Dhruve thought he had it all: a loving wife, a successful career, and a life he’d built against all odds. Every day, the simple words "Welcome home, dear" from his wife were his personal heaven, erasing the grind of the world. Three years of blissful marriage, a defiant victory over family objections, had convinced him he’d cracked life’s code.

Then came the morning he forgot his phone.

Rushing back home during his lunch break, eager to see her face and retrieve his forgotten device, Dhruve’s world shattered. Through a barely ajar bedroom door, he heard it: his wife’s familiar laugh, intertwined with the unmistakable grunts of another man. The woman he loved, the sanctuary he called home—both brutally violated.

Frozen, reeling from betrayal, Dhruve chose silence over explosion. He captured damning proof, then walked away, a ghost in his own house. The rage was searing, but beneath it, a chilling resolve began to form. He wouldn't scream; he would plot. He wouldn't break; he would rebuild—a calculated, precise revenge.

"Welcome Home, Stranger." is a gripping tale of love, betrayal, and the meticulous unraveling of a life built on a lie. When heaven shatters, and fury turns cold, how far will a man go to reclaim his narrative and make his betrayer stand naked in the unforgiving light of truth? This isn't just a story of revenge; it's a slow-burning engine of retribution, fueled by small, surgical cuts, until there's nothing left to feed.

An old friend from college called out of nowhere.


We hadn't spoken in years. He asked, "You sound… different. Everything okay?"


I said, "Yeah, man. Just the usual grind."


He laughed and said, "You always sucked at lying."


For a moment, I felt the old me — the one who used to dream, laugh, trust.


But that version of me felt like a ghost now.


I hung up, sat in silence, and realized: the bridge back to that old life had burned down.


Chapter 31 - A Call from the Past