Episode 19...

Abi's eyelids fluttered open, her vision blurry as she struggled to make sense of her surroundings. The soft murmur of voices grew clearer, and she felt Vijay's hand gripping hers tightly, his concern written all over his face.

'Abi, ellam okay va?' Vijay's voice was laced with worry, but there was an edge of anger beneath his words as well. His gaze shifted to Ajay and Shreya, who stood nearby, unsure of how to explain the storm that had just hit them all.

Abi blinked, trying to recall what had happened before she fainted. And then it hit her like a wave, crashing against the fragile wall of calm she had built around herself. **Ajay.** He was here, standing right in front of her-alive. The man she thought she had lost all those years ago.

'Yaaru avanga' Vijay's voice cut through the haze, his tone sharp as he looked between Ajay and Shreya. 'And what the hell is going on?'

Abi held up a hand, urging him to calm down. 'Vijay, please. kovapadathinga, oru nimisham' Her voice was weak, but it carried enough weight to stop him from saying more. He huffed, still visibly angry, but took a step back, his arms crossed defensively as he continued to glare at Ajay.

Ajay stood there, hands clenched at his sides, struggling with his own emotions. His eyes never left Abi, a mixture of disbelief and confusion swirling within them. He had imagined this moment so many times, but nothing could have prepared him for how gut-wrenching it felt to see her again, to see her with someone else-her husband.

Abi's mind raced as she sat up straighter. She couldn't process it all. It felt too surreal. She needed answers, and fast. She grabbed her phone, her fingers trembling as she dialed the one person she knew had all the answers.

'Madhu,' Abi's voice cracked when her best friend answered. 'I need you to tell me the truth, ipove.'

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Madhu's breath hitched, as if she knew exactly what this call was about. Abi's tone wasn't angry, but there was an unmistakable demand in her words.

'Abi...' Madhu's voice was filled with guilt, the hesitation in her tone only confirming Abi's worst fears.

'Madhu, please di, enna innum kashta paduthadha' Abi closed her eyes, trying to keep her composure, even as her heart raced. 'Enga appa amma Ajay pathi enkita poi sonangala?'

The silence that followed was deafening, and Abi's heart sank. She didn't need to hear more. The truth had been there all along, hidden beneath the layers of deceit her parents had woven so intricately.

'Ama di' Madhu finally whispered, her voice barely audible. 'Abi, Sorry di. I didn't want to go along with it, ana uncle aunty-'

Abi ended the call before Madhu could finish, unable to bear hearing any more. She felt betrayed, broken, and utterly lost. Her mind was spinning, and she could barely breathe as the weight of the truth settled over her like a suffocating blanket.

Meanwhile, Vijay stood by, his jaw clenched tightly, still eyeing Ajay with suspicion. He had no idea what was going on, but it was clear that whatever had happened between his wife and this man was much more than just an old flame.

Abi returned to her seat slowly, her legs feeling like jelly. She took a deep breath, willing herself to remain calm, though her insides were in turmoil. Vijay watched her, still tense, but sensing that something far bigger than he had anticipated was unfolding.

Ajay stepped forward, his heart hammering in his chest as he finally spoke. 'Abi...' his voice was soft, but it carried years of unspoken pain and confusion. 'En enna vitutu pona? En edhume enkita solala? unaku enna pudikalana, enkita solli irukalame-' He stopped, his throat tightening.

Abi looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears that she desperately tried to hold back. 'Ajay, na ...' her voice cracked as she spoke, the words catching in her throat. 'Na... na nee enna vittu poita nu nenachen, nee erandhuta nu nenachen'

Ajay's breath caught, his eyes widening in shock. He looked at her, his mind struggling to process what she had just said. The room seemed to fall silent, the weight of her words hanging between them like a dark cloud.

'na erandhuten nu nenachiya?' Ajay repeated, his voice barely above a whisper.

Abi nodded slowly, her tears now falling freely as she looked at the man she had loved with every fiber of her being. The man she had mourned for, the man she had believed was gone forever.

'Naa unna vitu poganum nu ninaikala, Ajay,' she said, her voice breaking. 'I thought you were gone... and I had no choice but to move on.'

'Kon... konjam theliva solla mudiyuma' Shreya stammered, as Abi started

5 years ago

Abi's heart had always been steadfast. From the moment she fell in love with Ajay, there had never been any doubt in her mind that he was the one for her. Even after she moved to Switzerland, even when her parents began pressuring her with alliances, she held onto the hope that Ajay would come for her. 'En Ajay enakaga varuvan', she'd tell herself every night, her heart aching with the weight of their separation but her belief in him never wavering.

But her parents had other plans. They weren't just concerned with her future-they were concerned with their reputation. The thought of their daughter waiting around for a man who had not yet returned made them uneasy. The whispers among relatives grew louder, the pressure mounting with every passing day. They knew they had to do something drastic, something that would break her connection to Ajay once and for all.

That's when they devised their plan.

Abi's father, Subramanian, a man who cared more about his family's standing in society than his daughter's happiness, contacted Ajay's father, Surya. They manipulated the situation, presenting themselves as loving parents worried about their daughter's future. They spoke of how Abi's life was being wasted waiting for a man who had moved on, or who may never return. Surya, caught in the crossfire of his own grief and confusion over Abi's sudden disappearance from Ajay's life, believed them.

But there was one person who stood against the deception-Abi's brother, Arjun. From the beginning, he knew this plan would only ruin her. He tried to reason with their parents, telling them that they were wrong, that Abi deserved the truth, that she should make her own decisions. He knew his sister's heart, and he knew how much she loved Ajay.

