Silent Whisper -Chapter 34

He pushed the document toward Maan.

Maan’s eyes remained fixed on the papers. His father wasn’t wrong—he knew that. Still, the weight of the moment pressed heavily on him.

He drew in a deep breath.

Raj extended the pen.

Maan took it.

Geet’s gaze locked onto him—on the pen in his hand, on the paper before him. Her lips parted, as if to speak… but Mohinder’s silent gesture stopped her.

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Maan closes his eyes and throws his head back on the chair, for a moment. He was soon back, sitting straight.

He had pen in his hand and paper to sign in front of him. Everyone’s eyes were on him. Most of them confirmed that he will do it. Geet praying, he doesn’t.

Maan’s hand moved towards the paper

“Ma-aan.” Geet’s low shaky whisper reached his ears.

Maan had his pen close to paper for quite a while; everyone anticipating his move. It was so clear now.

The pen touched the paper and everyone knew their story was ended.

Maan pressed the nib of the pen on the signature spot; pressed it so hard that the nib broke and ink spread around

Maan got up “Are we done now?” he asked his dad. Not even looking at the girl who was numb sinking in his decision – He did not sign the paper!

“No, we are not done yet.” Raj declared and cleared further

“Because, as I told you before, if you are not signing then there are things that needs to be cleared. But to start with, can you explain this?”

“This means that divorce is not happening.” Maan said, with no expression in his voice or expression.

“And why?” Raj pressed further, “Geet deserved to know your intent clearly”

“Dad, I am fine. Maan already made his intent clear” Geet was in such a relief and didn’t want to stress Maan any further. Openly taking this decision must be so draining for him. He must be so irritated and she don’t want to irritate him any further.

“Maan take a seat” Raj instructed Maan strictly.

Maan took his seat. He cannot disrespect his dad over his confused, storming heart

“Maan and I are talking and no one will interrupt” he declared, looking at Geet.

“Maan, as I had told you earlier, either you divorce Geet or you will completely accept her in your life and give her the status, in your life and in the society the status that she deserves as your wife.”

“Okay” Maan gave a one-word answer

“Okay? Is that how you take her in your life? Geet’s parents deserve to hear how respectfully you want her in your life”

Maan turned his head towards Geet for a moment, took a deep sigh

“If I don’t divorce her, and your conditions are that she will get all the rights in that situation, then by not signing the paper, I accept it.”

“Maan, if you are accepting her this indirectly, I can get the new paper prepared and you can sign it” Raj warned Maan.

“Dad! No!” Geet said in panic

“Geet!” Raj warned and turned to Maan

“Yes, Maan. We are all waiting to hear how you are taking Geet in your life”

Maan took a deep sigh. He was not a man who would take time to gauge the situation.  He didn’t want to be looked upon as someone to be dragging thing. He was pushed into this well by his own father, he needed to come out clean.

“Geet is my wife and as I have decided to not divorce her, she gets status of my wife in this home, this family and in society”

“And in your personal life”

“She can move to my room. What you are asking is between two people and when they live together, things progress. It takes time.”

Geet had her eyes fixed on Maan as he made promises for her, but he never once looked at her. She didn’t mind, nor did she expect it. All that he was promising was beyond her expectations.

He had decided not to divorce her and give her the status of his wife – why and how? But deep down she knew that ‘why’, just didn’t knew he would openly accept it.

“Can I leave now?” Maan asked. How irked he was to be placed in such situation could be clearly seen.

“If you can give few minutes, I have to talk something.” Said Mohinder. He looked at Maan who looked to be completely pissed off by now

“I have no rights on Maan, so I cannot order you to stay. I have some decisions for my daughter. If you can stay, I will convey that to both of you, but if your other engagement takes priority over this matter, I will convey my decision to Geet”

Maan sensed, something was brewing in the mind of Mohinder Handa. And he could also sense, that he was not very pleased at this moment.

Also, Maan can argue with Mohinder Handa in private but he would not disrespect her parents in front of his parents.

Everyone today was ready with their arms and throwing the ball in his court.

Maan took his seat “Please go ahead”

But what came afterwards was unexpected to both Geet and Maan.

“Geet, we have missed you a lot darling. Not just by distance but missing to see the real you, missing to see Geet in her element. We are proud that you have learned the value of relationship, learned to bend in relationship, learned that love calls for some sacrifice and some compromise. But in all this you have lost your self-respect. No love is worth when it asks you to compromise your self-respect.  It’s painful for us as a parent, to witness, our prideful daughter, completely lose herself respect. And any relationship, which need you to sacrifice yourself respect is not worth it. And I see, this is where this has reached. Witnessing your condition in yesterday’s call was the final blow”

That hit Maan. Mohinder Handa has seen her condition yesterday.

