Lakshya adjusted Riya a little more comfortably on his lap before tearing a small piece of roti.
He mixed it with dal and vegetables exactly the way she used to like as a child, and blew on it once before holding it in front of her.
"Open."
Riya obediently opened her mouth.
The other three brothers watched the scene for exactly two seconds.
Then Abhiraj let out a dramatic sigh.
"...Unfair."
Nobody looked at him.
He looked around the entire table as if searching for justice.
"Did everyone see that?"
"I've been living with Lakshya bhaiya my whole life..."
"...and he has never fed me."
Lakshya calmly prepared another bite for Riya.
Without even looking at Abhiraj, he replied,
"...You're nineteen."
"You know how to feed yourself."
The entire table BURST into laughter.
Abhiraj clutched his chest dramatically.
"My own brother..."
"...has abandoned me."
Ranchit nodded sympathetically.
"You'll survive."
"I don't want survival."
"I want emotional support."
"You want attention."
"...Exactly."
Even Riya couldn't stop giggling.
Lakshya looked down at her.
"Chew first."
She immediately pressed her lips together and nodded obediently before chewing properly.
Watching the interaction, Harish, who had been quietly serving everyone until now, couldn't help smiling. He walked a little closer to the table with another basket of fresh rotis in his hand.
"So..."
"I don't think we've met properly."
Riya looked up at him.
Harish smiled warmly before introducing himself.
"My name is Harish."
"I've been with this family for many years."
"I make sure nobody in this mansion stays hungry..."
"...and I also deal with these four disasters every single day."
He looked toward the brothers while saying the last sentence.
Abhiraj immediately protested.
"I object."
Harish nodded seriously.
"I know."
"You object every day."
"And every day..."
"...you still end up eating four extra rotis."
This time even Lakshya's lips curved into the faintest smile.
Abhiraj looked betrayed.
"I eat because food shouldn't feel lonely."
Ranchit immediately replied,
"No."
"You eat because you don't know when to stop."
Everyone laughed again.
Riya quietly watched all of them.
Then she looked back at Harish.
There was genuine curiosity in her eyes.
"...Can I ask something?"
"Of course, beta."
"What should I call you?"
The question was so simple...
Yet it made Harish pause for a moment.
Before he could answer, Ranchit spoke first.
"We call him Harish bhaiya."
Abhiraj nodded.
"But you're much younger."
"So you can call him Harish uncle."
Harish laughed softly.
"I suddenly became old?"
Abhiraj shrugged innocently.
"That's how promotions work."
Another round of laughter spread across the dining table.
Riya looked at Harish thoughtfully for a few seconds.
Then a small smile appeared on her face.
"...Can I call you Hari uncle instead?"
For a brief moment...
The dining hall became unusually quiet.
Harish looked at the little girl sitting comfortably in Lakshya's lap.
Something about the way she had shortened his name so naturally made his heart melt.
His eyes softened.
"I'd like that very much."
Riya smiled happily.
"Okay then..."
"...Hari uncle."
Harish gently placed another hot roti onto Lakshya's plate before looking at Riya again.
"Thank you, beta."
Character Note: Harish (Age 31)
Harish has been with the brothers for years and is much more than the mansion's head chef. He manages the entire kitchen and personally keeps track of everyone's meals, favourite dishes, and even their eating habits. Calm, patient, and endlessly caring, he treats every person under this roof like family. He rarely raises his voice, but when someone skips meals or neglects their health, he becomes surprisingly strict. Lakshya addresses him simply as Harish, while Maan, Ranchit, and Abhiraj respectfully call him Harish bhaiya. From today onwards, to Riya, he becomes Hari uncle-another familiar face in a mansion that is slowly beginning to feel like home.
Lakshya continued feeding Riya without saying much.
He had always been a man of few words.
But everyone sitting at the table knew one thing-
Whenever it came to Riya...
His actions always spoke far louder than his silence.
