A/N : Hello dear readers, publishing the last chapter of this story for you guys to read! 

Hope this story leaves you with a small smile of hope, faith & love.

Happy Reading!

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Nandini's POV

I hadn't slept all night, the moment from yesterday kept playing in my mind, so it was done, our journey was over, Manik and I would go back to being strangers. The images kept playing in my mind and all night I kept crying; thankfully Aliya was sleeping with Ma at night and I was alone in our room – at least I cried in peace.

Today was a day off in between the sangeet and wedding. Dhruv and Aliya wanted to keep an elaborate bachelor's eve and hence today was kept for that; they had arranged for a separate boy's night out and a hen's, and all the ladies including the daadies were very excited about it! I was the only reluctant person around, but I dared not mouth my wish, firstly Aliya wouldn't listen and secondly my reluctance would draw people's attention towards the cause of my feeling upset; with Aliya's wedding impending the next day, I didn't want anyone going there. I decided to go for a while and sneak out when Aliya and the rest weren't looking.

I was sitting by the bar on a couch, there was loud music and everybody was enjoying, specially Aliya and her friends and our ever energetic daadi; Ma hadn't come, she wanted to rest, all the more reason why I couldn't tell Aliya I wanted to ditch too, she would be upset; but I wasn't feeling up for this at all, I didn't drink alcoholic beverages and they didn't have a mocktail for me. I was having cold drinks sitting at a corner alone, everyone tried to pull me to the dance floor, but I was too reluctant, at last they gave up giving me the space I needed and headed off. I was sitting there thinking of a life without Manik henceforth, of ways I would use to support my family emotionally while breaking this to them; thankfully Aliya would be married then, ma would have one worry less. I was so lost in my thoughts that I never noticed who came and sat next to me, not unless she spoke anyway.

"I never thought I would tell you this, but well, to be fair, thank-you"

I looked up and was surprised to see Soha sitting next to me. Why was I surprised? No-one knew Manik and Soha's truth, of course Aliya had invited her. I imagined she was thanking me for agreeing to divorce Manik.

"You needn't thank me, you both were always meant to be" I replied nonchalantly. She looked surprised.

"Were we? I don't know..maybe. But that night had you not put forward your intentions so clearly, I would have gone around hoping that one fine day Manik would leave you and come back to me. I wouldn't have moved on from there, even today I'd be sitting there waiting for him and Harshad would have married someone else" she laughed dryly. I looked at her surprised.

"Harshad, who Harshad?" I asked before thinking; Soha looked surprised, "Manik still didn't tell you? I had only asked him to wait till things were finalized between us! Harshad, my fiancé! Hang on then who did you think I was talking about for so long?" asked, a perplexed Soha.

I was surprised out of my wits. "Soha aren't you with Manik?" I asked, trying very hard to suppress the shriek. "Err..no." came her reply. All this wasn't making sense, if Soha was happy with this man named Harshad, and Manik knew about that, then why was he filing a divorce with me in such a hurry? I knew he cared for me, and only a greater priority in his life would compel him to hasten our separation; if Soha wasn't the reason, then what was? Soha seemed to understand my confusion.

"Nandini, if you didn't know why I was thanking you, what did you assume the reason to be?" she asked curiously. I decided to speak the truth, I told her I thought she was thanking me for agreeing to divorce Manik. Soha gasped, to my surprise, she was surprised to hear about our impending divorce.

"But why? I thought he loved you! I had seen that in the last few months while he was hanging out with me helping me with Harshad! Why divorce now, when all the roads are cleared for you two?" she asked, astonished. I stared at her, wait, what was she saying? Manik loved me? No no something was amiss here, I loved him – he didn't! He loved Soha! But wait, if he was helping Soha with Harshad, then he didn't love her for sure; and if that was true then who did he love? And why was he in a hurry to divorce me? I was suddenly very excited, at the mere possibility of a misunderstanding solving which our separation could be stalled, or better done away with? I had to clarify this with Manik, I quickly called his number but Dhruv received it, he informed me that Manik was too drunk to take the call and hence it was better if we postponed the conversation to the next day. I sighed in desperation; I didn't know how to wait, but I didn't have a choice. This time I turned to Soha and thanked her genuinely. She wasn't warm, she never was anyway, she just smiled saying "Maybe we had a tangled past, but I have moved on and found my happiness, hope you do too – we can be cordial from now. So all the best with your Manik, Nandini!" she said and walked away. I just sat there surprised, bewildered and maybe a little hopeful after so long?