“Dad, now all is good. You see Maan declined to sign the divorce paper in front of all and he also clearly promised to give me the status of his wife”

“Yes, it took Mr. Khurana several push for him to clearly promise the things that he promised. Did he once look at you while making the promise?”

“Dad, everything has just got fixed. Please do not complicate things”

“Geet, darling, this is not fix, it’s a patch. Patch have very high chances of ripping off. This is about your life and I cannot settle for a patch. We need a permanent fix. I have a decision, which is added with a condition”

“Dad…”

“Geet, I know you love me enough to not deny me in front of everyone”

Geet can punish herself, let her self-respect be called out for being around Maan, but she cannot disrespect her father. Her father who has let her lead her life according to her wishes. Today, for the first time, he is demanding father’s right from her, how can she deny, that too here, in front of all.

“Geet, I am not at all satisfied by the way Maan has accepted you in his life” he was very straight forward in front of all.

“And I do not condemn him. It is his perspective.  But I cannot let my daughter get into such halfhearted relationship. Also, we have missed you, the real you. We have missed family life with our daughter. I want you to come with us and spend time with us for a month. It’s not negotiable. You are today coming back to Delhi with us”

 He paused, looked around “Now my next part is the condition for Maan. I want to know and also Geet would want to know, if whatever Maan promised today, carries a meaning”

“You are talking to Maan Khurana. Whole corporate world knows the weightage of my word”

 Maan came back immediately

“Here’s it’s matter of my daughter and not any corporate deal. I am not convinced today. You will have to convince us, that you really mean the promises you made today. If it does not, then both of you will be free. “

“It’s even for your clarity, Maan. “He emphasized

“We have all every time forced Geet on you. Once I did and now Mr. Khurana is doing. I do not want you to get into a relationship with my daughter that will always feel like a heavy luggage you are dragging with you. I don’t want my daughter to be a luggage to you. So….”

He paused and looked at both Maan and Geet

“So, after a month, if you really think that you want Geet in your life, you can come and ask for her hand. Definitely we will see how sincere you are about it. You will have a complete one year to make up your mind or heart. If it takes you more than a year, I will, by any means, force Geet to end this relationship”

“Dad…”

“Geet, you want to hang into a relationship where you are not even confident that your husband will come to get you back, even in a year time. In that case, are you not forcing yourself again on Maan and additionally, are you just not killing your self-respect – totally?”

He pause and let his words hang in the air for few moments.

 “This is my condition and it’s final. Anyone has anything to say?” he asked, concluding it there.

“Geet, I completely agree with your dad. Also darling, I want minimum a month, to pamper my daughter.” Said Rano.

Maan got up from his seat, no expression on his face “So, I see you do not expect any action from me at this moment” he asked Mohinder

“No. Only after a month.”

“And before a year from now” he added

“Okay, then I will take everyone’s leave now”

“Thanks Mr. Maan Khurana, for giving this matter your precious time. Much appreciated” Mohinder Handa added.

Maan left immediately.

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Maan, while reaching his room, loosened his tie, undid the buttons of his crisp shirt and quickly undressed from his formal to directly hit the gym.

The huge punching bag in his room started swinging from his heavy punches as he poured his frustration and anger.

He was confused of what he was becoming when it came to Geet. All this distancing from Geet was for his self-respect. When has it turned into his ego? The clash was, his self-respect being compromised due to her ego. The situation has reversed, her self-respect is being compromised.

It started with him trying to save his heart from her ego and stubbornness but now it has turned into his ego where he is compromising her self-respect. 

Maan was continuously punching the heavy hanging bag.

Her condition last night had been the final blow for him, and he had finally decided to let go of the fight he had been holding onto for so long. He could not keep running from his responsibilities while building his empire and seeking revenge at the cost of her self-respect. Even if accepting her back meant inviting complications into his life, he was ready to deal with them. But watching her lose herself in front of everyone… he could not allow that to continue anymore.

He had decided to talk to her privately.

But start today and he was bombarded with situations not being given anytime to decide. But then, when his decision was fixed, why was he so hesitant and took so much time to openly accept her in his life.

HIS EGO!!! It surfaced to accept her openly in front of everyone, especially her parents. But in the end, his actions and his delay had only led to her humiliation.

