.

She loved you. She chose silence, allowing you to freely choose love.
I was speechless.

“I do not detest you.
If you had not pushed me away…

I might not have become who I am now.”
He handed me the envelope. Inside, a copy of Meera’s journal.

In wobbly handwriting, she wrote:
“If you ever read this, please forgive me.

I was terrified.
I’m afraid you’ll only love me because of the child.

But Arjun is our son.
I wanted to tell you from the moment I found out I was pregnant.

But you weren’t sure. And I was afraid.
I hoped that if you really loved him, the facts wouldn’t matter.”

I wept.
Silently.

Because I’d failed as a husband. As a Father.
And now…I had nothing left.

I tried to put things right, but it wasn’t easy.
In the following weeks, I contacted Arjun.

I messaged him. He waited outside his gallery. Not for pardon, but to be near.
But Arjun no longer needed me.

One day, he agreed to meet.
His voice was kind but forceful.

“You don’t need to atone.
I don’t blame you.

But I don’t need a father.
Because the one I had… chose not to need me.”

I nodded.
He was right.

I handed him a savings book — everything I had.
I had once planned to leave it to my new partner — but after learning the truth, I broke things off the very next day.

“I cannot recapture the past.
But if you let me… I’ll stand by you.

Silently. No title. No demands.
“Knowing you’re fine is enough.”

Arjun stared at me for a long time.
Then he spoke:

“I will accept it.
Not for money.

However, my mother believed you might still be a nice man.
Time — the one thing we can never reclaim.

I was no longer “father.”
But I followed every step he took.

I quietly invested in his gallery. Referred collectors. Shared contacts from my business days.
I could not reclaim my son.

But I refused to lose him again.

Every year, on Meera’s death anniversary, I go to the temple.
Kneeling in front of her photograph, I wept:

“I apologize.” I was selfish.
But I will spend the rest of my life trying to set things right.”

When Arjun reached 22, he was invited to participate in an international art exhibition.
On his personal page, he wrote one short sentence:

“For you, mom. “I made it.”
And below it, for the first time in ten years, he sent me a message.

“If you’re free… the exhibition opens this Saturday.”
I froze.

The simple word “Dad” signaled the end of sorrow and the start of new experiences.
Final message:

Some mistakes cannot be undone.
However, genuine remorse might still enter the heart.

Finding happiness does not need perfection, but rather the willingness to confront previously unforgivable situations.