***

Manik's POV

I was massively hungover when I woke up, my head was splitting and I knew there was a wedding in the evening to arrange for. I groaned, why did I drink so much? The light filtering from the window made it worse. I was just about to call for my butler and ask for coffee when a cup of that was brought before my nose. I looked up, it was Nandini, looking concerned. "Oh boy, only this was left, I am hallucinating now" I murmured to myself, before rolling back on the bed, when I heard her voice too!

"Manik, why drink so much that you don't know the difference between reality and hallucination? And just because you will file a divorce tomorrow, can I not make you a cup of coffee today, for the last time?" her voice sounded low and she seemed breathtakingly real! I jumped around to face her; she was really here.

"You, here?" I asked, and she smiled; it filled my heart.

"Yes, I came in early to help daadi with the wedding preparations, saw the domestic help was about to make your coffee, so I took over from him. Here have this Disprin first" she said softly handling me the tablet and taking the coffee cup away replacing it with a glass of water. I took it quietly and nodded. I didn't want to face her and see for myself again, what I was about to lose. But she spoke again,

"Manik, we need to talk; at the earliest." She said softly, while twirling the end of her dupatta, this has got to be serious, I thought.

"You want to talk before the wedding in the evening today?" I asked cautiously, maybe she wanted to tell me about Aryaman?

About time!

"Yes. Act—actually now would be great; there is not much work going on downstairs, we have sometime on us" she piped in looking down at her hands. Did I have a choice? Not really, "Okay, say. What is it, Nandini?" I asked softly, looking at her and with one hand gesturing to her to sit down on the bed.

She took a deep breath and asked me, "Why are you in such a hurry to divorce me?" I looked at her dumbfounded, was I in a hurry? She freaking left me! She got separated and she thinks I am in a hurry?! However I didn't speak my mind, instead,

"Well, didn't you agree this was the best for both of us?" I asked her quietly.

She sighed, "Yes I did think so, that it's the best thing to do; but...but back then I didn't know about Soha and Harshad, and I thought, most importantly you wanted to be with her" she finished stammering.

Again, for the second time that morning I stared at her in shock, she was under the impression that I was leaving her for Soha? She thinks I don't know about her and Aryaman? Even after I got him to the hospital she didn't understand that I knew?! And she is a professor?!? Nandini's Ayappa, please knock some sense into her!

"Well you were clearly wrong, I am not in love with Soha anymore, and that's not why I wanted to file for a divorce." I said as calmly as I could.

"Well, is there some other girl that I don't know of?" she asked, with her voice slightly shaking. I was mad at her and wanted to shake her and yell that it was her, but now I wasn't going to give in easily, if she pretended she didn't love Aryaman, I would make sure she accepts it today before me that they are together!

"No, there is no-one else involved" I replied, almost biting my tongue in anger. But then she looked up at me with her doe eyes and innocently questioned back,

"Then why do you want to file a divorce?" I sighed, I could never be tough with Nandini; her inconvenient hypnotising eyes! They always make me change my mind! Instead of giving her a piece of my mind, I asked her, "Why do you want me not to file for a divorce, in a hurry, Nandini?"

She looked at me dumbstruck at my question, "No, I mean it's easier if we take it slow, you know, so many people would be disappointed and we need to support them, break this gently to them..if you have no other commitments then...daadi will need convincing..ma needs to accept it...Aliya won't also be around...Daadi is just recovering...Manik no one will be happy with this" she finished almost choking.

"And you? Have you considered your happiness? Won't you be happy if we separate as soon as possible? Your happiness matters the most to me" I replied steadily meeting her, now tear glistening eyes. She looked surprised.

