“Oh that explains a lot. That’s why, when Mama asked you to put away your toys, you suddenly started getting so angry and being stubborn, and then you started refusing to help with any household chores."

Aru imagined the sigh as a big dust ball accumulating inside her for years. There was a mixture of anger and regret in it. Aru wondered if she too would sigh like that years later.

The real pain had stood behind the momentary mask of her mother’s disapproval. Now that the mask was torn away, Sumana could not hold it in anymore. It was too much. Way too much.

She continued putting coffee powder in two mugs. It was still strange to hear about her father from Chahana, who had once been her best friend, but now was her stepmom.

Ritu grimaced inwardly. “Now why on earth did I, of all people, commit the error of assuming that the surgeon would be male?” she thought.