Separated Love

Chapter 8: Confrontation with Swarna

  "I never gave anyone the right to lay a hand on my wife. Anyone. I don't care how angry you are with her, but this is something I won't allow. I shouldn't have allowed it the day Shubham died, and now I'm going to make sure no one ever touches my Naira again!" Kartik is referring to me as his again. I can't believe it.
  "Kartik? You are yelling at me for her?" Ma says in disbelief. Kartik is slowly bringing her hand down and seems so angry. I put my hand on his shoulder and squeeze it in the hopes of calming him down. Ma looks at this instantly and looks even more angry. "Kartik, what did she tell you for you to all of a sudden defend her? Did you forget that she's the reason Shubham is dead?"
    "Suhana is the reason that Shubham is dead." I can't believe this sentence just came out of Kartik's mouth. This is the first time he hasn't blamed me. I'm in tears. "Suhana was the one that messed with Shubham's head which led to his drug issue."
    "But Naira knew and didn't tell us anything!" Ma says in her defense.
    "Yes and I'm still upset with her for that. However, that doesn't mean that Naira was the cause of his death. Did Naira force him to take drugs? No. Did she want to keep his secret from us so that he'd end up dead? Absolutely not. She only kept it from us and mainly from me to respect Shubham's request. How was she supposed to know that he would overdose that day?" Hearing Kartik defend me leaves me in awe. I can't stop crying. I have waited for this day for so long. "Mom, you kept Shubham a secret from all of us. Papa was upset with you. Naira tried to resolve your issues because she knew your intent was never to hurt anyone by keeping this secret. Naira's intent was never to hurt anyone either." I'm going to tell Kartik about what happened that day. He finally deserves to know. In his heart he actually doesn't believe that I killed Shubham, and that is what I needed the most.
    "My secret didn't cause anyone to die." It's as if ma has decided I'm an awful person. She isn't even acknowledging the fact that I've always been there for her to take her side. As Kartik is about to say something, he is interrupted.
    "But your secret only let me spend a few moments with my son when I could've been there for him his entire life." It's Papa.
    "Manish Ji?" Ma says surprised by this statement.
    "Swarna, I have kept my mouth shut for 2 years now because I know you were grieving, but have you ever thought that there were other people who loved Shubham as well? He was my son too. He was Kartik and Naira's brother."
    "Don't you dare say he was Naira's brother!"
    "I will say he was Naira's brother because he was. The only reason that you got reunited with not one but two sons is because of Naira. The same girl you would always defend to the rest of the family. What happened to you now? How did you go from defending this girl to being the one she needed defending from? She made one mistake of not telling us, and you have held on to that saying she's the reason Shubham is dead. Where is the logic in that? That's like me saying had you listened to me, and didn't give Shubham permission to marry Suhana, he'd be with us today. I mean, had he never gotten so attached to Suhana, he wouldn't have started taking drugs, and he would still be here today, right?" Both Kartik and I can't believe papa just said this.  "Which also would mean that the reason he is dead is because of...you Swarna."
    "I can't believe you are saying all of this to me." Ma starts crying much harder. Kartik quickly goes to her and holds her.
    "No Kartik. Don't come to her defense now. I understand she is your mom, but she has been getting away with acting like this for too long. What mom fails to see her son suffering because he was separated from his wife? Swarna, do you think if Kartik's real mom was here today, she'd let you do that to him? Mothers sacrifice their happiness for their child, and what are you doing? Making him sacrifice his happiness for you. His happiness is with Naira and whether these two kids admit it or not, everyone knows that." Kartik and I look at each other and then look down. Papa goes up to Kartik, takes ma out of his hold, and tells us he needs to talk to ma alone.
    "Don't touch me. Either one of you." Ma says silently. She doesn't seem angry anymore. Just genuinely hurt. She leaves all of us and goes into the car papa came in.
    "I'll take care of her. You both enjoy the dance please." Papa gets into the car and drives off with ma.
I look at Kartik and say thank you to him for defending me. I don't know where we stand after hearing him say all of those things about me to ma. He's teary eyed himself.
"Naira, I-" We're interrupted by the principal.
"Mr. Goenka! We've been looking all over for you. The investors want to talk to you regarding our research program at the college and funding." I start to walk away because he clearly has business to take care of, but as I leave, Kartik grabs my hand. The principal looks on confused.
"I'll be there in 2 minutes. First, I wanted to clear something up. Apparently there are rumors going around about me being with a student. Those rumors are true but a very important detail being left out is that this student also happens to be my wife. I don't like to talk about my personal life, but I do think this needs to be addressed." I can't believe Kartik is openly accepting me as his wife to everyone now. The principal looks at me and gives his most genuine smile. He tells Kartik he will take care of the rumors and is happy to hear about the both of us. The principal leaves and it's just Kartik and I.
"Kartik, everyone knows about us now..."
"I know Naira, and I want them to know. Look, I'm not saying we are back to how we used to be. Quite honestly, I think a lot has changed since then. However, I do want to work our issues out Naira. I love you. That is one thing that hasn't and will never change. Unfortunately, we have to make an appearance here. Once we get out of here, let's talk." Kartik just told me he loves me. I can't help it anymore. I simply cannot resist myself. I lunge into his arms and hold him so tight like I'll never let him go again. I've missed being able to rest my head on his chest. I missed being where home is for me - in his arms.
"Kartik..." I struggle to get words out in between my soft sobs. "Kartik, I want to tell you about everything that happened that day. Everything."
"And I want to hear it, but as soon as this dance is over, okay?" He hugs me back, ever so softly. He rubs his hand up and down my forearm, to comfort me. It has always been his way to make me calm down. I look into his eyes.
"I love you too Kartik." He gives me a smile in complete adoration for the words I just said, and we both head inside to the dance, hand in hand.

Author's Notes
I know a lot of people have been hating on Swarna lately because of how crazy she has been acting. I'm not gonna lie, her actions really annoy me, but being a psychology major, I force myself to look at the big picture. She lost the son that she was longing to be with her entire life. She knew he existed, and actively chose to stay away from him for the sake of everyone's happiness. I think that's the biggest sacrifice a mother can make. She isn't a bad person. She is just driven by these strong emotions stemming from deep within. I genuinely think the way they are portraying her in the show is irritating but slightly realistic. I also think they need to show her getting some psychological help in all seriousness. For this reason, I decided not to completely unleash all of my anger on Swarna as I was writing this. Her family understands her pain, but now they are showing her that enough is enough. She has been getting away with acting absolutely awful to Naira, which is NOT okay. That is why I showed Kartik coming to Naira's defense, and Manish finally putting his foot down and showing Swarna she's wrong now. I have really been loving Manish a lot in the show so I wanted him to play an active role in this confrontation. However, I also feel that Kaira should work out their problems alone, without any interference from the family. This is the reason I waited off on their talk.
I also showed Kaira saying I love you because I genuinely think that their love still holds to be true despite all of their issues. They know they're not perfect, but they manage to love each other in all of their imperfect ways. Stay tuned for the conversation in which they start to work their issues out. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!