When Love Lasts✔️

Chapter 26

Sukhpreet Kaur

The soft glow of the bedside lamp illuminated the pages of the notebook spread before me as I sat down to pour my heart onto paper. Each word felt like a piece of my soul laid bare, a cathartic release of the emotions that had consumed me in the wake of my parents' betrayal. With a steady hand, I began to write:

Dear Mom and Dad,

As I sit down to write this letter, my heart weighs heavy with the weight of unspoken truths and shattered dreams. For too long, I have carried the burden of your expectations, sacrificing my own happiness in the name of duty and tradition. But no longer.

I cannot begin to express the depth of my pain and disappointment in your actions, the cruelty and betrayal that have left scars upon my heart that may never fully heal. For years, I have lived in fear of your judgment, hiding behind a facade of obedience while my true self withered in the shadows.

But no more.

I refuse to continue living a lie, to pretend that everything is okay when it is anything but. Your rejection of the love that I have found with Mankirat cuts deeper than any blade, a wound that will forever mar the fabric of our family.

I will not forgive you for the pain you have caused, for the words spoken in anger and the hands raised in violence. But know this—I still love you. Despite everything, the bond between parent and child cannot be broken so easily. My love for you is a constant, an unyielding force that transcends time and circumstance.

I may never understand why you chose to cast me aside, to reject the happiness that I have found with Mankirat. But I will not let your narrow-mindedness dictate the course of my life any longer. I am my own person, with hopes and dreams that deserve to be realized, free from the shackles of tradition and expectation.

I pray that one day you will come to understand the depth of my love for Mankirat, to see past the superficial judgments and embrace the happiness that we have found together. But until then, I must forge my own path, guided by the light of my own truth and the love that sustains me.

I wish you peace, Mom and Dad, even as I embark on this journey toward my own happiness. Know that I will always carry you in my heart, even as I leave behind the shadows of the past and step into the light of a future filled with love and possibility.

With love and regret,

Sukhi

As I signed my name at the bottom of the page, a sense of closure washed over me, a weight lifted from my shoulders as the words I had kept locked inside for so long finally found their voice. Folding the letter carefully, I sealed it in an envelope and placed it on my bedside table, a silent prayer whispered into the night that one day, my parents would find it in their hearts to understand and forgive.