He & Me

"He is coming back... I must leave before he arrives, Adheena."

Neena: "When will he be here?"

Aleon: "I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait, until he returns."

Neena: "Yes, it’s been such a long time..."

Her words trembled with the weight of a mother’s longing, a heart aching with the passage of years, every moment steeped in hope.

When Neena had first married Aleon, the boy was only six — poor, withdrawn, and clinging to his brother, his emotions locked away in the silence of a child who had known too much pain. At first, he barely acknowledged her presence, the gap between them wide as an ocean. But as time wore on, that cold distance melted away. Aleon’s heart found its home in Neena’s care, and slowly, she became more than just his stepmother — she became the mother he had never known, the one he could lean on when the world had abandoned him.

Now, as she waits for him to return, Neena feels the quiet ache of the years she’s spent loving a child who once felt like a stranger, now a son in every sense of the word.

.................................

Adheena sat quietly in her room at the Johnsunburg mansion, lost in thought. Every corner of this house held pieces of her past — memories of how she got here, how they changed her life.

"I was just an orphan. Abandoned. Taken in by a kind woman… but when I met Neenamma in high school, everything changed."

At first, she’d mistaken Neena for one of those rich women who wore charity like jewelry. But Neena was different. She sponsored her studies, visited her often, helped her prepare for exams. Slowly, the distance between them disappeared.

Then came the day Neena brought her into this mansion — into a real home. And Aleon... her quiet strength, her beautiful storm. He helped her believe life could be more than pain.

Together, they gave her more than shelter.

They gave her a future.

They gave her love.

They gave her a place to belong.

Her hands trembled, not from fear… but from the storm she never showed anyone.

“Everyone thinks Alen is calm… obedient… perfect. But I know better.”

Her thoughts were sharp, quiet like a whisper inside her.

“He looks at me like I don’t belong here. Like I’m a parasite feeding off his family. But he doesn’t know... he never knew.”

She turned away from the window, blinking back the heat in her eyes.

“I never asked for their help. Not once. I fought for everything — my studies, my survival, my dignity. And even when I was drowning, I stayed silent.”

She remembered the nights she’d skipped meals to pay rent, the jobs she worked behind everyone’s back, the broken shoes she taped together for one more day.

“When Neenamma found out, she cried. Aleon was furious — not at me, but at himself, for not seeing it sooner. They helped me because they cared... not because I begged.”

She clenched her fists.

“But Alen... he mocked me. Every single time. As if I was pretending. As if I was playing some twisted game to win their affection.”

Adheena exhaled sharply, steadying herself.

“He doesn't see me. He only sees a threat. But one day, he’ll know who I really am — not a charity case, not a gold-digger… but someone who survived.” A forgotten moment from the past came rushing back

......

The evening air inside the mansion had been still… until he walked in.

Adheena turned sharply, caught off guard by Alen’s voice behind her.

Alen: “So… getting paid again?”

His smirk was cold, but his eyes — those eyes — were watching her too closely.

She narrowed hers.

Adheena: “If you mean Neenamma helping me during a crisis, yes. I’m sure that offends your delicate pride.”

He stepped forward, slow, almost amused.

Alen: “No pride here. Just curiosity.”

He tilted his head. “You always cry on her shoulder right before money appears. Impressive timing.”

Adheena: “I don’t need her money.”

She clutched the envelope tighter, jaw set. “And I definitely don’t need your approval.”