Page 120 of Entangled Vows

“Yes,” Vikram said, his jaw clenched. “Maybe I was an idiot, but at the time, it felt real. That was my truth, even if it sounds like complete crap now. But none of that matters anymore. What matters is why you disappeared when Dad needed both of us.”

Suraj hesitated, his shoulders slumping further, as though the load of the next words was too much to carry.

“I flew to Dubai,” he said quietly. “To be with Mom.”

The room went dead silent, and even the air seemed to pause.

Mahika saw Vikram freeze. His entire posture shifted, his spine stiffening like steel. His face lost all trace of emotion, and he went terrifyingly still. It was as if someone had turned him to stone.

“Why?” he growled.

“She had a heart attack,” Suraj added. “And she was all alone.”

Vikram blinked, shocked.

“Her husband was there,” he said, regaining his calm. “He could have taken care of her.”

“No,” Suraj replied quietly. “Her husband passed away four years ago. COVID took him. After that, she changed. She shut herself off from everyone. The doctors diagnosed her with a heart condition. And then... the cardiac arrest happened a few months ago. It was the same time we spoke on the phone. She was in the hospital, Vikram. Completely alone. There was no one beside her. No one. I couldn’t let her go through that alone.”

Vikram’s jaw tightened, the tendons in his neck jutting out. A storm of fury simmered beneath his composed exterior.

“You went toher,” he said, slowly and deliberately.

“Yes. She needed someone with her.”

“So did dad. So did I,” Vikram whispered, his voice barely more than a breath. “And you still chose her.”

“I wasn’t choosing sides,” Suraj replied, his voice breaking with emotion. “I did what I thought was right… what any son would have done. You see her as the woman who left you, but I see her as someone who is broken. A woman who fell in love again, just at the wrong time and again lost it.”

“You don’t get to justify cheating. I won’t stand for it,” Vikram ground out, disbelief tightening his jaw. He couldn’t believe his own brother was defending their mother’s betrayal.

“I’m not justifying cheating, Vikram,” Suraj said softly. “I’m saying it’s all in the past. And she’s our mom. She’s just human. Yes, she left Dad. Yes, she made mistakes. But she also fell in love with someone else. And you... you’ve been punishing her ever since. Why are you still holding on to old wounds? You need to accept that we can’t choose our parents.”

Vikram stayed silent, but Mahika noticed the faint tremble in his fingers. She tightened her hold on his hand.

Suraj’s voice cracked with quiet desperation. “She tried to reach out. She wanted to make things right, but you never let her. You shut her out so completely, Vikram. You built a wall around yourself. There wasn’t even a door left for her to knock on. What does that say about you?”

Vikram’s head turned, his voice sharp. “It says that I am not desperate.”

Suraj’s jaw clenched, but he stayed calm. “That’s not desperation. That is love. That is the kind of love you keep denying because it hurts too much to admit you ever needed it. And you know what… I brought her here.”

Vikram stood shocked as he processed those words. “She’s here? In Dehradun?”

“Yes. She’s staying at Ishika’s place. Mom needs us now, and I will not abandon her… not the way you believe she abandoned us. She is still our mother. Let the past go. It has been years.”

Vikram stood frozen, his face unreadable. Then he looked at Suraj, and when he spoke, his voice was almost too quiet to catch.

“Letting go is easy when you are loved. You got everything from her. The warmth, the affection, the loyalty. You were always her favourite, Suraj… even back then. And now you have done it again. You ran off to save her while I stayed here... holding everything together. I needed my brother. But you chose her. Again.”

Every word struck like a blow. Mahika moved closer, curling her fingers around Vikram’s forearm. She held on tightly, trying to be with him, before he drifted into that place where he thought he was all alone. But Vikram slowly pulled hisarm free and turned towards the door, his shoulders squared, his expression set in stone.

And without another word, he walked out.

∞∞∞

When the door clicked shut behind Vikram, it felt like it carried all the tension and unspoken emotions out with it, leaving the room thick with silence. Mahika stood still, her eyes scanning the space that now felt strangely empty. Her heart ached for him, seeing his pain. She couldn’t understand why he was always misunderstood. All he had ever wanted was a little love from the one person who should have given it freely. Instead, he’d only been met with distance and silence.

What Mahika did understand, with painful clarity, was that Suraj’s words had struck something deep inside him, peeling open wounds he had buried beneath layers of pride and anger.