26-05-2026, 02:20 AM
Chapter 41 — Doubts
Some suspicions don’t arrive loudly.
They build quietly from fragments.
One strange moment. One uncomfortable memory. One coincidence that refuses to feel like coincidence anymore.
And once doubt enters the mind, every old event begins rearranging itself differently.
---
The third evening after Shruthi left for Coimbatore, Lokesh was finishing dinner with Hasini when his phone vibrated again.
Divya.
This time he answered.
---
“Hello?”
“Finally,” Divya sighed lightly from the other side.
“You’ve become very difficult to reach nowadays.”
“Busy.”
“Hm.”
For a second neither spoke properly.
The awkwardness from recent events still existed between them.
---
Then Divya spoke again, softer now.
“Ganesh asked about you.”
“Hmm?”
“He said it’s been long since you came home casually.”
Lokesh leaned back slightly.
“After everything that happened, casual became difficult.”
Divya became silent briefly after that.
Then carefully:
“That’s exactly why I called.”
---
Her voice sounded genuine.
Not defensive. Not manipulative.
Just tired.
---
“Karthik feels horrible about everything,” she continued quietly.
“He’s avoiding even family properly now.”
Lokesh closed his eyes briefly.
“He crossed limits.”
“I know.”
“He scared Shruthi.”
Another silence.
Then Divya sighed.
“I’m not calling to justify him.”
---
That honesty softened him slightly.
---
“Come home today night,” she finally said.
“Dinner.”
“No need…”
“Ganesh will be there.”
“And kids are already asking about uncle Lokesh.”
He smiled faintly despite himself.
“You’re using emotional blackmail.”
“Correct.”
---
After some hesitation, he agreed.
Mostly because Ganesh himself was involved now.
And partly because somewhere inside, Lokesh wanted normalcy too.
---
After Leaving Hasini with Laila and Shah Rukh for a couple of hours, Lokesh drove toward Divya’s apartment.
Rain clouds still hung over Chennai.
The roads glistened under streetlights.
And during the drive, his mind drifted repeatedly toward old memories.
College days. Friendship. Divya. Shruthi.
Things had once been simpler.
---
When he finally reached Divya’s apartment floor, he noticed something small immediately.
Before he could knock properly, Divya opened the door from inside.
“Aiyo finally!”
She pulled it wider immediately.
“This stupid latch screw came off because of the wind. Since evening it’s making noise continuously.”
Lokesh glanced once at the loose latch again.
A tiny domestic issue.
Nothing important.
Still, for some reason, the image stayed in his mind.
---
“Come in,” Divya smiled.
From inside, children’s cartoons played loudly while Ganesh sat near the dining table working on his laptop.
“Machan!” Ganesh stood up immediately.
“Long time.”
Lokesh smiled politely and shook hands.
---
The atmosphere initially felt normal.
Comfortable even.
Divya moved around serving snacks while the children climbed over Lokesh excitedly asking random questions.
Yet slowly, tiny things began bothering him.
---
Not because of what they said.
Because of what they avoided saying.
---
Whenever Karthik’s name almost entered conversation, Divya subtly redirected topics.
Ganesh too became unusually careful.
And suddenly, old moments began replaying differently inside Lokesh’s head.
---
The birthday party.
The drinking game.
The emotional pressure. The awkward situations.
And most importantly —
how naturally Karthik had entered Shruthi’s emotional space afterward.
Too naturally.
---
“Shruthi still angry?” Divya asked casually while serving dinner.
The question snapped him back.
“A little.”
“Hm.”
Again that strange carefulness in her tone.
---
Then suddenly another memory returned sharply.
Karthik had known about him long before officially meeting him.
Because of Divya.
Because of old college stories.
Because Divya herself had once loved him silently years ago.
---
And now, sitting inside this apartment hearing the guest room's loose latch tap softly again and again because of the wind, another uncomfortable possibility entered Lokesh’s mind for the first time.
