19• Biggest Shock Of Her Life

(Dear Diary, It's been a few days since Manik blocked my number, his secret Admirer's number. He told me a few days ago that I make him feel alive, and the following day he blocked me without saying anything. What might be the reason? It's excruciatingly painful. This happened just as I was about to reveal my identity to him. He could have told me why, but instead, he just blocked me. He asked me to promise him that I would never vanish, but now he has vanished himself.

I talked to him on video call for the first time, and he shared his feelings for me; I was overjoyed, not expecting this to happen. I just want to know why he did this to me. Why did he deceive me? Why did he block me? I'm missing him terribly. I want to see him and talk to him. I want him back, and I want him to love me. I just can't take it any longer. I love him so much that it's causing me immense pain.)

She was shedding silent tears while sharing her anguish with her best friend, her diary. Her eyes were puffy from crying for days, and her hair was a mess, just like her life. Because she trusted him with her entire heart, deep down she knew there would be some valid reason for his sudden disappearance.

'Today, I'll go to him and tell him that I'm his secret admirer because I'm dying to know why he blocked me and what I did wrong that he punished me so harshly. Mr Malhotra, I'm coming to you.' She murmured the last sentence, wiping her tears and staring straight with sheer determination.

She closed the diary and stood up to go. She didn't care how terrible she was looking at that time; all she wanted to know was why he had blocked her.

She exited the room and dashed to the main door, but she came to a halt as she listened to Ethan's words.

"Stop, Sweetie. I wanna talk to you." He approached her, and she looked at him, her eyes welling up with tears. "You appear to be disturbed for a few days. What's the problem?" He inquired, genuinely concerned for her well-being.

'I wish I could tell you, Ethan.' She thought, staring at him silently with her sorrowful eyes.

"You know that you can share with me anything." He said, holding her shoulders.

"There's nothing like that, Ethan. I have to leave now, but I'll see you later." She bolted from the house before he could stop her.

'I know there is something. I need to speak with Ella about her. Perhaps she knows something.' He thought and took his phone out to message her.

Ethan: I wanna meet you.

She instantly replied to him.

Ella: Missing me, baby?

Ethan: Yes, I always miss you when you aren't around me. But today I wanna talk about Nandini.

Ella: Is she alright? What happened?

Ethan: Just meet me up.

Ella: Okay, I'm coming.

****

Nandini arrived at Manik's house quickly, and after taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the car and strolled over to his house, eager to tell him everything. She didn't care what he would do after discovering she was his best friend's sister; all she wanted was an explanation from him as to why he had done this to her.

But she had no clue that she was going to get the biggest shock of her life.

She stepped inside as the door of his house was open, and then she strolled straight to his room, her heartbeat accelerating.

When she looked in through the window and saw him hugging a woman, her heart shattered. She couldn't see the woman's face because she was sitting with her back to her. Her heart wretched, and tears trickled down her cheeks mechanically.

She bit her lips and cried frantically. "I wasn't expecting this. I put a lot of faith in him, but he betrayed that by saying he had changed and stopped having affairs with women." She pursed her lips and closed her eyes shut to stop herself from sobbing. She can't take the pain any longer. The agony of witnessing the love of her life in the arms of someone else severely broke her heart.

She gasped and staggered back in great shock as she opened her eyes to see the face of the woman who was kissing Manik's neck.

It was Diana, her best friend. She was in such shock that she felt the floor slipping beneath her feet.

'No, no, she can't be Diana.' She constantly shook her head, still reeling from her overwhelming shock.

After rubbing her eyes, she again looked inside, but to her dismay, Diana was the only one with Manik.

It seemed like a nightmare to her. She never expected Diana to do this to her. She was her best fucking friend.

She couldn't see them this way and that's why she ran away, hysterically crying and placing her hand on her mouth.

She sat inside the car and howled in agony after clenching the steering wheel. "Diana knew that-that how much I love Manik, but still she did this to me. She betrayed me. I trusted her so much. I'm such a fool. Manik... why did you do this to me? I can't take this pain. I wanna die."

She placed her head on the steering and whimpered fretfully. She felt like someone has jabbed the knife in her heart and twisted it. Her mind was twirling, thinking this. She still couldn't digest the fact that Diana brutally betrayed her. She was experiencing unbearable pain in her chest and was unable to think clearly.

She wondered why she was continuing to live a life where no one could be trusted, especially since her best friend had done this to her. How could she possibly trust anyone else in her life after this?

"Why god! Why is it always me? You know I'm strong, but not anymore; I'm not strong enough to deal with this! Please relieve me of this agony." She cried uncontrollably.

"Please, someone help me." She frantically screamed in profound pain and cried for hours, sitting in her car.

***

"Ella, did Nandini tell you something that why is she upset?" Ethan asked Ella, anxious.

'How do I tell you, Ethan, that she is agitated because of your friend Manik.' She wondered.

"Tell me, Ella, I'm so worried for her." He was sitting on the sofa, distraught for his sister, stamping his foot and twiddling his thumbs.

"Ethan, she must be stressed because of exams."

"No, it's not exam stress, Ella. I know there must be something else, and I have to find that." He stated solemnly.

"Okay, first just relax." She rubbed his biceps.

"Ella, I just can't see her like this." He uttered, placing his head on her shoulder.

"I understand, Ethan. But she's no longer a child; she can deal with her problems on her own." She stroked his back to calm him down.

"But I want to help her." After raising his head from her shoulder, he looked at her like an innocent child.

"She will take your help when she needs it, don't worry. Allow her to deal with her problems on her own; only then will she learn to get back up after falling. She'll be fine, don't worry." She reassured him and kissed his forehead after clasping his face. Although she was anxious for Nandini as well, still she was trying to comfort Ethan.

"Thank you for always being there for me." He held her hands and kissed the knuckles. She just smiled at him contentedly.

***

Ella and Ethan stepped out of his room and found Nandini entering the house in her worst state. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying continuously for hours, and her face was pale. She was looking distressed and lost.

They became distraught when they saw her condition and rushed to her.

"Nandini, what happened?" Ethan questioned her, clasping her face. She just stared at him blankly.

"Say something, you're scaring me." He shouted, shaking her shoulders.

"I need some alone time, Ethan, please." She uttered with a deadpan expression on her face and lumbered to her room.

Ethan was about to go behind her, but Ella stopped him by holding his hand.

"Give her some time, Ethan and don't worry, I'll talk to her." She blinked her eyes, and he gave her a slight nod before again moving his eyes back to Nandini.

She entered her room and shut the door. She sagged onto the bed and lay there, staring at the ceiling, expressionless, like a dead soul. She felt as if her reason for being alive in this world had been taken from her. She was feeling empty and despondent because she had given her heart, soul, and happiness to him.

She had lost all hope as she separated from him. She was on the path to winning his heart, but she ended up losing her own pure heart in the process. She couldn't see any destination. She still wished for him to return to her and reawaken her dormant hope because she was lonely without him.

When you blindly trust someone and they show you how blind you truly are, it hurts terribly.

Despite everything, she was unable to stop her heart from loving him because her love is selfless. She knew from the beginning that she would only experience pain as a result of this one-sided love. He was no longer her, and she still yearned for his love, and this shit was hurting her terribly.