'Pa idhu seri illa pa' he argued, his voice filled with frustration as he stood in front of their parents. 'neenga avakita poi soldringa. You're tearing her apart in the name of reputation, and it's going to destroy her.'

Their mother sighed, looking at him with a mixture of sadness and determination. 'Arjun, idhu unaku puriyadhu. Idhellam un thangachi nalladhukaga dhan. She can't waste her life waiting for a man who may never come back. We're doing this to protect her.'

Arjun fists clenched. 'You're not protecting her-you're lying to her! You're taking away her choice.'

But their father, cold and calculating, stepped in. 'Idhu dhan orey vali. She needs to move on, and this is how we make sure she does.'

Despite his best efforts, Abi's brother was ultimately manipulated, just as everyone else had been. Their parents used the weight of their authority, the pressure of family reputation, and the guilt of not protecting his sister well enough to convince him to stay silent. For the sake of keeping the peace, for the sake of Abi's "future," he relented, though it broke him inside.

The next part of their plan was even more insidious. They needed someone close to Abi, someone she trusted, to be part of this lie. That's when they turned to Madhu, Abi's best friend, who was living with her in Switzerland. They pressured and manipulated Madhu, painting a picture of how "unhealthy" Abi's attachment to Ajay had become. They convinced her that the only way for Abi to move on was to believe that Ajay was no longer a part of her world.

'Madhu,' Kousalya had said over the phone, her voice laced with false concern, 'Ava evlo kashta padura nu nee pathutu dhan irukka. We just want her to be happy. She needs to move on, and Ajay isn't coming back. You have to help us... for her sake.'

Madhu, torn between loyalty to her friend and the authority of Abi's parents, reluctantly agreed. She hated lying to Abi, but she was made to believe that it was for the best. And so, she became part of the deception, though it weighed heavily on her conscience.

Then came the day of the phone call.

Abi had been going about her usual routine, working through her day as a doctor in Switzerland, when her phone rang. Seeing her parents' number flash on the screen, she smiled and answered, unaware that her world was about to shatter.

'Ammu, naanga unkita onnu sollanum' her father said, his voice unusually grave.

Her heart dropped. 'enna achu, Appa?' she asked, her voice laced with concern.

There was a pause on the other end, a silence so thick it suffocated her. Then, her mother spoke, her words slow and deliberate.

'Ajay... nambala vitu poiten, Abi. He died in a major accident.'

Abi froze. The world around her seemed to tilt, her vision blurring as the weight of those words crashed into her. 'illa' she whispered, her voice barely audible. 'illa, idhu unmai illa' she shouted over the phone

Her parents continued to speak, explaining in detail about the accident, how they had learned the news through mutual contacts, how there had been no time to tell her sooner. But Abi wasn't listening. She was numb, her mind unable to process the horror of what she had just heard.

'Please... na ooruku varen ma,' she begged, tears streaming down her face. 'Naa avana pakanum, naa avana kadaisiya oru vati pakama vitutena, na thangamaten ma avanum thangamatan'

But her parents were relentless. They refused her, blackmailing her with their emotional manipulation, telling her that it would be too painful, that she needed to let him go. They played on her vulnerability, convincing her that staying in Switzerland and focusing on her career was the best thing she could do for herself.

Abi sobbed, her heart shattering into a million pieces. She cried for days, her sorrow consuming her. Madhu tried to comfort her, but she, too, was devastated, guilt weighing heavily on her for being part of the lie. Abi was inconsolable, her vibrant spirit crushed under the weight of her grief.

'Avan illa ndra dhaye ennala ethuka mudila di, enga pathalum avan irukura madhriye irukku di' she cried 'Alugadha di' Madhu consoled 'mudila di avana oru vaati pakamaten nu engudhu di orey oru vaati avan koral ah kekanum nu asaiya irukku di' Abi sobbed making Madhu tear

'En da enna vitutu pona, enna namba vachi emathita, ipdi padhilaye vitutu poitaa, En Ajayyy' she would cry, over and over, her tears soaking into Madhu's shoulder as she held her friend.

Madhu, broken inside from seeing her friend in such pain, could only offer hollow words of comfort. She wished she could tell Abi the truth, but the pressure from her parents-and the belief that this was somehow for Abi's own good-kept her silent.

In the months that followed, Abi withdrew from the world. Her laughter disappeared, replaced by a quiet emptiness that seemed to drain the light from her eyes. She went through the motions of life, but inside, she felt dead. Every day was a reminder of the love she had lost, the future that had been ripped away from her.

Eventually, her parents and everyone around her began pressuring her to move on. They told her that Ajay wouldn't want her to live like this, that she needed to start thinking about her future. They pushed her toward marriage, using every tool of manipulation they had-guilt, emotional blackmail, societal pressure-until she could resist no longer.

That's when she met Vijay.

Her heart was already dead when they introduced her to him. She had no capacity left to feel, no energy to resist. Vijay was kind, patient, and respectful, but Abi felt nothing. It wasn't his fault-she had simply lost the ability to love, her heart buried with the memories of the man she thought she had lost forever.

Despite her numbness, her parents pushed her into marriage, and Abi, broken and lost, finally agreed. She married Vijay, but a part of her would always belong to the man she had loved once-Ajay, the one she thought she would never see again.

As she told Ajay this story in the café, her voice trembled with the pain of remembering. 'I didn't want to move on, Ajay. Na epovum nenachadhu illa. But I didn't have a choice. They made me believe you were dead.'

Tears streamed down her face as she looked at him, the pain of the past few years crashing down on both of them. Ajay, too, was fighting back his own tears, barely able to comprehend the magnitude of what Abi had been through.

'Nee enna vitu poita nu nenachen' she whispered. 'I thought I'd lost you forever.'

To be continued...

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~Abi