Riya quietly looked around the dining table before asking in a soft voice,
"So..."
"...everyone already knew about me?"
For a brief moment...
The teasing stopped.
Maan was the first to answer.
"There wasn't a single week when Lakshya bhaiya didn't mention you."
"He never talked much..."
"...but every important person in this mansion knew one thing."
Ranchit completed his sentence with a smile.
"That one day..."
"...his little sister would finally come home."
Riya slowly lifted her head and looked at Lakshya.
He didn't deny it.
He didn't explain it either.
He simply held another bite in front of her.
"Eat."
A small smile appeared on Riya's face.
She quietly took the bite.
Just then Maan looked towards Harish.
"Harish bhaiya..."
"Where's Meera aunty?"
Harish's smile softened.
"She's not feeling well today."
"The doctor has asked her to rest."
"She wanted to come downstairs the moment she heard Riya had arrived..."
"...but somehow I convinced her to stay in her room."
Maan nodded in satisfaction.
"Good."
"She never takes care of herself."
Ranchit looked at Riya and smiled.
"You'll meet her tomorrow."
"And trust me..."
"...she's probably the one who's been waiting to meet you the most."
Riya blinked.
"Really?"
Abhiraj leaned forward with a grin.
"Oh yes."
"After Lakshya bhaiya..."
"...Meera aunty is the person who's heard your name the most in this house."
"At this point..."
"...she already thinks you're her daughter."
Riya looked at Abhiraj with wide eyes.
"...Her daughter?"
Abhiraj nodded without the slightest hesitation.
"Absolutely."
"According to Meera aunty..."
"...any child who enters this house hungry automatically becomes her responsibility."
Ranchit chuckled.
"Forget hungry."
"If you even sneeze once..."
"...she'll appear with kadha, soup, medicines and a lecture."
Maan calmly added,
"And she'll make sure you finish all of it."
Abhiraj shuddered dramatically.
"I still have nightmares."
"I once told her I wasn't hungry."
Ranchit looked at Riya with complete seriousness.
"He wasn't seen for three hours."
Riya blinked.
"...Where was he?"
Harish sighed, already knowing where the conversation was going.
"In the kitchen."
"Meera aunty made him finish breakfast..."
"...then fruits..."
"...then dry fruits..."
"...then lunch."
The table ERUPTED in laughter.
Abhiraj pointed at Harish.
"You watched."
"You did nothing."
Harish folded his arms.
"I was helping."
"You were serving."
"I was serving with love."
"You were serving with vengeance."
Even Lakshya let out the faintest breath that almost resembled a laugh.
Riya looked at him in surprise.
She had never imagined someone as serious as Lakshya could laugh.
It was barely visible.
Just the slightest curve near his lips.
But...
It made him look different.
Warmer.
Much younger.
Lakshya noticed her staring.
"What?"
She smiled softly.
"...Nothing."
He knew that "nothing" didn't mean nothing.
But this time...
He didn't ask.
Instead, he simply tore another piece of roti and held it in front of her.
She obediently ate it.
Harish quietly looked at her plate.
"Beta..."
"Do you like paneer?"
Riya nodded immediately.
"I do."
Harish smiled proudly.
"Good."
"I'll make my special paneer for lunch tomorrow."
Before Riya could answer-
Abhiraj raised his hand.
"I also like paneer."
Harish didn't even look at him.
"You've been eating my paneer for years."
"This one is for Riya."
Abhiraj gasped dramatically.
"...Discrimination."
Ranchit patted his shoulder.
"No."
"Competition."
Maan took a sip of water.
"You've already lost."
"I refuse to accept defeat."
"You don't have a choice."
Riya covered her mouth, trying not to laugh with food inside.
Lakshya noticed immediately.
"Don't laugh while eating."
"You'll choke."
His voice wasn't harsh.
It was instinctive.
Protective.
Riya immediately nodded.
"Sorry."
