Episode 3: Adil’s Secret
✨ Recap from Episode 2:
Maya finds a hidden box labeled HOPE .
A half-burnt letter whispers a name: Aru...
And Adil hands her a broken heart-shaped pendant—found buried beneath the swing .
The mystery deepens . The fire begins
.Scene 1: The Pendant That Doesn’t Belong
Maya turns the pendant over in her hands.
On the back, scratched faintly, almost invisible:
"To Aarthi, with all my heart."
That name means nothing to her…
But it means everything to the matron watching silently from the hallway shadows.
Scene 2: Adil’s Puzzle Piece
The next morning, Adil sneaks Maya into the old storage attic—off-limits to everyone.
He pulls out a dusty wooden box he’s hidden for months.
Inside:
A broken photo frame
A hospital file
And a crumpled envelope with no name
Adil:
“I found this when I broke a floorboard near the swing… I didn’t want to scare you.”
Maya opens it.
Inside: a photo of a young man holding a newborn. His face is turned away, but something in his hands... the same pendant.
🗯️ Scene 3: The Matron’s Warning
Later that day, the matron calls Adil to her office.
Matron (angry):
“You’re poking around in things that are better left buried.”
Adil (firm):
“You said she was left here with no name.”
Matron (cold):
“She was. And it’s kinder that way . ”
But as Adil leaves , she clutches her keychain tightly .
One of the keys leads to the orphanage records room.
She hasn’t opened it in 11 years.
🌸 Scene 4 : Maya’s Fire Awakens
That night , Maya takes the pendant , the photo, and the torn letter—and folds them into one of her hidden tree letters.
“Dear someone,
You left pieces of me behind.
But I will not stay broken forever.”
Adil watches her from the shadows, guilt flickering in his eyes.
Because he knows something Maya doesn’t.
🧨 Cliffhanger (Episode-ending Twist):
Maya falls asleep holding the pendant.
Adil quietly walks to his own bed, opens a secret notebook…
Inside are drawings of Maya . Over years. From when they were both 6.
And tucked into the back of that notebook…
A full version of the letter. The one Maya never saw.
The part she’s missing ?
“ …name her Arundhati. She is the light of my soul.
Her father’s name is Arjun . "
" They buried me beneath silence ,
But the roots remembered my name .
Even shadows grow louder ,
When the fire becomes flame ."
Secrets even Adil has kept
Maya’s slow awakening into truth-hunger
"To the one who left me unnamed..."
I don’t know your name.
I don’t know your face.
But I feel you in my silence.
When they told me I had no past, I believed them.
Until the gulmohar tree started whispering truths the wind never spoke aloud.
There’s a pendant in my hand now. Old. Broken. Burnt at the edges.
It smells of ash… and love.
You held it once. And the baby. Me.
But something made you leave.
Something made you lie.
Did you look at me, even once?
Did I cry too loud? Was I too small to matter?
They say I was left without a name. But I found part of it.
"Aru—"
Does it hurt to read that? Because it hurts me to write it.
I don’t want revenge. I don’t even want answers anymore.
I want truth.
I want someone to finally say:
“You weren’t unwanted. You were just unloved by the wrong person.”
If this letter ever finds you…
If guilt still has a voice in your chest…
Know this:
I forgive you.
But I will still find you.
Not for revenge.
But because a story without an ending isn’t a story.
And I need to know if I was ever your beginning.
She folds the letter and tucks it behind the swing again, unaware that Adil is reading every line from the shadows.
