She handed me a cup of tea and sat down across from me to enjoy her own. We had only taken a few sips when she looked at me and asked:
"By the way, Vishal (that's my real name), if you don't mind, can I ask you something?"
I nodded while sipping my tea, signaling her to go ahead. She asked:
"Why did you think I would just leave you? You didn't see my picture before the wedding, and even during the ceremony, your eyes were closed when you were applying the sindoor. Do you not like me?"
"It’s not like that," I replied. "You are beautiful—far more beautiful than I ever imagined. The truth is simply that I didn't want to get married."
"Why?" she asked, taking her final sip of tea.
"Because," I said, setting my empty cup down, "I loved someone else. Our relationship lasted for five whole years. Her name was Kusum. We loved each other deeply, but for some reason, she broke up with me. I was devastated and couldn't understand why she did it. Before I could even fully recover, my family fixed my marriage with you. I refused repeatedly, but they wouldn't listen. I didn't want to make you miserable, so I wanted you to be the one to break this marriage and leave on your own."
Shreya listened to my entire story with complete attention. Then she said:
"Oh, so that’s the matter! Now I understand the reason behind you not looking at my picture and keeping your eyes closed during the wedding. And here I was, like a fool, thinking you were just old-college and traditional."
"Forgive me," I said, my gaze lowered in shame.
I fully expected that after hearing the truth, Shreya would be furious. I thought that instead of forgiving me, she would end the marriage right then and there and walk out. But what she did next was beyond anything I could have imagined.
She took my hands in hers and spoke with such warmth:
"You don't need to feel ashamed, and there is no fault of yours in this. Anyone else in your position would have done the same—even I would have. But you shouldn't remain angry with your family either, because whatever they did, they did it with your best interests at heart."
The atmosphere in the room had shifted. The heavy, suffocating tension that had lived in my chest for years was replaced by Shreya’s unexpected kindness. Her hands were still holding mine, providing a grounding warmth I hadn't realized I needed.
She looked at me with a soft, thoughtful expression. "If we are going to start this journey together, Vishal, we shouldn't have any ghosts hiding in the corners. You've told me her name and her impact on you... but I want to see her."
I looked up, surprised. "You want to see her?"
"Yes," she said gently, her voice devoid of any jealousy or malice. "I want to see the woman who taught you how to love for five years. To understand the depth of your pain, I need to see the face of the person you lost. It’s not about comparison; it’s about acknowledging your history."
Her maturity was disarming. Without a word, I reached for my phone. My fingers trembled slightly as I scrolled through a hidden folder I hadn't opened in months. I found a photo—one taken on a rainy afternoon when we were still happy—and handed the phone to her.
Shreya took the device and looked at the screen in silence. She didn't flinch. She didn't look away. She studied Kusum’s face with a quiet respect, as if she were reading the pages of a book that had finally been closed.
After a long moment, she handed the phone back to me and said, "She’s beautiful, Vishal. I can see why it was so hard to let go."
"That’s why I don't want you to be stuck in this marriage," I said, looking directly into her eyes. "You are such a wonderful and sensible girl, Shreya. You don’t need to stay in this forced union with me. You deserve someone a million times better—someone who loves you from the bottom of their heart and keeps you happy always."
At this, she looked at me and said:
"First of all, this marriage isn't 'forced' for me. Unlike you, I don't have a past love story. You are the very first person in my life whom I have accepted as my life partner with all my heart and soul. Secondly, Kusum was your past, and I am your present. I agree that it’s not easy for anyone to mold themselves into a new relationship immediately after one ends, but we can't just turn our backs on commitments for that reason alone."
She paused, her expression turning more serious yet grounded. "And as far as breaking this marriage is concerned—that’s not how things work for us. For a son of a wealthy family like yours, who works in an IT company, this might seem easy. But for a middle-class girl like me, it isn't that simple. Even if I were to walk away, what reason would I give? That my husband doesn't love me because he’s still in love with his ex-girlfriend? People will only find fault in me. They'll say, 'What’s the use of being so beautiful if she couldn't even win her husband's heart or replace the memory of his ex?'"
And with that, she burst into a self-deprecating laugh, the sound echoing lightly in the room.