Did I do the right thing? My hostel senior faked her own mother’s death

Okay, let's rewind 2 years back. When I first shifted to my hostel, I became really close to a senior chechi. She was 24 at the time, married, and her husband was working abroad. Appo pullikkari paranjirunnathu her mom is a high school teacher living alone in Kerala, and her dad passed away when she was young.

Fast forward to November, we planned a girls' trip- me, my roommate, and this chechi. But the day before we were supposed to leave, she called us to her room and dropped a bomb. She said she isn't coming. It wasn't about money or anything practical, she just didn't want to. Njangal kore nirbandhichu, trying to convince her to join us. Suddenly, she broke down crying and said she just really misses her mom.

We tried to console her saying, "Chechi, you can see your mom during the sem break na."

That’s when she told us: Her mom actually passed away a year ago. She said she couldn't bring herself to tell us before. We were absolutely shocked because she used to tell us so many stories about her mom! Njangalum nannayi karanju. That night, we went back to her room, promised to cheer her up, and basically forced her to come on the trip because leaving her alone in that sad mood felt so wrong. Somehow, she agreed.

The Twist :

On the second day of the trip, she was taking a shower, and her phone started ringing. It was a WhatsApp call. She yelled from the bathroom asking me to check who it was. I looked at the screen ,Nimmy was calling (her mom's name is Nirmala, and she told us before sometimes she calls her amma Nimmy). Guys, I was totally frozen. The DP was clearly her mom, standing with chechi and her husband.

I was so confused and told her Nimmy is calling. She casually said, "Haa, I'm coming, it's my Chitta" (mom's younger sister). She came and called back and started talking. Njan onnum ariyatha pole acting aayirunnu, but I was listening closely to their convo. She was asking things like, "Inn schoolil poyille?" and speaking in a very hushed, secretive tone , entho olich pidich samsaarikkunna pole.

Appo njan athu vittu. I convinced myself that maybe her Chitta looks exactly like her Amma, because i wasn't ready to believe someone can fake their mom's death

The Prank Call

Days passed, we returned from the trip, and i was noticing this "Chitta" was calling her multiple times a day.

Then one fine day, we all planned to prank chechi's school bestie over a phone call. We called her on speaker and pulled a fake marriage proposal prank. Last prank aanennu paranjappol, they started catching up normally- sughalle, angane ingane okke. Suddenly, that bestie penn asked our chechi, "Amma enth parayunnu? Naattil alle?"

Our chechi immediately turned off the speaker and rushed to say, "Haa athedi..sughayi irikkunnu!"

When the call ended, without anyone even asking, she gave an unsolicited explanation: "She was asking about my mother-in-law." None of the other girls cared, they just believed whatever she told them and casually moved on. But me? Enikku oru strong feeling aayirunnu that her mom is alive and she is a massive liar.

The Singing Status

Chechi is a classical dancer, but she doesn't sing. One day, she put up a WhatsApp status of "her" singing in her room. I listened carefully, and I was 100% sure it wasn't her voice. Pullikkarikku audio editing onnum ariyilla, and the track sounded totally studio-polished.

I replied to her status asking, "Chechi, is that really you?"

Her reply? "Oh, I forgot to hide you." I figured it out, tht she is a No. 1 liar and a huge attention seeker.

The Aftermath

Eventually Njan pathukke chechiyil ninn distance keep cheythu. I decided to keep all this to myself and didn't share my doubts with anyone else because questioning someone's death felt like a sin. I felt like the odd one out because I was the only one noticing all these red flags (just like jaison from thanneer mathan dhinangal)

When she finally passed out of college, everybody was hanging out in her room, helping her pack and spending time with her. I only showed up at the very last minute right before she left. Later, a friend told me that chechi was crying because I didn't spend much time with her. Honestly, I felt bad. Oru nimisham njan chinthichu, what if ithokke ente thonnal aanenkil? What if she was telling the truth all along and my behavior was just bad?

Even now, she still likes my stories and replies sometimes. chechi enne kore disrespect okke cheythittund, pullikkaariye mind eyyaathente frustration num kaanikkum, I'm damn sure she actually hates me but just pretends to love me. wait once i saw her latest documents from her college athil, dads name and LATE ittittund , MOM nte il ittittilla..why...once i stalked her husband's insta profile and there was her mom's picture with them, which she never showed us and felt new...

Currently, she is abroad with her husband and expecting a baby. I haven't congratulated her. I just don't want to fake all this sneham when my mind is full of these weird doubts and history.

So guys, honestly... am I a cruel person here?