Part 3 pick up the call

Riya stared at the note for days.

She kept it beside her pillow, folded like a secret no one else should see.

Something about Raj haunted her—not in a scary way, but in a familiar way, like she had known him long before that night on the bridge.

One afternoon, unable to take it anymore, she dialed the number he called from.

Unknown Number.

To her surprise…

The phone rang.

And then a voice answered.

But it wasn’t Raj.

It was an old woman.

“Hello?” she croaked, her voice soft like fading paper.

Riya’s heart sank. “I… I was looking for someone named Raj.”

There was silence.

Then the woman said:

“Beta… Raj died twelve years ago. This number hasn’t belonged to him since then.”

She was in complete shock. Her hands trembled as she held the phone tighter, her voice barely a whisper.

"How do you know him?"

The woman on the other side paused, then softly said,

"Because... he was my son."

Riya’s heart skipped a beat. Her mind raced, unable to understand how this stranger knew her, or Raj.

After a few moments of silence, the woman spoke again, her voice thick with tears.

"My child... is your name Riya?"

Riya was too stunned to speak, but somehow, she forced the words out.

"Y-Yes… but aunty, how do you know my name?"

The woman sobbed gently, then said,

"My son... he once saw you helping poor children outside a temple. You didn’t know he was watching, but that moment stayed with him. He fell in love with you right then and there."

Riya’s eyes widened. She had no idea anyone had been watching her that day.

The woman continued,

"He wanted to talk to you, to tell you how beautiful your heart was… but before he could, you left. He thought he’d never see you again."

Riya held her breath.

"But fate brought you back to him," the woman whispered. "The next day, he saw you again — in his college canteen. He learned your name… everything about you. But he never had the courage to speak to you."

Tears rolled down Riya’s cheeks.

The woman’s voice broke completely now.

"The day he finally gathered the strength to propose to you… he saw you with someone else. He thought you already belonged to another. He was heartbroken. He... he couldn’t bear the pain of losing you before even having you."

Her voice cracked like shattered glass.

"And that night… he ended his life."