TRUE LOVE NEVER GIVES UP

Chapter-60: Taking a Stand

Vishakha sat in her room, her hands trembling as she clutched a picture of Nandini close to her chest. Her eyes were swollen from crying, and her mind was a whirlwind of emotions—anger, sorrow, and a deep sense of betrayal. She couldn’t shake the image of Vikrant from her mind, the man who had once meant everything to her, the man she had loved so deeply. But all that love had turned to ash when he had left her when she had been told their baby had died when she was abandoned at her most vulnerable.

She had carried that pain for so many years, burying it deep within her, trying to move on, trying to be strong for Nandini. But seeing Vikrant today had ripped open old wounds, bringing back all the hurt and confusion. She had thought she had moved on, but now she realized that the scars had never truly healed.

She remembered the day she was told her baby had died. The doctors and her mother-in-law had informed her that her child hadn’t survived the birth. Vishakha had been devastated, her world crumbling around her. And then, to find out that Vikrant had left her, leaving only a letter, had been the final blow. She had been alone, with nothing but her grief and anger to keep her company.

But what Vishakha didn’t know—what she couldn’t know—was that Vikrant had never truly abandoned her. He had been fed lies, just as she had. Both of them had been manipulated and led to believe things that weren’t true. And now, years later, that misunderstanding had not only torn them apart but had also come back to haunt Manik and Nandini.

In another part of the city, Manik sat in his room, his heart shattered once more. He couldn’t believe how things had fallen apart again, just when he had thought they were finally getting back on track. The image of Nandini, standing in that living room, her face full of pain and confusion as Vishakha dragged her away, was seared into his mind. He had tried to stop them, tried to reach out to her, but he had been too late.

Manik's thoughts were a jumble of frustration, anger, and helplessness. He couldn’t understand why Vishakha had changed her mind so suddenly, why she had refused to let Nandini stay when she had been ready before. What had changed? What had made Vishakha turn against them?

He stared at the photo frame in his hands, the picture of him and Nandini from happier times. Tears blurred his vision as he thought about how close they had been to finally being together, how all their happiness had crumbled in a matter of moments.

"Why does this keep happening to us?" Manik whispered to the empty room. "Why does something always come between us?"

His mind raced with a million thoughts, but none of them made sense. He couldn’t wrap his head around why Vishakha had suddenly changed her stance. What had happened between her and Vikrant that had caused this rift? Manik knew there had to be more to the story, something that he wasn’t seeing, something that could explain this sudden shift.

But as much as he tried to understand, all he could feel was the pain of losing Nandini again. Every time he thought they were getting closer, something came along to tear them apart. He felt like he was caught in an endless cycle of hope and despair, and it was breaking him.

In the room across from his, Vikrant was lost in his thoughts, unaware of the full extent of the pain he had caused. He sat on the edge of the bed, his hands covering his face. He had believed his mother’s words, believed that Vishakha had left him and their child behind. But now, seeing her reaction, seeing her anger, he couldn’t help but question everything he had been told.

Had there been a misunderstanding? Had something happened that he wasn’t aware of? He thought back to those days, the confusion and the desperation he had felt when Vishakha disappeared. He had searched for her, but he had found nothing. And then, the divorce papers had come, and he had accepted it as the final blow. He had tried to move on, raising Soha on his own, but he had never truly let go of the past.