Page 41 of When Love Trespassed

Shaurya’s Villa – Next Day Afternoon

The late afternoon sun filtered through the blinds of Shaurya’s villa, casting long shadows across the floor.

Varun paced the living room, the tension in his steps rising with every unanswered question in his mind.

Shaurya stood silently by the window, looking like a man who’d suddenly lost his entire world in one night.

“I don’t get it,” Varun finally burst out, exasperated. “You and Nandini were doing great. And suddenly, out of nowhere, I hear you’re… what? Ending things?” He turned to face him. “Shaurya, what the hell happened?”

Shaurya didn’t flinch. He didn’t speak either. His jaw was tight, his eyes fixed on something outside that Varun couldn’t see.

“Were you even one percent serious about her?” Varun pressed, more softly now. “Or was all of that just a passing phase for you?”

“I love her, Varun,” he snapped, not liking what Varun said. “She was not just a passing phase of my life. I love her so much that I know what I did was for her own good. I’d rather break my own heart than ever hurt her.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Varun’s voice rose again. “If you love her, what is this nonsense about stepping back?”

Shaurya exhaled slowly. “Because I can’t do this. I can’t promise her a future that I’m scared I’ll ruin. She deserves better. Someone who isn’t carrying as much baggage as I am.”

Varun stared at him, stunned. “You think pushing her away is better than at least trying?”

Shaurya’s lips pressed into a grim line.

“Last night… when she said she couldn’t wait to build a life with me, to have my babies—” he paused, a flicker of pain ghosting across his face.

“I remembered Rhea. The night I told her those exact same words. The night I found out that… that everything I believed in, everything I thought we were, was a lie.”

Varun’s eyes narrowed, knowing exactly what Shaurya was referring to, but he shook his head in disagreement. “So now you’re punishing Nandini for something your ex-wife did?”

“No,” Shaurya snapped. “I’m protecting her from going through what Rhea and I went through. From being with a man who doesn’t know if he’s capable of doing it right the second time.”

“Bullshit,” Varun said bluntly. “You’re not protecting her, Shaurya. You’re protecting yourself. From trying. From hoping. From the possibility of failing at it again.”

Shaurya didn’t respond.

“You’re making the biggest mistake of your life,” Varun continued. “You have someone who truly loves you. Who accepts every part of you. Your past, your scars, your age… everything. Life is offering you a second chance, man, and you’re too scared to reach out and take it.”

Shaurya’s throat tightened as he tried to swallow back the misery threatening to rip him apart.

“Nandini is not Rhea,” Varun said firmly. “And you’re not that man anymore either. But if you keep shutting people out, if you keep living like the past has already written off your whole story, then yeah, you’ll lose her. And you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

He grabbed his car keys from the table. “Be a man, Shaurya. Own your life. Stop running from it.”

With that, Varun turned and walked out, the door clicking shut behind him. And for the first time in a long time, Shaurya felt something splinter inside him, something dangerously close to fear… and regret .

******************

The next five days were a blur of silence and suffocating stillness for Shaurya.

He buried himself in work, pretending to be too busy for anything else.

Whether it was checking emails or attending virtual meetings, his laptop barely left his side.

But even that wasn’t enough to silence the chaos inside his head.

He tried to hold it together. Tried to focus on work, on his fitness routine, and even fixed the broken lock on the garden gate.

Yet, no matter how hard he tried, his traitorous and relentless thoughts kept circling back to her.

He was slipping.

Even Meera had noticed.

“You’ve been grumpier than usual,” she muttered that morning, after he snapped at her for bringing him tea instead of coffee, when clearly, he was the one who had asked for tea that day.

He sighed, immediately feeling guilty. “I’m sorry, Meera. I... I’m just not in the right mindset.”

She raised an eyebrow, her gaze observant.

“Something’s been off with you lately. I can see it.

I won’t push you to explain, but these last few weeks…

we saw a different version of you. Softer.

More grounded. Ever since the Raichands became more than just the neighbours.

Don’t lose that now. Don’t slip back into being the man who shuts everyone out. ”

He didn’t reply. What could he say? That he missed someone who might not even want to see his face anymore? That he’d ruined something beautiful because he didn’t have the courage to try again?