He moved towards the guestroom, pretending the need to go for restroom
The safety latch screw near the inside hook had loosened, making the latch hang crookedly against the partially closed door.
Tap. Pause. Tap.
The door itself wasn’t open.
Just not shutting properly because the latch had come loose
---
What if none of this happened randomly?
Not fully planned.
But encouraged.
Nudged.
Emotionally manipulated.
---
He looked at Divya differently now.
Not with certainty.
With suspicion.
---
During dinner, Divya laughed while narrating some old college incident involving Shruthi teasing professors.
Ganesh joined casually.
But Lokesh noticed something.
Every story somehow positioned Shruthi and him as “perfect couple.”
Repeatedly.
Almost intentionally.
As if reminding him of what he could lose.
---
Meanwhile Karthik himself never appeared.
Not even once.
Which somehow felt stranger.
---
Finally, while Ganesh took a work call outside, Divya and Lokesh remained briefly alone near the dining table.
Rain hit the balcony grill outside softly.
And suddenly Lokesh asked quietly:
“Did you know Karthik liked Shruthi before all this?”
Divya froze very slightly.
Only for a second.
Still enough.
---
“What?”
“You heard me.”
She looked away briefly while arranging plates unnecessarily.
“I guessed maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“He mentioned her often.”
Lokesh stared at her silently now.
---
And slowly, pieces inside his mind began connecting dangerously.
The introductions. The comfort. The constant opportunities for closeness. The party. The drinking.
---
Not conspiracy in cinematic sense.
But emotional engineering.
---
Divya finally looked at him again.
“You think I planned something?”
The question came softly.
Not offended.
Almost nervous.
---
Lokesh leaned back slowly.
“I don’t know what to think anymore.”
And for the first time that night, genuine tension entered the room.
---
Because somewhere deep inside, he now wondered whether Karthik had merely been foolish —
or whether he had been pushed slowly toward Shruthi by someone who still carried old unresolved feelings herself.
And once that suspicion entered his head, nothing from the past few months looked completely innocent anymore.
Some suspicions don’t arrive loudly.
They build quietly from fragments.
One strange moment. One uncomfortable memory. One coincidence that refuses to feel like coincidence anymore.
And once doubt enters the mind, every old event begins rearranging itself differently.
---
The third evening after Shruthi left for Coimbatore, Lokesh was finishing dinner with Hasini when his phone vibrated again.
Divya.
This time he answered.
---
“Hello?”
“Finally,” Divya sighed lightly from the other side.
“You’ve become very difficult to reach nowadays.”
“Busy.”
“Hm.”
For a second neither spoke properly.
The awkwardness from recent events still existed between them.
---
Then Divya spoke again, softer now.
“Ganesh asked about you.”
“Hmm?”
“He said it’s been long since you came home casually.”
Lokesh leaned back slightly.
“After everything that happened, casual became difficult.”
Divya became silent briefly after that.
Then carefully:
“That’s exactly why I called.”
---
Her voice sounded genuine.
Not defensive. Not manipulative.
Just tired.
---
“Karthik feels horrible about everything,” she continued quietly.
“He’s avoiding even family properly now.”
Lokesh closed his eyes briefly.
“He crossed limits.”
“I know.”
“He scared Shruthi.”
Another silence.
Then Divya sighed.
“I’m not calling to justify him.”
---
That honesty softened him slightly.
---
“Come home today night,” she finally said.
“Dinner.”
“No need…”
“Ganesh will be there.”
“And kids are already asking about uncle Lokesh.”
He smiled faintly despite himself.
“You’re using emotional blackmail.”
“Correct.”
---
After some hesitation, he agreed.
Mostly because Ganesh himself was involved now.
And partly because somewhere inside, Lokesh wanted normalcy too.
---
After Leaving Hasini with Laila and Shah Rukh for a couple of hours, Lokesh drove toward Divya’s apartment.
Rain clouds still hung over Chennai.
The roads glistened under streetlights.