"Happy? Me? At our divorce? Good heavens NO! Why would you think this way, Manik?" she asked me bewildered. But her constant denial was getting on my nerves, so I decided to confront her once and for all.

"Nandini, let's not pretend that I don't know about it? You told me yourself, you love Aryaman! And the ice has broken and you guys are finally close now; he reciprocates to your feelings and I am okay with that honestly; after all, even I loved someone else when we got married! So don't you want to be with him now? After all this? Your true love?" I finished and looked at her with hurt in my eyes for her not confiding in me.

"Aryaman. Love. Reciprocate. Happy. Divorce.." she just merely repeated some words from my dialogue, she was quiet for a few moment, eyebrows joint in concentration, looking like she was trying to figure out something difficult, then after sometime she raised her eyebrows in understanding and looked at me almost dangerously before mouthing out the words viciously,

"You think, I am having an affair with Aryaman?" The conviction and the challenge in the question cleared all my doubts, it was strong enough to make visual proofs seem faulty. I was sure that somehow I had got it all wrong, and I was messing up big time here, but in my self-defence I mumbled, "Well you thought I was still having an affair with Soha!"

She scrunched her nose in response, "Manik that is different! You guys were together, and you loved her! And she loved you!" She spat back.

"And didn't I promise you on our pag-phere night that I will never dishonour the marriage? How did you not remember that? And weren't you as hopelessly in love with Aryaman, didn't you get all depressed when he came around, didn't you go about hugging him like he is your favourite teddy bear? How am I to know?" I said defensively.

"Huh? Hugging around like a teddy bear?! Manik have you lost it? I am no more depressed and I am comfortable around him because I love him no more, I see him only as a friend, I am OVER him, just like you are over Soha? Manik, how could you not clarify this?!? We were about to file for DIVORCE for nothing!?" she fired at me.

I don't know seeing her zeal to fight for our marriage or the fact that there was actually no-one between us, which got me more excited, but I was enjoying this age old banter now, "Acha!! Chalu Nandu, did you bother clarifying if your hunch about Soha and me was true? I wanted divorce and you agreed?"

"Hey wait, I saw her coming out of my room with you tagging behind! What was I to think? In spite of my rules she was there!!.." she responded like an angry child.

"Rules?? Freaking rules? Sorry teacher, you're not in class now!! There are no rules, okay! And your room?? This is my room too, you silly woman!!" I lashed at her, holding her by the waist and pulling her close to me.

She was suddenly calm, "So you mean, the divorce isn't happening?" she asked slowly. I smiled inwardly, payback time.

"But on second thoughts maybe there is no reason to divorce, but there is no reason not to as well right? What if we find our soul-mates after this? I know our families will be upset, but they will be upset even if we divorce later nah?" I asked, making an innocent face, she looked startled.

"But maybe we do have a reason to not file for divorce" she whispered.

"And that would be?" I asked quietly, peering at her.

She looked up at me, her eyes clear and confident, her vision didn't waver by the slightest margin when she simply said the most magical sentence of my life,

" You Manik. You are the reason. Because I love you". I stared at her, I had expected a longer banter, but her simple statement changed everything. I looked into her beautiful eyes and saw her honest feelings for me, without another word, I grabbed her lips in mine.

"I love you too Chashmish, more than anything else and forever" I replied softly.

She smiled.

My world was at peace, I had found my soul-mate in a stranger.

"More later, we have a wedding to arrange now" I said as I moved back on the bed, she laughed and agreed,

"Yes Manik, we have forever by our side now".

THE END

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A/N : So readers, please don't forget to leave me with some love, thoughts & feedback on the story! I wanted to write a simple story of two strangers & how they can find love, if they give life a real chance. 

I didn't want to have any evil characters propelling this plot - just two lives collided & eventually found rhythm.

If this simple story touched your heart, do give this book a shoutout!

Lastly, I think this story ends in a very fulfilling note & doesn't require an Epilogue even thought I have written a tiny one. If you folks want it, maybe sometime down the line I will update the Epilogue as a bonus chapter, let's see.

For now, this was it.

Thank you for all the love you all have showered on my book, this book wouldn't have been a success without you guys!

Much love,

Signing off,

A.