Chapter 8: Anaya’s Speculation

Anaya Deshmukh lowered her head and looked at what Rajesh had stuffed into her hands—surprisingly, it was the same bowl of chicken soup from earlier.

The very same bowl containing the chicken leg she had been eyeing longingly.

Wait a minute. What's going on? Didn't Rajesh give the chicken leg to Lovely Sunita earlier? Why is he giving it to me now?

Rajesh heard her thoughts and scoffed inwardly.

Lovely Sunita? Since when did she get a fancy new name like that? He didn't quite get it—it sounded odd. But now that he had seen Sunita's true colors, there was no way he was going to waste his family's food on an outsider.

She wasn't his future partner, nor his wife—so she was nothing to him- from now she is just an outsider.

Anaya, on the other hand, was his own little sister. Giving her food was far better than giving it to some outsider.

Besides, it was because of Anaya that he had realized Sunita's true nature in the first place. So giving her the chicken leg? No problem, its only fair.

He glanced at his scrawny sister—so thin that she looked like a gust of wind could knock her over. She definitely needed the nourishment.

Meanwhile, Anaya stared at the chicken leg, her mouth watering, but she didn't dare to eat it right away.

She hesitated. "Brother Rajesh, didn't you already give this to Sunita? Why did you…" she trailed off.

Rajesh shot her a glance as if to say, You already know why.

He gritted his teeth. "I caught Sunita telling Ashok she wanted to be with him."

"If she doesn't want to be with me, why should I give her chicken legs? Why should I help her at all?"

Anaya's eyes widened.

So he actually witnessed it! No wonder he's so furious…and maybe a little heartbroken?

But recognizing Sunita's true nature is a good thing! At least he finally sees her for who she really is.

"Oh, I see. Well then… can I eat this?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Rajesh nodded, still lost in thought. Did I really look that pitiful? No way. I'm a grown man. I wasn't hurt—I was just angry at being deceived.

Afraid Rajesh might change his mind, Anaya grabbed the chicken leg and bit into it immediately.

The moment it entered her mouth, rich savory flavor hit her tongue, she nearly teared up in joy.

Oh my god, this is delicious!

I've never had such a tasty chicken leg in my life!

Rajesh, hearing her thoughts, observed his sister again. She was far too thin, clearly malnourished. He realized that her past must not have been easy. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so overjoyed over a simple chicken leg.

Maybe… maybe he should start looking out for her more. If there was good food, he should make sure she got some.

After all, she was his real sister. A little favoritism wouldn't hurt. And family should look out for each other.

Seeing her eating happily, Rajesh didn't linger any longer. He turned to leave.

Seeing him go, Anaya called out, "You're leaving already, Brother Rajesh?"

"Yeah, I have to get back to work."

"Oh, alright then."

Go, go, focus on work. A man freshly rejected shouldn't sit around doing nothing—it'll just make him overthink things. He should throw himself into work and turn heartbreak into motivation!

Rajesh, just as he reached the door, paused. That… actually made a lot of sense.

That afternoon, he worked harder than ever before.

Meanwhile, Anaya, still chewing on her chicken leg, watched him go, deep in thought.

She hadn't expected Rajesh to witness Sunita's confession to Ashok.

Nor had she expected him to declare that he wouldn't care about Sunita anymore.

Because in the original story, Rajesh was nothing but Sunita's devoted fool.

No matter what Sunita did, he never wavered. He forgave her again and again, never questioning her, always at her beck and call.

When she first read about Rajesh's fate, it had made her furious.

It was only later that she realized Rajesh was nothing more than NPC in the story like in Free Fire Game. He wasn't even an important antagonist—just a disposable character. Just to get kill.

NPC existed to follow the plot. They weren't supposed to have their own thoughts or emotions, and decisions.

But now…

Why did it seem like Rajesh was no longer just an NPC following a script? He felt like a real person now, someone who could think and feel for himself.

Would he really change this time?

Would he truly stay away from Sunita?

Anaya pondered this, a spark of expectation growing inside her.

If Rajesh could change… could the other NPC (cannon fodder) change too?

What she didn't know was that from the moment she arrived in this world, everything had already changed.

This world was still the one written by the author—but the moment characters came into contact with Anaya, they began to awaken.

They started to develop their own consciousness, to live according to their own choices rather than blindly following the script.

But Anaya wasn't aware of this yet.

For now, she was just enjoying her chicken leg, completely satisfied.

—

After finishing her meal, Anaya lay down to rest.

Her emotions were surprisingly calm. She wasn't filled with rage over her past life's betrayal, nor was she panicked about suddenly being thrown into another world. She wasn't even anxious about the supposedly unchangeable fate that awaited her in three years.

Her mindset was simple.

You could call it laid-back, optimistic… or just plain lazy.

She didn't believe in worrying over things that hadn't happened yet. If she was destined to die in three years, she certainly wasn't going to waste time being depressed about it.

If death was inevitable, then why not enjoy life while she could?

For now, she would just live day by day, taking things as they came.

Meanwhile, in another part of the village, Seema Verma clutched a bundle of cloth, having successfully traded some of Rani's clothes for fabric.

Her actions didn't go unnoticed, sparking whispers among the villagers.

Lal Tara Village wasn't big, but gossip spread like wildfire.

If someone lost a chicken in the morning, by noon, the entire village knew about it.

And not long ago, the biggest gossip had been about the 'switched daughters' incident in the Deshmukh family.

Everyone in the village knew about Rani Deshmukh.