a twist in the tale; swabhiman (chapter 18)

at the dining table that night, karan went alone without naina which confused everybody there.

nirmala: karan, where is naina?

karan: naina left ma.

dadaji: what do you mean she left? where did she go?

nk: you didn’t think she would stay with karan, did you? i’m sure she went back to rohit. what can you expect from such a characterless girl.

karan: dad! if you say one more word against naina i swear to god, i won’t keep quiet. naina is my wife, i won’t tolerate anyone saying anything about her. i told naina to leave.

meghna: karan, why did you do that and why did she agree?

karan: naina promised me three months ago that when i got better, if i still wanted her to leave, she would. i asked her to leave because i’ll never be able to keep naina happy. we can never be a normal couple. how can i ask her to stay in such a relationship?

nirmala: karan, it seems like you’re forgetting that you’re fine now. you don’t have any allergies. yes, your thoughts are right but that was all before. naina cured you.

karan: ma, i know i’m okay now but the way our marriage happened and i mean, naina loved someone else when we got married – all of this was forced on her. i just, what if, no, naina can never love me. look at me ma. i’m not successful, i don’t know how to act around people. i’m not like kunal bhai, i don’t have a job, i don’t do anything. i’ve never been around people. naina’s a malhotra. she meets people, she travels. i’ve been sitting in that room almost all my life. i don’t want to be the person she’s embarrassed to introduce to people.

meghna: karan, none of this is true.

karan: bhabhi, i’m not rohit. i’m not that. i’m not the person that’s been there for her all this while, i don’t go to the office, i don’t work, i don’t travel nor do i meet people. it’s good naina left. at least now she can be with someone who deserves her.

meghna: karan, you’re getting all of this wrong. naina doesn’t care about all of this – it doesn’t make any difference if you go to work, you travel, or you meet people. naina doesn’t see all of this when she falls in love and honestly no one does. i mean, do you care whether she’s a solanki or a malhotra?

karan: no, it doesn’t matter. but bhabhi, i’m not rohit.

meghna: karan, who said that naina’s looking for rohit? besides, do you know why naina fell in love with rohit? because he would always help people in need, he was a nice person, he was funny, and he always took care of her. naina always told me that she loved rohit because she knew that she could count on him and that he would never leave.

karan: bhabhi, are you sure naina would fall in love with someone who does nothing all day? someone with no degree?

nk: he has a point, meghna.

meghna: i’ll tell you something but we can’t talk about this in front of naina so don’t mention it unless she does. naina loved someone before rohit. um, he still holds a very special place in her heart. he was her first love. unfortunately due to certain circumstances, they had to go their own ways but he didn’t have a degree or a proper job. instead, he worked to make people around him happy and somehow he was able to manage. karan, naina just loves, she doesn’t keep conditions.

masi ma: do you love naina, karan?

nirmala: he does, that’s why he let her go and that’s why he’s so worried thinking if she loves him or not. karan, you don’t let true love go like that. go and bring naina back. tell her how you feel, beta.

karan: but ma,

kunal: karan, do you love naina?

karan: yes, of course i do. i love naina so much. god, i can’t believe i let her go. i’m so stupid.

kunal: yes, you are.

meghna: well then go karan, tell her.

karan: okay, i’m going.

karan smiled, got up and ran towards the door when he got a call from rohit. karan picked up the call immediately.

rohit: naina’s in the hospital.

karan dropped the phone, not knowing how to react, what to say, or what to do – because of him, naina was in the hospital, his life was now close to death, all because he told her to leave.

thank you for reading! i hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. i promise, it gets better and better from here. yes, i know the updates are quite short but the shorter, the faster the updates. besides, i kinda like splitting them up like this so i can keep cliffhangers haha! also, please comment any scenes you wanna see and comment your current or all time favourite song because i really need song suggestions.