Epilogue

Manik

I walk out of the jewelry shop, pocketing the velvet box in my coat.

A cool evening breeze welcomes me as I walk to my car, and I let out a small smile.

Who would have thought that me, Manik Sisodiya, would be giddy about going out with his wife?

How the time has changed?

Shaking my head, I climb inside the car, and ask the driver to take me home.

To my Nandini.

When I agreed to marry her, I had no intention to honor the vows we took then.

Heck, I did not even consider her as my wife. She was only a pawn in the stupid revenge game I was planning to play at that time.

Although I do have remorse for that thought I had back then and the way I treated Nandini for a while after our marriage, I do not fully regret planning the revenge to get back at Myra and Raghav.

How can I ever regret it when that was what brought Nandini into my life?

Yes, I do regret my behavior, and I have countless times apologized to Nandini in the last two weeks after we returned home post Rishabh’s arrest.

She says she has forgiven me and it is time to move on from the past.

When she had said that, she had such hopeful smile on her lips that I had to control every fiber of my body to stop myself from giving in to the temptation and kissing her.

I stopped because I still am not sure what we are right now. Nandini says she has forgiven me, but I am still not sure if she wants to stay married to me and give us one more chance.

Although I have fallen for her, I am not sure if Nandini reciprocates the feelings I have for her.

The first time I had realized my love for her, I had also realized how it felt to love someone. To truly and genuinely fall in love.

But after seeing the way with which Nandini handled her parents, and the way she dealt with Rishabh, it was then I fell for her some more.

Well, to be honest, I have been fall for her some more every single day.

When walks into the room after freshly getting showered, the few strands of her hair clinging to her glowing and beautiful face even without makeup.

When she slightly smiles when she sees me gazing at her in the mirror while she gets ready seated in front of the dressing table.

When she laughs at my jokes, calling them so lame that the sheer lameness of them make them funny to her.

When she sobs in my arms at night, telling me about the bits and pieces of her past.

She is still healing from everything that has happened, and I know it will take time for her to fully come out of it.

But I want to let her know that I will be her every step of the way.

There are times when I see her just staring at nothing, her eyes so wistful that I wonder what she must be thinking about. Then, I see a lone tear sliding down her cheek, and that makes my heart pinch.

Everything about her tugs at my heartstrings.

Maybe this is what it means to love someone. Freeing in some way and binding in others. Being whole when you are with them and missing them when they are apart.

Even now, I miss her. It has just been a few hours that I left, but I can’t wait to go home and see her and be with her.

Dipping my hand inside the pocket, I take out the box, imagining Nandini’s smiling face when she will see it.

But she has me, Manik, and especially Samrat to support her.

And we will be with her until she is fully out of the trauma she faced at the hands of that disgusting man.

My thoughts get interrupted when I hear a knock at the door, before it opens.

Turning around, I see Manik entering the room.

He smiles when he sees me, and I smile back at him.

“You came home early today.”

“Ah, yes,” he says. “The meeting got over sooner than I expected.”

I frown at his fidgety demeanor. It was as if he looked nervous about something.

“Is something the matter, Manik?”

He shakes his head. “Umm, no. Not at all. Why do you ask?”

“You seem slightly fidgety and nervous,” I tell him.

As soon as I say that, I see him visibly relax. Or at least trying to relax.

“Are you sure you are fine, Manik?” I narrow my eyes at him.

He clears his throat, runs his hand through his perfectly gelled hair as if trying to smoothen it, and then unbuttons and buttons his suit.

“I am absolutely fine, Nandini. Absolutely fine.”

“You sure are acting weird,” I say, walking toward the cupboard.

“Actually, it is good that you returned early from the office. Now you can help me decide what should I wear tonight. There are two dresses that I like. The green one and the blue one. This green one is be—”

“I love you, Nandini,” Manik suddenly says, interrupting me, shocking me.