And during the drive, his mind drifted repeatedly toward old memories.
College days. Friendship. Divya. Shruthi.
Things had once been simpler.
---
When he finally reached Divya’s apartment floor, he noticed something small immediately.
Before he could knock properly, Divya opened the door from inside.
“Aiyo finally!”
She pulled it wider immediately.
“This stupid latch screw came off because of the wind. Since evening it’s making noise continuously.”
Lokesh glanced once at the loose latch again.
A tiny domestic issue.
Nothing important.
Still, for some reason, the image stayed in his mind.
---
“Come in,” Divya smiled.
From inside, children’s cartoons played loudly while Ganesh sat near the dining table working on his laptop.
“Machan!” Ganesh stood up immediately.
“Long time.”
Lokesh smiled politely and shook hands.
---
The atmosphere initially felt normal.
Comfortable even.
Divya moved around serving snacks while the children climbed over Lokesh excitedly asking random questions.
Yet slowly, tiny things began bothering him.
---
Not because of what they said.
Because of what they avoided saying.
---
Whenever Karthik’s name almost entered conversation, Divya subtly redirected topics.
Ganesh too became unusually careful.
And suddenly, old moments began replaying differently inside Lokesh’s head.
---
The birthday party.
The drinking game.
The emotional pressure. The awkward situations.
And most importantly —
how naturally Karthik had entered Shruthi’s emotional space afterward.
Too naturally.
---
“Shruthi still angry?” Divya asked casually while serving dinner.
The question snapped him back.
“A little.”
“Hm.”
Again that strange carefulness in her tone.
---
Then suddenly another memory returned sharply.
Karthik had known about him long before officially meeting him.
Because of Divya.
Because of old college stories.
Because Divya herself had once loved him silently years ago.
---
And now, sitting inside this apartment hearing the guest room's loose latch tap softly again and again because of the wind, another uncomfortable possibility entered Lokesh’s mind for the first time.
He moved towards the guestroom, pretending the need to go for restroom
The safety latch screw near the inside hook had loosened, making the latch hang crookedly against the partially closed door.
Tap. Pause. Tap.
The door itself wasn’t open.
Just not shutting properly because the latch had come loose
---
What if none of this happened randomly?
Not fully planned.
But encouraged.
Nudged.
Emotionally manipulated.
---
He looked at Divya differently now.
Not with certainty.
With suspicion.
---
During dinner, Divya laughed while narrating some old college incident involving Shruthi teasing professors.
Ganesh joined casually.
But Lokesh noticed something.
Every story somehow positioned Shruthi and him as “perfect couple.”
Repeatedly.
Almost intentionally.
As if reminding him of what he could lose.
---
Meanwhile Karthik himself never appeared.
Not even once.
Which somehow felt stranger.
---
Finally, while Ganesh took a work call outside, Divya and Lokesh remained briefly alone near the dining table.
Rain hit the balcony grill outside softly.
And suddenly Lokesh asked quietly:
“Did you know Karthik liked Shruthi before all this?”
Divya froze very slightly.
Only for a second.
Still enough.
---
“What?”
“You heard me.”
She looked away briefly while arranging plates unnecessarily.
“I guessed maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“He mentioned her often.”
Lokesh stared at her silently now.
---
And slowly, pieces inside his mind began connecting dangerously.
The introductions. The comfort. The constant opportunities for closeness. The party. The drinking.
---
Not conspiracy in cinematic sense.
But emotional engineering.
---
Divya finally looked at him again.
“You think I planned something?”
The question came softly.
Not offended.
Almost nervous.
---
Lokesh leaned back slowly.
“I don’t know what to think anymore.”
And for the first time that night, genuine tension entered the room.
---
Because somewhere deep inside, he now wondered whether Karthik had merely been foolish —
or whether he had been pushed slowly toward Shruthi by someone who still carried old unresolved feelings herself.
And once that suspicion entered his head, nothing from the past few months looked completely innocent anymore.
-Pickup, drop, escape.
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