HER SAFE PLACE

Confrontation

Author's POV

Shivangi and Rocky entered the building, her heart pounding with every step. The silence between them was thick, but neither of them spoke. They had come to face the people who had once been her world, and now, they felt like strangers. As they approached the door to her parents' house, Rocky rang the doorbell, the sound echoing in the quiet corridor.

The door creaked open, and there stood her mother. For a moment, she just stared at Shivangi, as if unsure whether she was seeing the real person standing before her. Then, without warning, her mother threw her arms around Shivangi in a tight embrace.

"Shivangi... oh my God, my baby..." her mother cried, holding her as though afraid she would disappear again. "How are you? How have you been? You’ve been gone for months… I missed you so much…"

Shivangi stood there, her body stiff, her arms unmoving at her sides. She didn’t return the hug. She simply stood still, eyes blank, staring at the ground. She hadn’t been gone for years, just months. But it felt like a lifetime. Her mother had never reached out, never truly cared about what she had been through. And now, all this affection felt hollow.

Her mother pulled back after a moment, her face filled with concern. "Come inside, beta, come inside," she said, guiding Shivangi into the house. Rocky followed quietly behind them, knowing this was something Shivangi had to face alone.

Just as they entered, her father appeared, standing in the doorway of the living room. For a second, Shivangi froze, her heart skipping a beat. She had braced herself for this moment—the confrontation with the man who had failed her. She expected him to yell, to slap her, to make her feel like she was the one at fault. But instead, he surprised her.

He stepped forward and pulled her into his arms, just as her mother had done. The unexpected gesture left her completely stunned. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Forgive me, beta," he whispered, his voice shaky, as he held her. "Forgive me for everything... I was wrong... I should have never treated you that way... I should have listened... please…"

Shivangi’s chest heaved as she stared at her father bowing down, his frail body crumpled at her feet. The room felt suffocating, the air thick with decades of pain, betrayal, and unspoken words. Her mother stood a few steps behind, her hands clasped together, her face streaked with tears, her eyes begging for mercy. But Shivangi’s heart was a fortress, built brick by brick from the scars they had given her.

"Forgive you?" she whispered, her voice trembling, barely audible. Then it erupted, raw and guttural, like a storm breaking free after years of silence. "Forgive you? How? Tell me how I’m supposed to forgive you for everything! For ripping away my dreams when I was just a child? For burning my certificates, my achievements, my future—just so I couldn’t stand on my own feet? For forcing me into a marriage with that monster? For turning your backs on me when I needed you the most? For standing by him—that man who destroyed me—instead of your own daughter? Tell me, how am I supposed to forgive you for making me feel like I was nothing? Like I was worthless?"

Her voice cracked, tears streaming down her face, but she didn’t wipe them away. She let them fall, each one a testament to the pain she had carried for so long. Her mother stepped forward, her hands trembling as she reached out, but Shivangi recoiled, her body stiffening.

"Don’t," Shivangi hissed, her voice low and venomous. "Don’t touch me. I’m not your child. Not anymore. No parents—no parents—do what you did to me. You didn’t protect me. You didn’t love me. You didn’t even see me. You fed me, you sent me to school, but that doesn’t make you parents. Parents are supposed to be like gods—they’re supposed to shield their children, to love them unconditionally, to fight for them. But you? You threw me to the wolves. You pushed me into hell. And you didn’t even look back."