Lag Jaa Galey

A tale of misunderstandings

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Tale of Misunderstandings**

There is nothing that misunderstanding cannot destroy, and for Riya and Kabir, it had become the silent assassin of their love. What had once been a pure, unspoken connection was now buried beneath layers of misinterpreted truths. Both had waited and hoped, yet when fate finally brought them face to face again, they found only a wall of illusions too thick to see through.

For Riya, it all began the day she saw Kabir with Seema at the funfair. Kabir’s laugh pierced her heart like a dagger; a sound that had once brought her joy now felt like a cruel reminder of what she had lost. Standing amidst laughter and chaos, Riya saw Seema’s hand clasped in Kabir’s, their easy closeness painting a picture of the life she had once dreamed of with him. In that moment, her heart shattered. *She was the one making him smile now, not me.*

Years spent searching for Kabir had led her to cling to the hope that he still loved her, that despite everything, their love was strong enough to survive the separation. But witnessing Seema by his side broke whatever remained of that hope. Kabir had moved on, and she had no right to disrupt his happiness. After all, hadn’t she wished for his happiness above all else?

As Riya walked away from the funfair, tears streaming down her face, she felt a strange sense of finality. Kabir had someone now, someone who cared for him. He had found a new life, and Riya couldn’t be selfish enough to step into it, to tear it apart for her own sake. She had waited too long, and now the door to their past had closed forever.

But what Riya didn’t know was that Kabir, standing only a few feet away, was grappling with his own devastating misunderstanding.

In Kabir’s eyes, the little boy clinging to Riya was *her* child. And the man standing protectively by her side, the one she had leaned on and hugged, was her husband. Kabir had watched it all unfold, each second a blow to his already fragile heart.

When he saw Riya with the child, it felt as if the ground had been ripped from under him. *She’s moved on*, he thought. *She has a family now. She’s a mother.*

His mind raced back to the hospital, where he had first seen Shekhar caring for Riya after the accident. Back then, he had assumed the worst—that Riya had chosen another man. Now, seeing them together again with a child, Kabir believed he had been right all along. Shekhar wasn’t just a supportive figure; he was Riya’s husband, the man she had chosen to build a future with. And that little boy was their child.

Kabir had to step away. His chest felt tight, his heart pounding in his ears. It was too much to process. He had waited years, held onto a love that never left him, only to discover that Riya had moved on, built a life, and created the family he had once dreamed of. In his mind, there was nothing left for him anymore.

“I can’t ruin her happiness,” Kabir muttered to himself as he left the funfair, avoiding any chance of crossing paths with her again. He had watched her from a distance, seen the love she had for her child, the affection shared with her husband. How could he insert himself into that picture? The thought sickened him, and he decided that if Riya had found happiness, even without him, he would let her be. His love for her would never fade, but she deserved to live her life without the weight of the past dragging her down.

And so, Kabir resigned himself to a life without her.

But how could either of them have known how wrong they were? How could Riya have known that Seema wasn’t Kabir’s girlfriend, but a loyal friend who had cared for him after his failed suicide attempt? Kabir had never loved Seema; she had tried for years to win his heart, but it had belonged to Riya from the moment they met. Despite the years apart, it still did.

And how could Kabir have known that Shekhar wasn’t Riya’s husband but her brother? The child he had assumed was Riya’s was actually Shekhar’s son, the boy who had simply run to his aunt for comfort. Kabir had seen the scene through a lens of pain and loneliness, interpreting their closeness as something far deeper than it was. In reality, Riya had spent years searching for him, holding onto the hope of rekindling their love. She had fought for him, even convincing her strict father to allow her to seek him out.

Yet neither had spoken the truth. Neither had dared to break the silence and clear the fog of misunderstanding clouding their perceptions of each other’s lives.

As the months passed, the weight of those misunderstandings settled into both their hearts. Kabir withdrew further into his loneliness, convinced he could never reclaim what he had lost, while Riya, broken by the belief that Kabir had moved on, resigned herself to a life without him.

They had loved each other fiercely, but time, distance, and silence conspired against them. Misunderstanding built a wall too high for either to climb.

And yet, deep down, the love that had once connected them lingered, buried beneath years of pain and miscommunication, waiting for the truth to set them free. But would that truth ever be revealed, or were they doomed to live in the shadow of what could have been?

The weight of that question pressed down on both of them as they walked separate paths, unaware of just how close they had come to finding each other again.