Manik Malhotra (The Insidious love) Complete✅️

Chapter 30 - "Finding out the lost heart..."

My words land like a bomb in the room. I close my eyes to prepare myself for welcoming everyone's tongue lashes. However, nothing like that happened and I slowly open my eyes. My eyes first land on Chandresh Murthy. He is sitting like a statue. Trying to sink into the words. Aliya initiates to say something but Nandini stops her by showing her hand. Maybe she guessed something.

"Appa...try to remember. I was married to Smaran. Not Manik. You gave your blessing to me and Smaran. Not to Manik. Remember?"

She holds Mr Murthy by his shoulders and mouths gently.

"Nandini, he can't remember those incidents. Dementia patient..."

My words get halted by Nandini's rebuff.

"Will you keep quiet? You have created enough problems in our lives. No more needed, please!"

She folds her hands to me showing her exasperation. Suddenly, a soft cry of a baby is heard from the bedroom. Everybody's attention gets shifted to that. I bolt up from the sofa and chip in,

"I will keep quiet. For the rest of my life. But will you make him quiet?"

I head to the exit after concluding,

"Make a suitable story for this too."

...........................................

It's been 12 hours since I came to the hospital. Neither I called Aliya nor did she call me. Of course, I don't expect any response from Nandini. It's true that I impatiently handled the situation but she is also making all the matters more complicated. On the one hand, she is taking a divorce from Smaran and on the other hand, she is not ready to come to me. I fist my hair in frustration.

"Women! Even God can't fathom their heart."

I murmur while throwing myself back into the reclining chair.

"Ahemmm...may I?"

Someone beseeches from the outside. I am sitting in a small room allotted for the house surgeons. My face distorts with vexation. This time I am not in a mood to entertain anyone. Anyone means anyone. The person doesn't care about my permission and peeps inside.

"Mukti!"

I utter frivolously. She slips inside and occupies a chair opposite mine.

"What happened? You didn't leave?"

She enquires while glancing at her watch.

"It's quite late."

She adds. I buck her concern and mouth impassively,

"There is nobody at my home who is waiting for me. So, chuck it."

She observes the bitterness in my tone and counters,

"Are you sure?"

I eye her with confusion. Her expression is laced with queer emotion. She observes the query in my eyes and enunciates,

"Manik, yesterday I met Nandini and since then, I have been contemplating why our story never began."

She pauses for a nanosecond and I try to chip in. However, she shows me her palm and continues,

"I am not the kind of person who shies away from expressing my likes and dislikes. You know that I like you. But..."

She again takes a break and then adds,

"But she loves you and you love her. No matter how much you both are denying this truth, your eyes tell something else."

Concluding her words, she meets my surprised eyes. Mischief is dancing in her brown orbs. I have nothing to say. I never considered her so subtle and grave. She winks at me and gets up to turn on her heels. I muster my thoughts and mouth like an idiot,

"How do you know that she loves me?"

She scoots down and looks into my eyes. Jester is brimming her lips.

"Jealousy is just the sign that you really love the person. I just needed to instigate her."

She utters with an amused tone.

...............................................

I draw up my bike outside of my apartment. My heart is pounding with joy and fear at the same time. Joy to know that my guess was correct. She was jealous of Mukti and jealousy is the other side of love. Simultaneously, I am scared to step inside. I hope the morning fiasco didn't instigate her to leave me. I park the bike and stare up to watch the window of my bedroom. It is closed and the room is dark. My heart skips its beat. With trembling hands, I fish out my mobile.

"Should I call her?"

My heart asks.

"She won't pick up."

My mind answers.

"I will apologise."

My heart again comes up with a solution.

"She is done with your apologies."

My mind mocks.

"But she still loves me."

My heart again tries to be optimistic.

"She didn't admit it yet."

Again, my mind extinguishes her flame of positivity. After a long fight between my heart and mind, I decided to head to my place. Standing with a sinking heart, I press the doorbell with shaky hands. No reply comes. I ring the bell once again. The door still remains closed. My doubts are coming true. She has left and this time, may be forever. I gulp the pain stuck in my throat. My limbs are getting numb with the thought that she and my son probably left me in this darkness once again. Taking out the key, I was about to twist it into the keyhole, the door gets open with a click sound. The room is submerged in darkness but I still can see her in front of my eyes. She is holding a candle, covering the shaky flame from the wind with her other hand. The faint light is illuminating her angelic face. She ups her lashes and mutters,

"There is no electricity. I think the MCB tripped."

Her words seem alien to me. I enter the room in a trance and in the next moment, encircle her in a tight hug. My perched heart receives the rain after long suffering. Sometimes in life, we just need a hug. No words, no advice, no answer. Just a hug makes you forget everything. She was taken aback but eventually places her hand on my back, still holding the candle.

"You didn't go? I thought you left me."

I murmur against her ear, still engulfing her in my bear hug. She takes some moments to answer and then mutters,

"Once I did but that didn't do any good to us. This time I don't want to give a chance to our destiny."

I slowly withdraw myself from her hold and meet her pensive eyes.

"I thought, I lost you again."

I pour out my heart.

"And I thought, you lost yourself again."

She replies. A content smile creeps on her lips. I take the candle from her hand and rest it between us. Our eyes are bridged with hope. I mouth in a determined voice,

"I will never lose myself if you are there to hold my hand in the darkness."

Author's note: So, here is the promised chapter. Thank you so much for keeping my request. Thanx a lot for the follow. Keep reading and keep voting. Good night. 🌜