My hands freeze on the green dress that I was holding inside the cupboard, my heart thudding so rapidly against my chest that I feel like it will come bursting out of there soon.

After taking a moment to process it, I slowly turn to Manik.

What—” I pause to clear my throat. “What did you say?”

“I was going to wait until later tonight, but I could not,” he says. “I want to let you know how much you mean to me, Nandini. How I have fallen head over heels in love with you.”

He ambles toward me, cupping my cheek when he reaches me.

“I have no idea how and when it happened, but you have managed to touch my heart in such a way that no one else ever has.

“I love you, Nandini. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” he says, and takes out a box from his pocket.

When he opens the box, I see a beautiful diamond ring inside.

“Will you please give our marriage one chance, Nandini? If you say yes, I promise to love and cherish you forever.”

Saying that, he looks expectantly at me, while I am too stunned to say anything.

I look at him, then at the ring, then back at him, unable to comprehend what I should say.

But I need to say something.

Taking a deep breath, I begin, “Manik, this is...,” I trail off, thinking of a way to say it without hurting him.

“I need some time, Manik,” I say, feeling a pinch in my heart when his face falls. “It’s just that everything that has happened recently, everything is too messy and chaotic for me right now.

“I am currently not in a space to let everything go and commit into a relationship. There are many things I need to figure out first.

“And the last thing I want to do is hurt you by saying yes now and then being unable to fulfill the commitment later.

“Many things have happened between us, Manik. Some good things, some bad, and some downright horrible.

“But with all that happenings, I feel I have gotten closer to you. I am not yet sure about my feelings for you, so I can’t go as far as to say that I love you. But I can say that I do feel something toward you.

“I want to explore that feeling, Manik. I want to see where it will take us. I want to know if that feeling can develop into love and trust toward you.

“So, please, please, do not get disheartened after what I am going to tell you now,” I say, noticing him frown at me.

“What are you going to say?” He asks.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, preparing myself to say it.

When I open my eyes after a few seconds, I see Manik peering at me.

I know what I will say is undoubtedly hurt him, but I hope he will understand where I am coming from.

“Let’s get divorced, Manik,” I say, and gasp when he staggers back, the box falling from his hand and ring rolling to a corner behind him.

“You want to leave? Still?” He questions, disbelief and hurt marring his face.

“Listen to me first, Manik.” I step closer to him and clutch his arms.

When he shakes his head, trying to turn away from me, I cup his cheek, making him look at me.

“I am not saying I want to get divorced and then leave you forever. All I am saying is, I want us to be free of the marriage you never wanted in the first place.

“Once that happens, we can meet, exploring our feelings together, and being together.

“Right now, there is so much unsurity between us, Manik. I don’t know if the love you have for me is genuine or is it because of the guilt you have for using me in your revenge.

“I also don’t know the feelings I have for you is genuine or it is because I am grateful to you for supporting me in this difficult time of my life.

“We both need some time to be sure, Manik. We both need to know each other more and then decide whether we want to spend the rest of our lives together or not.

“After that, if we really want to get married, we can do that, with no more uncertainty, doubt, hesitation, or mistrust between us. Don’t you think that would be the right thing to do?”

Manik looks at me for a few moments after I finish speaking.

Then, sighing loudly, he turns, and starts walking away.

When I see him going, I feel a jolt in my heart.

I am about to call him, when I see him bending to pick the ring from the floor.

With the ring in his hand, he walks back to me, and kneels in front of me.

“Take any amount of time you want, Nandini. But please be with me in any way you can. And when you are sure of your feelings, when you are ready, let me know, and we can get to another beginning of our relationship.

“So, for now, after getting divorced, would you date me, Nandini? Please?” He asks, looking up at me.

“Yes, I will, Manik. I will,” I reply, smiling tearily at him.

And when he slides the ring in my finger, I can’t help but hope this is our new beginning—a beginning to our future together and our happily ever-after.

***********

End