Lakshya gently brushed a tiny crumb from the corner of her lips with his thumb before feeding her another bite as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Nobody at the table reacted.
To them...
This wasn't unusual.
Whenever Lakshya cared about someone...
His care was quiet.
He never announced it.
He simply noticed every little thing before anyone else did.
Riya lowered her eyes for a moment.
For five years...
She had imagined hundreds of versions of what coming back to them would feel like.
None of those imaginations had prepared her for this.
Not the expensive mansion.
Not the long dining table.
Not the laughter echoing through the room.
And certainly not...
Being fed by Lakshya exactly the way he had fed her when she was five years old, as if those five missing years had never existed at all.
Harish uncle had been serving everyone quietly, but every few seconds his eyes drifted back toward Lakshya.
Or rather...
Toward the fact that Lakshya had fed Riya nearly half her dinner...
...without taking a single bite himself.
He let out a small, helpless sigh.
"Sir..."
Lakshya looked up.
"Hm?"
"At least have a few bites yourself."
"The food will get cold."
Lakshya glanced at his untouched plate before looking back at Riya, who was happily chewing the bite he had just fed her.
"I'll eat later."
Harish smiled knowingly.
"I've heard that sentence before."
"And every time..."
"...later never comes."
Abhiraj immediately nodded.
"Evidence exists."
"Multiple times."
Ranchit raised his hand dramatically.
"I'd like to testify."
Maan calmly added,
"The witness statements are reliable."
Lakshya ignored all three of them.
Instead...
He tore another small piece of roti, mixed it with dal and vegetables, and held it in front of Riya.
"...Open, baccha."
Riya opened her mouth obediently.
After chewing for a few seconds...
She looked down at Lakshya's untouched plate.
Then back at him.
Then at Harish uncle.
Her brows slowly knitted together.
"...You didn't eat?"
Lakshya answered casually,
"I will."
She frowned.
"...When?"
"In a while."
She stayed quiet.
Lakshya assumed the matter was over and prepared another bite for her.
Instead...
A tiny hand gently wrapped around his wrist.
He stopped.
Riya looked at him with complete seriousness.
"...No."
Lakshya raised an eyebrow.
"No?"
She slowly shook her head.
"You also have to eat."
A smile tugged at the corners of Harish's lips.
Abhiraj immediately leaned back in his chair.
"Oh..."
"Our Doll has already learned."
Ranchit grinned.
"Harish uncle finally found someone who can say what he's been trying to."
Lakshya looked only at Riya.
"...Baccha."
"Hm?"
"You eat first."
She folded her arms.
"No."
"You."
For a second...
Neither of them moved.
The entire dining table watched silently.
Then...
Riya looked down at his plate.
Carefully tore off a tiny piece of roti herself.
She copied exactly what Lakshya had been doing for her.
A little dal.
A little sabzi.
It wasn't neat.
The roti almost fell apart in her fingers.
She held it up toward him anyway.
"...Open."
Silence.
Abhiraj's jaw dropped.
"...Lakshya bhaiya..."
"You've officially been promoted."
Ranchit blinked.
"I don't think anyone has ever fed him before."
Even Maan paused midway through lifting his glass.
Harish simply smiled.
His eyes unexpectedly softened.
Lakshya looked at the tiny hand holding the bite...
Then at Riya's determined face.
For the first time that evening...
A genuine smile appeared.
Small.
Almost invisible.
But real.
Without saying a word...
He leaned forward and ate the bite from her hand.
Riya's face lit up instantly.
"There."
"Now we're both eating."
Lakshya looked at her for a long moment.
Then quietly picked up another bite for her.
"...Happy now, baccha?"
She nodded so enthusiastically that a few loose strands of hair bounced across her forehead.
"Very."
Harish finally let out the breath he'd been holding.
"Now..."
"...this looks like a proper dinner."
Even he couldn't stop smiling.
To Be Continued...
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