Chapter 44: chapter 44

Imara winced, her brows furrowing, as Suvika, with worry etched all over her face, gently reached out and touched her daughter’s cheek. The coolness of Imara’s skin caused her mother to flinch, a subtle twitch of discomfort. Sanjay anxiously observed both Imara’s health and her potential reaction to Suvika’s touch. As Imara slowly retreated further into the warmth of the blanket, Suvika instinctively withdrew her hand. Adhiraj, a silent witness, watched as Imara’s expression hardened, and her parents’ faces filled with disappointment.“Imara,” Adhiraj’s voice broke through the tension, capturing her attention.“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he stated, his gaze shifting towards her parents. “She missed you last night. Please, make yourselves comfortable.”Imara narrowed her eyes, a flicker of defiance in her gaze, and Adhiraj returned the intensity. As he left the room, Imara locked eyes with her parents, steeling herself before saying, “Leave me alone!”“Imu,” Sanjay whispered, his voice barely audible, as he carefully settled himself beside her on the plush bed. Imara turned her head away, her lip caught between her teeth, and trembled, feeling a shiver race down her spine as he tenderly stroked her hair. Memories flooded her mind, taking her back to the last time she had been so sick, confined to her lonely apartment. She had called Isha, seeking solace, and clung to her tightly as she slept, yearning for the comforting warmth that radiated from her mother. In that moment, she had longed for her parents, yet the painful recollections of her separation from Dheeraj lingered, preventing her from reaching out to her mother and confessing how desperately she needed her.“I know, Imu...” Sanjay began, his voice trembling. “I know I am the last person you would want to see right now.” His voice choked, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.Imara turned to her right, ignoring her father. Her tear-stained face turned away from him. She could feel the weight of his words hanging in the air, like a heavy fog that enveloped them both.“But you are my daughter, my only daughter,” Sanjay continued. “I am not saying, I don’t regret what I did. I do regret it every day. My way was indeed wrong, immoral. But I love you too much to have differentiated between the right and the wrong then. One day, I hope you will understand, I wanted the best for you.”“Leave,” Imara whispered through her tears.Sanjay’s eyes filled with tears, mirroring the pain in his daughter’s eyes. He took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling with each shaky inhalation. “Marriage, Imu,” he replied, his voice filled with resignation. “It doesn’t happen between just two people. The families have to have acceptance. He might have meant the best for you, his family didn’t.”Imara’s heart shattered as his words pierced through her. The room felt suffocating, as if the walls were closing in on her. She whispered back, her voice trembling with anguish, “Leave...”“I already can see the difference. And I know you can too...” Sanjay concluded before rising from the bed. His shoulders slumped, his heart breaking with each step he took towards the door. Imara noticed how his hands instinctively reached up to his face, likely to brush away the tears. Thereafter, Suvika wordlessly guided Imara to lie down properly, arranging the blankets around her with care. Despite Imara’s resistance, Suvika firmly grasped her trembling hands as she wiped away her own tears. She didn’t budge. She won’t budge now, ever. She had reached her breaking point. It had been a year-long separation from her beloved daughter. Today, she was unwavering in her resolve to have a conversation with Imara, to impart wisdom and reason in her. Prior to meeting her daughter, Suvika had met Anika and Tarushi, who had shared the details of Imara’s actions during the cooking ritual. She wanted to tell her daughter to not ruin it, to give her life a second chance.Imara’s voice trembled as she whispered, “Just leave...” and she forcefully withdrew her hand from Suvika’s grasp.“I won’t go until I’ve said what you refuse to acknowledge, Imu,” Suvika shot back, reaching out to hold Imara’s hand once more.“I know what I should have known, even though you all hid it from me, snatched away my love from me…,” Imara hissed, her body quivering with a mixture of cold, anger, and pain.“Yes, we did! If that’s what you want to believe,” Suvika responded, sliding into the bed from the opposite side to hold her daughter; to offer the comfort and warmth she desperately needed in that moment.Imara desperately tried to distance herself, but Suvika’s grip remained firm, embracing her with all her might. She pressed Imara’s head against her chest, just as she had been doing since Imara was a baby, since the very first time she held her precious daughter. In that moment, Imara fought against her grip, screaming and crying, but Suvika refused to let go.She continued to whisper, “I understand that you believe we have taken away the life you could have had with Dheeraj. But take a moment to reflect on whether you would have truly been happy marrying him. Dheeraj is a good person, I still stand by that. But I never wanted a family for you who would judge and make assumptions about you simply because you come from a privileged background.”“Mummy, please,” Imara pleaded, but Suvika pressed on, determined to make her understand. “Tell me honestly, did you truly want to spend your life catering to her unreasonable demands? Waking up at four in the morning like she always did, doing all the household chores by yourself because she refused to hire help, fulfilling her desire for children as soon as possible, all while sacrificing your own dreams and ambitions!”“He would have handled it,” Imara shrieked.“Perhaps he would have! But the truth is, he couldn’t. He couldn’t stand up to his mother when she blatantly expressed her disapproval of her son marrying a spoiled brat. She called you spoiled, Imu. Tell me, are you spoiled? Have you ever spent more than necessary? If donating your pocket money to an orphanage comes under being spoiled, I am happy I have spoiled you. Regardless of what you may think, I am glad it is Adhiraj and not Dheeraj for you!”Sobs racked Imara’s body, and Suvika’s arms tightened around her as she persisted, “We can’t change anything, can we? We can’t change people! We can’t change situations. We can’t change destiny! Whatever happened had to happen! He wasn’t the one for you! The one who is made for you is already here, tending to you, taking care of you, despite knowing you are not ready to accept him as your husband, as your other half. I know you are hurt to a point wherein you don’t even want to see your parents, but is it all worth it, Imu? Life is too short to live with all these laments! Who knows what will happen in the next second? Let go of it, please!”Imara’s sobs echoed through the room, her tear-streaked face buried in her mother’s embrace. The weight of her struggles seemed to lift as she held onto her mother tighter, desperately trying to hold on to the warmth that enveloped them. In that moment, she longed to escape from reality, to return to a time when life was simple and carefree. But the harsh truth remained—she was now married to someone she didn’t love, while her heart belonged to another who couldn’t stand against his parents for her. The pain was overwhelming, leaving her unsure of what hurt the most—the absence of Dheeraj, the reasons behind it, or the actions of her own parents. Regardless, she was left to bear the brunt of it all. Her dreams shattered!When the weight of her anguish became unbearable and the effects of the medication took hold, Imara’s eyelids grew heavy. With her head nestled against her mother’s chest and her arms wrapped tightly around her, she succumbed to sleep. It was then that Suvika wept inconsolably, holding her daughter close and releasing all the pent-up torment she had endured during their year apart. She knew that Imara would eventually find her way back to them. Adhiraj had brought a glimmer of happiness into her daughter’s life, and Suvika prayed that Imara wouldn’t ruin it.