He hadn’t seen Nandini even once since that night. And with each passing hour, his restraint slipped away, bit by bit.

She hadn’t stepped out, hadn’t crossed the garden, hadn’t even come near the French doors of Raichand Villa.

And as much as he tried to convince himself that this distance was for the best, that it was what he wanted, he knew it wasn’t.

Every day without her chipped away at the edges of his peace, leaving behind an ache that refused to subside.

He had to force himself not to look at Raichand Villa and yet every time he failed.

Just like today, as he sat by the poolside lounger, pretending to read on a document, he looked up and saw the curtains of her living room move. His heart skipped a beat. Maybe it was her. Maybe he could get one tiny glimpse, just enough to know how she was holding up.

But the moment the curtains parted, he saw it wasn’t her. It was Lakshmi, dusting the windows. Alone.

The disappointment settled like a stone in his chest.

Later that evening, against his better judgment, he casually asked Meera to check why Nandini hadn’t been around lately.

Meera, ever perceptive, didn’t miss the tension in his voice. She made a call to Lakshmi and came back with a quiet answer.

“She’s been running a fever for the past three days. Although she is better now.”

That gutted him. He hadn’t even known. He hadn’t been there. And yet… deep inside, he knew he was the one who’d caused it.

Both Meera and Lakshmi sensed something had gone terribly wrong between the two, but neither woman dared to ask. They watched. Waited. And silently hoped the storm would pass… and that these two lost people would finally find their way back to each other.

By the evening of the seventh day, the wind had picked up, and the temperature had dipped again.

Shaurya sat outside in his garden, under the sky that had grown cloudy and grey.

A few mango leaves drifted towards him, brushing against his arm.

He caught one, staring at it like it held an answer he so desperately sought.

His gaze lifted to the old mango tree standing tall between their homes. He exhaled slowly and stood up, walking towards it like he had no other choice.

Placing a hand gently on its bark, he whispered, “I’ve seen Grandpa and Nandini talk to you.

Sharing their pain, their joy... everything they feel…

with you. I never understood it. I don’t know what satisfaction they get, venting to something that can’t even talk back.

Can’t even offer advice or guidance. And yet.

.. here I am. Because right now, you’re the only one who knows it all. ”

He swallowed the feeling of pain in his throat but continued.

“You were the first one to notice something brewing between me and her. You watched us grow close... and then watched it fall apart, like it was never meant to be.”

The tree remained silent, of course. But the wind rustled its leaves, and for a second, it felt like it was listening.

He leaned fully against the trunk now, his eyes shut, lost in the memories of Nandini.

“I love her. God, I love her more than I’ve ever loved anyone.

And that’s why I can’t hurt her. I had no choice but to walk away.

She’s precious. She’s too good for a man like me, someone who’s made too many mistakes already.

I know she’s hurting. She probably hates me for pulling away.

But I don’t have the answers for the questions she might ask. ”

He breathed in deeply, and when he spoke again, it came out as a broken sob.

“I miss her. I just… I want her to know that I’m doing this for her sake, even if it’s tearing us apart.

I want her to know it wasn’t fleeting for me.

It was real. It is real. I love her, and I want her to be happy.

But if she stays with me, I can’t promise her the kind of future she dreams of. .. the kind she deserves.”

He pulled back slightly, staring up at the twisted branches. “If you’re listening... just give me a sign. Something. Anything. Tell me I’m doing the right thing.”

“The tree only talks and gives signs to me and Nandini. Not to outsiders.”

Shaurya froze.

He turned slowly to find Grandpa standing a few feet away, leaning lightly on his stick.

Shaurya’s heart pounded. He quickly wiped his face and looked away, unsure about how much the older man had overheard. But Grandpa walked toward him calmly and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You’d gone missing, my boy,” he said softly.

“For a whole week now, and I started to wonder what was really going on. Nandu said you were probably catching up on work. After all, you’d put so much on hold to take care of me, so we didn’t want to bother you.

But now, from what I am seeing, it wasn’t just work keeping you away.

I see it in your eyes... it’s not work. It’s something else. Something heavier.”

Shaurya was at a loss for words. He couldn’t come up with an excuse. And Grandpa didn’t’ wait for one. He continued.