Chapter 23: My Diary, His Secrets

The initial 40 days after Mukul’s birth, I stayed at my parents' house. During this time, my sister—who was working as my replacement at my job—found my diary. She read through it completely and then showed it to my family.

Everyone was furious.

They told me I should never return to Raman’s house—my own home. The Middleman was called again, and he too was told everything. Soon after, Raman’s parents visited, and my parents didn’t hold back. In their anger, they said many hurtful things to them.

The diary that was once my silent companion had now become the cause of a storm. Everything seemed to be falling apart.

Then, my elder brother went to meet Raman. He told him, “This fight between families will never end. If both of you keep listening to your respective families, you’ll never find happiness. If you love each other, ignore them all and take Rabia home. Or else, just stand back and watch this relationship turn into a public drama.”

My brother’s words touched Raman deeply. He realized that the love he had once fought so hard for was slipping away because of parental egos.

But somewhere inside, Raman also felt betrayed. He thought I had been telling my family every little thing from the start, and perhaps everything his parents were saying about me was true.

He felt torn between loyalty to his parents and his relationship with me.

Still, for Mukul’s sake, he decided to give our relationship one last chance.

But by then, there was no real place for me in his heart.

I returned with Raman to our home. I was hoping for better days, for healing, for a new beginning. But instead, things became more complicated. My in-laws refused to take care of Mukul and asked me to quit my job. I resigned. The school offered a permanent post to my sister in my place.

Now, apart from Mukul, I had nothing.

My day revolved around taking care of him and my sister-in-law’s child, doing household work, and going to bed exhausted. Raman was mostly glued to his mobile and barely talked to me.

One day, Raman was working on the computer when a friend dropped by, and he left with him. The system was still on, and out of curiosity, I went to shut it down.

To my surprise, I found a new Facebook account logged in—it belonged to Raman.

Shocked, I checked the profile. Out of sheer curiosity and growing suspicion, I went through his friend list and messages.

That’s when I found it—daily chats with a girl, full of personal conversations, including everything about our fights and our relationship. It seemed she was much more than just a friend.

My eyes filled with tears.

I had never doubted Raman before. That day, my heart broke in silence. I took screenshots of the chats and shut the computer down.

I didn’t confront him. I just kept blaming myself—how did my life reach this point?

A few days later, my sister-in-law saw the screenshots in my phone and asked me about them. I told her the truth.

She spoke to her husband, and both of them called us in for a talk. Raman was confronted.

---

Reflection:

“Some truths don’t shatter the world—they simply erase the last bit of faith you were holding onto. Trust, once broken, doesn’t echo—it disappears in silence.”