Chapter 59
The morning sun cast a soft glow through the windows of Maan's house as Sameera arrived, her heart heavy with the weight of the impending conversation about the DNA results. Dropping Aavya off at preschool had been a blur of emotions, but now she stood before Maan, Dadima, Naintara, and Dev in the hall, steeling herself for the confrontation that lay ahead. She couldn’t sleep all night and had dreaded facing them today. But she had to know. She couldn’t have them believe she lied to them. Especially lied about her daughter. Aavya had loved getting to knowing them and this could ruin everything.
Dadima's eyes bore into Sameera, disappointment etched in every line of her face as she watched Sameera standing before them. “How could you deceive us with lies, Sameera?” she questioned, her voice laced with hurt.
“I did not deceive you, dadima! I didn’t lie… I have never been with anyone but Maan. I loved him with all my heart! I wouldn’t do that to him, to me…” she placed a hand on her heart. Her eyes pleading with Maan.
“How could the DNA results lie, Sameera? How could you explain this?" His words hung heavy in the air, a stark accusation that pierced through Sameera's defences. She could hear the hurt, the pain in his voice and she felt her eyes sting with tears.
Sensing the rising tension, Dev stepped in, his voice calm and measured. “Let's think logically and consider all possibilities before jumping to conclusions,” he urged, trying to diffuse the escalating emotions.
Naintara, ever the voice of reason, suggested gently to Sameera, “Take a moment to think back. Count back to when Aavya was conceived. Try to remember everything, every detail.”
Sameera's mind raced in turmoil, her heart aching with despair and frustration at the situation unravelling before her. She had always believed in her love for Maan, in her fidelity to him. Her mind raced vehemently as she poured over their memories of their life together. As she paused to think, a sudden realisation dawned on her, and her chaotic thoughts amalgamated into a moment of clarity.
Memories flooded back in a rush, and Sameera’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief. She recollected a night of pain and regret, the day they had signed the divorce papers. She remembered drowning her sorrows in alcohol, waking up sore and disoriented in a stranger's apartment. The painful reminders of her shattered marriage crashed over her like a tidal wave, leaving her gasping for breath amidst the wreckage of her past mistakes. As Sameera's shocked gaze met Maan’s clouded stormy eyes, a silent understanding passed between them. His initial confusion gave way to a knowing look, as he recognised the truth dawning on her. In that moment, as their eyes locked in a silent exchange of emotions, Maan could read Sameera like he had done years ago, their shared history woven with threads of pain, betrayal, and a love that had been lost along the way.
“You know” Maan whispered, his voice filled with pain.
“Maan," Sameera's voice was soft, almost pleading, as she looked at him with tear-filled eyes. The realisation that they both had come to was suffocating.
“You know who the father is…” he whispered causing looks of confusion from everyone else around them.
“What does he mean?” Dadima questioned looking furiously at Sameera.
“I was lost, Maan…" Sameera confessed, her voice breaking with emotion. “We… we had just divorced and… Oh God!” she cried unable to make sense of the possibility. She had truly believed that Maan is the father of her baby. “I didn't know how to cope with the emptiness inside me. I didn’t mean to... I didn’t plan to... it just happened.”
“How did it just happen?” Maan asked feeling daggers of sharp pain piercing into his heart. “How the… hell does this just happen?” he yelled stepping forward angrily.
Sameera backed a step choking on her sobs as Dev grabbed a hold of Maan.
“I fcking ruined my life. I ruined… I ruined my wife. I lost her! I couldn’t tell her truth because of your lie! Why did you do this to me?”
“I didn’t!” Sameera cried out. Anger and hurt consumed her. “Aavya… I didn’t even remember that night. We just got divorced and… I had one choice. I either kill myself or drown in alcohol” she screamed. “I chose the latter because I just wanted to forget everything. Our… life, our… babies that we lost… I wanted to forget it all and I did. That night was forgotten and… 6 weeks later when I found out I was pregnant, I… I couldn’t remember that night” she crumbled down sobbing hard.
“I thought... I thought it was your baby, Maan,” Sameera whispered, her eyes filled with remorse and regret as she tilted her head up and looked at him. “I believed it with all my heart, until now.”
Maan stood there, his world crumbling around him as the truth unfolded before his eyes. The walls he had built to shield himself from the harsh realities of life were now crumbling, leaving him exposed and vulnerable to a reality he never thought possible.
Dev and Naintara exchanged a knowing glance, silently acknowledging the complexity of human emotions and the frailty of human nature.
As Maan walked away from Sameera, his heart heavy with despair and defeat, a storm of conflicting emotions raged within him. The echoes of Sameera's confession reverberated in his mind, a haunting reminder of the shattered illusions that had once defined his life. He felt numb, disconnected from the world around him, as the weight of the truth bore down on him with relentless force.
“Maan. Maan bete” Dadima called out after him, but he did not stop. He continued to walk away. He couldn’t stand there and face anyone. He didn’t want to see anyone.
His footsteps echoed hollowly in the empty corridors of his mind, each step a painful reminder of the tangled web of emotions that threatened to engulf him. Memories of his past with Sameera intertwined with the fragile threads of his life with Geet, blurring the lines between reality and the shadows of what could have been.
The image of Aavya, the little girl he had come to love and accept as his own, loomed large in his thoughts, a beacon of innocence amid the chaos. Would she understand why he may be not around her? Did he want to put space between her? She may not be biologically his, but he had accepted and loved her? Could he face the little girl? Could he face her knowing she wasn’t his?
No one seemed to be at fault in this tangled web of emotions and deceit. Sameera had not cheated on him, as he had momentarily believed. They had been divorced when she sought solace in alcohol and sought comfort in the arms of another. Yet, she was not entirely blameless as she should have remembered the consequences of her actions, the shadow of doubt that now loomed over their lives.
Maan’s mind whirled with a maelstrom of conflicting thoughts and emotions. Confusion, hurt, and a deep sense of betrayal warred within him, each vying for dominance over his fractured heart. He grappled with the truth that threatened to unravel the fabric of his reality, leaving him adrift in a sea of uncertainty and doubt.
In that moment of solitude and introspection, Maan found himself at a crossroads, torn between the past he had once cherished and the uncertain future that now beckoned to him. As he stood on the precipice of change, the shadows of truth whispered their secrets, beckoning him to confront the harsh realities that lay buried beneath the facade of his life.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please do hit the like and comment.
comment:
p_commentcount