I sat down on the sofa, clutching my pallu tightly as if to stop my heart from breaking. The sound of “Kavita’s” footsteps still echoed on the stairs. Each step deepened the fear rising within me.

Ravi’s breathing was heavy on the other end of the phone.

“Mom… Mom, are you there?”

“Yes… I’m here,” I whispered, my eyes unfocused on the figure standing before me.

She was standing in front of me.

The same familiar face, the same soft eyes, the same firm smile I’d seen for years. No difference. No mask. No cracks in reality.

But if Ravi wasn’t lying… then who was the woman standing in front of me?

“Shall I make you tea, Mother?” Kavita asked, feigning familiarity as usual. I nodded mechanically.

She turned toward the kitchen.

And that very moment, I saw her.

On her left wrist—the silver bracelet was missing.

The same small bracelet that I had personally put on Kavita the day she arrived as my daughter-in-law. She never took it off. Not even while bathing.

My heart sank.

I suddenly stood up.

“Kavita,” I called.

She turned.

“Yes, Mother?”

“The bracelet… where is it?”

Her eyes blinked for a moment. Just a moment. But I had seen it.

“Oh… I just took it off, so it wouldn’t get wet,” she said quickly.

I swallowed dryly. The real Kavita had never been afraid of water.

Ravi whispered on the phone,
“Mom… look carefully at her left wrist.”

I went to her, trembling, as if adjusting her collar.

And then I saw it—a faint mark.

The real Kavita had no mark on her hand.

I took a step back.

“You… are you okay?”

She smiled.

“Yes, Mom, why are you asking?”

Just then the doorbell rang.

We were both startled.

I almost ran to open the door.

A tall man stood in front of me—in a black suit, his eyes stern and worried.

“Is this Arjun’s house?” he asked.

I nodded.

He lowered his voice.

“I’m an airport security officer. There’s an urgent matter involving Arjun’s wife.”

“Kavita” froze behind me.

The officer said, “We’ve found a woman traveling with a real identity and a real passport… but another woman who looks exactly like her is present in this house.”

I quickly looked back.

“Kavita” wasn’t smiling anymore.

Her face had turned pale. Her lips were trembling.

“I… I can explain,” she said.

Her voice—for the first time—wasn’t the same as I knew it.

The officer took a step forward.

“Who are you?”

She broke down. She sat down on the ground and wept.

“My name is Meera,” she said. “I am Kavita’s twin sister.”

My world stopped.

Meera explained that the two sisters were separated during their days of poverty. Kavita was adopted, and Meera grew up in a difficult, bitter life. From a distance, she watched Kavita’s life—a happy family, a loving husband, a home full of trust.

And jealousy slowly became an obsession.

“I just wanted to live like her… just once,” Meera sobbed. “I never meant to harm anyone.”

“Then why is Kavita on the flight?” I asked in a trembling voice.

Meera bowed her head.

“Because she found out everything. She went to France herself… to save the family… and to prevent me from going to jail.”

Tears welled up in my eyes.

The officer said softly, “We’ve spoken to both Arjun and Ravi.”

Ravi was silent on the phone.

Finally, Meera was taken away.

The house became quiet again.

A few hours later, Arjun returned home. He held me in his arms like a child.

A few days later, the real Kavita returned. She had the same silver bracelet on her wrist. I hugged my daughter-in-law tightly—

I couldn’t speak.

That night, Ravi called.

“Mom… are you okay?”

I looked around the house—the same house, but not as innocent as before.

“Yes, son, Mom is fine.”

After that incident, I learned one thing—

Strangers aren’t always the scariest things.

Sometimes the scariest thing is blind trust—when we assume we know the people around us completely.

Even after that day, I love my family just as much.

But now I’ve learned to look carefully.

Not to doubt.

But to understand the value of truth—which is the most delicate, and the most precious.