What has he become and what is he doing? The thought troubled him

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“Why did you all do, what you did today?” Geet asked the question to both dads

“It was his birthday yesterday and this is the gift we are giving him today. Giving him options to decide with a gun on his head.” She shouted

“With a gun on his head? Really Geet?” called out Raj.

“You lived together for barely ten months, and after that, he spent three years away from you. Now, you have been trying to win him back for nearly eight months. Altogether, it has been almost five years. If all this time has not been enough, then nothing ever will be. And he was given a choice. I am quite sure Maan is clear about what he wants in life and what he does not…”

Geet turned to her dad “And you dad? Why does he need to prove?”

“Let him prove the sincerity behind his promise. In fact, I am giving him time to settle his thoughts. Within this one month, he will be able to truly decide what he wants. I do not want him to later feel that he accepted you back under pressure.”

“He doesn’t want to let go off me, does that not say it all”

“But as a father, I want you to be taken in with all heart and wish. No need to argue, Geet. You both need time to settle that this is what you want. It has to be final this time.”

Mohinder cleared

He held her shoulders “If you respect and trust your father you will go with my decision….”

“Can I go meet him once?”

“Go. We will leave in half an hour”

Geet ran towards the central elevator, leading to Maan’s floor.

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Maan was in his gym, training relentlessly, breaking thick wooden logs with his body as if trying to drain out the frustration he felt over his own behavior.

It would have been far more respectful if he had simply said ‘No.’ But he hadn’t, because he could not. Then what right did he have to humiliate her, even after witnessing how vulnerable she had been for him the previous night?

After searching for him all around the grand wing, Geet finally reached the gym, only to find bruises spread all over his body.

Maan was about to break yet another log when he suddenly felt a tight hug from behind, her arms wrapping around him.

He froze in his tracks, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

“Maan” Geet called out. Pressed her lips on his bruised back “Thank-you. Thank-you so much”

  “You didn’t leave yet?” His voice again masked

Geet moved around and stood in front of him. “Maan, I know you were put on the spot today. I am sorry for that.”

The frustration Maan had been carrying against himself instantly flared up.

“Why the hell should you be sorry? Were you the one doing it? Do you really think you have the power to put me on the spot?” he snapped.

And the very next moment, he realized he had once again belittled her. Maan shut his eyes tightly and clenched his fists. Taking a deep breath, he slowly loosened them, trying to gain control over the storm of emotions raging inside him.

“But I was the reason,” she spoke softly.

“I know I have no power or rights over you anymore. I lost those rights… every right over you.” Her voice trembled with every word.

“I can see how much all of this has upset you. Why did you hurt yourself like this? There are bruises all over your body. Once again, I ended up causing you pain.”

Geet moved closer and placed her hand against his bare chest, her fingers gently tracing over the bruises covering his body.

“Sometimes I feel everyone was right… my parents, your parents, even you. Everyone told me this was nothing but stubbornness, that trying to get you back was just my obsession and that I should stop pursuing it.”

She paused, her voice growing softer.

“But you know, Maan… I truly believed there was something far deeper between us. The spark, the passion… it all felt too intense, too real. And I fell in love with every part of you — the man you were and the man you still are. I believed you loved me once… and somewhere deep inside, I still feel you do.”

She paused, carefully gathering her thoughts as her eyes lingered on the wounds he had inflicted upon himself.

“It may have looked like stubbornness from the outside, but when I knew there was still so much between us, I just could not let it go. Walking away from this always felt wrong… incomplete, unfinished.”

A faint, painful smile touched her lips.

“But maybe it was all only in my heart. You were doing perfectly fine. I came back and disturbed the life you had settled into, and today… you were forced into a situation because of me. These bruises say everything.”

“No one forced me. Things cannot be left hanging. Dad is right, decision had to be made,” he said, keeping his tone steady and unreadable.

Geet lifted her gaze to him and gently cupped his face in her palm.

“Maan, I’m going to ask you for one last favor in my life. After this, I promise I will never ask you for anything again. Never… ever. That’s my word.”

Maan didn’t pull her hands away. He just kept looking at her, silent and still.

“I’ve already told you what I feel about us. If you believe—even a little—that I’m right, then Maan… for just this once, forget your ego and bring me back within the time your dad has given. And if you think this is just my stubbornness, then don’t come out of pity for my condition. I’ll be fine. I promise.”

 “You should go. Your dad must be waiting for his princess impatiently.” Is all he could say.

NEXT:-The End of Chadhda’s