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Grandpa sighed and gently pulled him toward the old two-seater wicker sofa on the verandah, just beside the mango tree. After a moment, he looked at Shaurya and said, “Now I’m going to ask you something and you’re going to give me an honest answer, alright?”

Shaurya stayed quiet, but Grandpa took the silence as permission to continue.

“Why do you think you can’t give her love and commitment if you already love her?” Grandpa asked gently.

Shaurya stared at the ground for a long moment, gathering the courage to speak. When he did, his voice was low and hoarse.

“Because I had my chance, Grandpa. In my first marriage... I had it all. A partner, a plan, a future. And I failed. I failed so badly that even now, I still don’t know how I made it out of that wreckage. I can’t go through that kind of failure again. I don’t think I’d survive it this time.”

Grandpa let out a long sigh. “And why do you think you’ll fail again?”

Shaurya looked away. “Why not? Deep down, I know my last marriage ended because of me. I was a workaholic. Always chasing deadlines, always buried in calls and meetings. I thought I was building a future for both of us. But in doing that, I ignored the present. I ignored her. And one day...” he paused, anger suddenly flashing on his face as he recalled that night when everything fell apart.

Grandpa saw that change in his expression and pressed his arm lightly to bring him back to the present. Shaurya gulped.

“That one thing... it destroyed us. And the truth is, nothing’s changed. I’m still that man. I am still obsessed with work.”

“No, Shaurya,” Grandpa interrupted. “Your workaholic nature isn’t the real problem. It’s your lack of trust in yourself. You don’t believe you can get it right this time. You’ve somehow convinced yourself that you’ll fail. That’s a bigger issue than your workaholic excuse ever was.”

Shaurya closed his eyes briefly, the truth sinking in deeper than he wanted to admit. “Maybe you’re right. I don’t trust myself not to ruin this second chance. The scars from my past… they still haunt me. They’ve left me too scared to believe in love again. I don’t trust myself anymore. Not when it comes to giving someone my heart again. Not after the way it was crushed.”

Grandpa reached over and patted his knee. “Second chances are rare and precious, Shaurya. They’re God’s way of telling us we still have a shot. That we still deserve to love and be loved in return. But to embrace that, you need to trust your instincts. Be brave enough to take the chance and turn it into the best moment of your life.”

Shaurya looked at him, dazed, unsure how to process it all. Grandpa gave a small smile.

“And I’m not saying this just to make you feel better. I’m telling you from my personal experience.”

Shaurya blinked. “Personal experience?”

Grandpa nodded. “Ambika, Nandini’s daadi… she wasn’t my first wife. She was my second.”

Shaurya stared at him, shocked. “What?”

Grandpa continued.

“My first wife was the love of my life. We were young and deeply in love. But fate had other plans. We were only married for two years before she fell seriously ill and passed away.”

Shaurya sat quietly, the words hitting him harder than he’d expected.

“I was shattered. I vowed to myself I’d never move on. For almost two years, I lived in her memory, holding on to a love that would never come back.”

He paused, letting the weight of those words settle between them.

“Then Nandini’s daadi came into my life. It was an arranged marriage. I didn’t even meet her until the wedding day. I was bitter, angry, and grieving. She knew I still loved my first wife. But she stayed. Through silence, through the distance I created, through all my pain, she stayed.”

Grandpa smiled, a little wistful.

“Over time, something changed. She slowly found her way into my life… into my heart. I started to notice her. I started to smile again. I laughed. I loved again. Not because I forgot my first wife, but because life gave me another chance. And this time, I had the sense and courage to take it with both my hands.”

He looked at Shaurya with clear, steady eyes.

“Life doesn’t come with guarantees,” he said softly. “But it offers moments. Chances. And if you keep choosing to live in the shadow of your past, you will never truly live in the present. If I had stayed stuck in my past, I would have missed out on decades of love and happiness. Nandini’s daadi didn’t just fill a void… she became my whole world. All because I was willing to give love another chance.”

Shaurya sat still, absorbing every word. There was a storm brewing quietly behind his eyes.

Grandpa noticed, gently patting his arm. “Whoever she is, if you love her, don’t hurt her because of your fear and doubt… because you don’t trust yourself. Life’s unpredictable, Shaurya. Yes, you might fail again. But wouldn’t it be far worse to live with the regret of not having tried at all?”

Shaurya remained silent. But this time, his silence was no longer one of fear. It was the silence of someone who had just seen a door crack open and realised he still had a choice to walk through it.