Tangled Beliefs

Chapter-60: Only You

Dedicated to Somya_gupta gurjar1234

I wish I could go back in time and stand between her and every damn moment that broke her.

Manik’s POV,

I stood at the door of that hospital room, my heart thudding so violently inside my chest, I thought it might burst. I could hear her… my Nandini. Screaming. Crying. Calling my name.

I heard her voice tremble, “Manik… where did you go… why did you leave me alone… what if something happens to me…” — I felt my world tilt.

I barged into the room.

She was trembling, her face flushed, cheeks wet with tears. She looked like a scared child… my brave little firefly now flickering, drowning in a storm she couldn't escape.

“I was here, baby… I’m right here,” I said, slowly kneeling in front of her.

She clutched my arms like a lifeline and looked into my eyes with a raw kind of fear. “You left me… he’ll take me again… they’re all bad, Manik… they’ll leave me again!”

Her voice… I had never heard this side of her before. I didn’t know such pain could exist in a single breath.

“No, Nandini… no one’s leaving you. I’m here, baby. I’m not going anywhere,” I whispered, brushing her hair back, my thumb trembling as I wiped her tears.

But she wasn’t calm.

Instead, she looked at me—eyes filled with desperation—and said, “Manik… I need to tell you something.”

I nodded gently. “Later, baby. We’ll talk at home, okay? You need to rest now—”

“NO!” she screamed, jolting up and pushing me back. Her eyes flamed with agony, “I HAVE BEEN MOLESTED, MANIK!”

Silence.

Time stopped.

I forgot how to breathe. My ears buzzed. I couldn't feel my legs. The ground beneath me didn’t feel like it existed anymore.

“What…?” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

“I have been trying to tell you this for so long,” she cried, “Every time I flinched when someone touched me, every time I looked afraid… it was because of that night, Manik. That night ruined me!”

My heart felt like it was being torn apart. Every flashback of her discomfort, her hesitation, her fear—it all made sense. And I hadn’t seen it.

“Nandini…” I tried to say something… anything.

She wasn't done.

She looked at Swarna Maa and Manish Papa in the room and screamed, “YOU LEFT ME! YOU SENT ME AWAY! NO ONE LOVED ME ENOUGH TO SEE THE PAIN IN MY EYES!”

Maa stepped forward, trying to comfort her, “Nandu, beta—”

“NO!” Nandini shouted, pushing her hand away. “I HATE YOU! YOU SENT ME AWAY!”

Papa tried to reach her, his voice soft, “Bacha, please listen…”

“You never believed me then, and you won’t now either!” she snapped, her body shaking uncontrollably, “You never cared, Dad! You left me to suffer!”

Navya tried stepping closer, “Nandu, we are here now. Please let us—”

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” she screamed, thrashing now, knocking a flower vase down. “No one… no one saved me then…”