Please Vote and Comment guys🫠🙏🏻

Author's POV

The fallout with Krithika had left a lingering chill in the Sharma household, forcing Kumud to finally retreat. She realized that pushing the "perfect" daughter would only break her further. Instead, she turned her sights toward her younger, more unpredictable child.

"Talk to Mannu, Neeraj," Kumud whispered. "Maybe she'll listen to you."

Neeraj leaned back, a weary smile touching his lips. "Mannu was never the girl who follows, Kumud. She walks her own path, even if it's through a storm. But... I'll give it a try."

To their absolute shock, Mannu didn't put up a fight. She didn't snap or walk away. Instead, she looked at her father with a calm, steady gaze and said, "Fine. You can try your luck."

Mannu's 'yes' wasn't a surrender to pressure; it was an act of courage. She had survived a heartbreak that would have turned most people cynical, but she refused to let her past dictate her future. She was twenty-eight, and while she wasn't desperate to fit into a societal mold, she was open to the idea of a companion-someone who could ease the struggle of her journey rather than adding more hurdles to the track. She made her terms clear: no rushing, no ultimatums. She would study the person thoroughly, taking things at her own pace. She was giving life a second chance, on her own terms.

Dhruv's POV

The heat of the medical camp was nothing compared to the weight of the conversation I was having over the phone with my mother. Swarna was persistent, her voice carrying that specific maternal longing that was hard to ignore.

"Dhruv, listen to me," she pleaded. "I want at least one of my sons to be settled. Anant is like a stone wall-he won't even entertain the thought. I need you to listen to me. I want to see you happy."

I looked out the window of the cabin, my eyes instinctively searching for a white lab coat in the distance. Every time I saw her-Manvi-my heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vice.She is engaged and happy with her fiance, a shimmering reminder that I was a decade too late. She had moved on. She had found someone else to build a life with while I had been busy perfecting my surgical knots and nursing an old wound.

A bitter sense of finality settled in my chest. If she could move on, why couldn't I? Why was I holding onto the ghost of a girl who had already promised herself to another man?

"Fine, Mom," I said, my voice sounding hollow, even to me. "If it makes you happy... search for the matches. I'll look at them."

As I hung up, the silence of the room felt heavier. I wasn't looking for love-I didn't think I had any left to give. I was just tired of being the only one still standing in the rain of ten years ago.

Author's POV

And so, a single Sunday set a massive, invisible machinery into motion. Hundreds of miles apart, two mothers-Swarna and Kumud-were fueled by a sudden, adamant energy. They dove into profiles and photographs, determined to settle their children, unaware that the stars were already realigning in a way they couldn't possibly predict.

Swarna wanted a healer for her surgeon son; Kumud wanted a protector for her resilient daughter. They were both searching for "better matches," completely oblivious to the fact that the two people they were trying to settle had already shared a lifetime of memories, a decade of silence, and a love that was currently breathing the same air in a dusty medical camp.

The hunt was on, and while the parents searched for strangers, fate was busy preparing a collision for the two people who were anything but.

The search has begun, but the destination is already closer than they think.

Stay tuned! Please leave a vote if you liked the chapter