Marriage In Echo

2

Jai Shree Krishna
Chapter 2

Meera picked up her phone with a sense of urgency, her fingers trembling slightly as she dialled Tiya's number. "Didi, can you come upstairs? I need to talk about something," she said in a low yet firm voice, her heart heavy with the weight of the conversation to come.

Within two minutes, Meera found herself sitting beside Tiya on the bed, her sister-in-law's face a mask of quiet determination. "What is it, Tiya?" Meera asked softly, her voice laced with concern.

Tiya's eyes, void of emotions, met Meera's gaze squarely. "I heard you and maa talk," she began, her voice trembling with suppressed emotion. "Who is Sanjana? Please tell me the truth."

Meera's breath caught in her throat, her mind racing as she grappled with the suddenness of Tiya's question. She hesitated for a moment, taken aback by the intensity of Tiya's plea, before finally nodding in acknowledgment.

"Sanjana was... is... someone from Karan's past," Meera replied carefully, choosing her words with precision. "She was his girlfriend before he met you. They were together for a long time, but things didn't work out between them."

Tiya's eyes widened in realisation, her heart sinking as the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. "So that's why..." she murmured, her voice trailing off as she struggled to process the revelation.

Meera reached out a comforting hand, placing it gently on Tiya's shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this," she said softly, her eyes filled with sympathy.

Tiya's eyes searched Meera's face, her curiosity piqued by the mention of Sanjana. "Tell me more about Sanjana," she pressed gently, her voice tinged with a mix of apprehension and longing. "How did they meet, and why did they separate?"

Meera took a moment to collect her thoughts, her brow furrowed in deep contemplation. After a brief pause, she began to speak, her words measured and deliberate. "Karan bhaiya and Sanjana met in college during their second year of BTech," she recounted, her voice carrying the weight of memories long buried. "They were both twenty at the time, and from the moment they met, they were inseparable."

As Meera delved into the details of Karan and Sanjana's whirlwind romance, Tiya listened intently, her heart heavy with the weight of their shared history. "Three years into their relationship, they became engaged," Meera continued, her voice tinged with a hint of nostalgia. "Everything seemed perfect, and they began to plan their future together. They were so deeply in love."

A shadow crossed Meera's features as she recounted the events that led to the unraveling of Karan and Sanjana's love story. "But then, after five years of relationship , they encountered a hurdle," she explained, her voice faltering slightly. "Sanjana's parents didn't approve of the marriage. They came from a affluent family, and at that time, we weren't as financially secure as we are now."

Tiya listened in silence, her heart aching with empathy for the young lovers whose dreams had been dashed by the cruel hand of fate. She could only imagine the pain and heartache they must have endured, the weight of their unfulfilled dreams casting a shadow over their once-bright future.

As Meera's words faded into the silence of the room, Tiya couldn't help but feel a deep sense of sadness for the lost love that had shaped Karan's past.

Tiya's heart raced with anticipation as she posed her next question, her voice trembling slightly with the weight of her curiosity. "What's Sanjana's full name, and where does she live?" she inquired, her gaze fixed intently on Meera's face, searching for any hint of hesitation or reluctance in her response.

Meera met Tiya's gaze with a thoughtful expression, her eyes clouded with uncertainty as she deliberated her answer. After a moment of silent contemplation, she finally spoke, her voice steady yet tinged with a hint of caution. "Sanjana Mehra," Meera revealed, her words hanging in the air like a delicate thread. "She lives in Rajaji Nagar."

Tiya's heart skipped a beat at the sound of Sanjana's name, her mind racing with a myriad of thoughts and emotions. She couldn't shake the feeling of urgency that gnawed at her, compelling her to seek out answers to the questions that plagued her restless mind.

"Why are you asking, Tiya?" Meera inquired, her brow furrowing with concern as she tried to decipher the thoughts that danced behind Tiya's eyes. There was something in her sister-in-law's demeanor that seemed different, a sense of determination that belied the fragility of her outward appearance.

Tiya hesitated for a moment, her mind racing as she struggled to articulate the turmoil that churned within her. "I... I just want to understand," she replied softly, her voice barely above a whisper. "To know the truth, once and for all."

Meera studied Tiya's face for a long moment, her expression thoughtful as she weighed the gravity of her sister-in-law's words.

Feeling a surge of determination, Tiya rose from her seat and crossed the room to the closed cabinet. With trembling hands, she retrieved an old album from within its depths and returned to where Meera sat, her heart pounding with anticipation.

Silently, Tiya opened the album, the pages filled with snapshots of Karan's college days. Faces smiled up at her, frozen in time, as she flipped through the pages in search of the one she sought.

Finally, she stopped on a page, her finger tracing the image of a group of friends gathered together, their laughter frozen in time. "Which one of these is Sanjana?" Tiya asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper as she held her breath, waiting for Meera's response.

Meera's eyes scanned the photograph for a moment before she pointed to a girl dressed in a vibrant blue dress, her smile bright and captivating. "That's her," Meera confirmed, her voice tinged with a hint of sadness. "Sanjana."

Tiya's heart clenched at the sight of the beautiful girl in the photograph, her sudden insecurities threatening to overwhelm her. She couldn't help but compare herself to the radiant woman captured in Karan's memories, her own shortcomings laid bare in the harsh light of comparison.

As she stared at the photograph, a whirlwind of emotions swirled within her—doubt, jealousy, and a deep-seated fear of inadequacy. And as the weight of her insecurities pressed down upon her, Tiya couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she would never measure up to the ghost of Karan's past that haunted her every thought at present.
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Hare Krishna