Meena was free at last
Meena has spent years trapped in a loveless marriage, enduring betrayal and heartbreak. But as she walks out of the courtroom with her divorce finalised, she realises something profound—she is finally free.
When Meena saw her man across the room. He looked tired but still handsome, and despite everything, he still managed to make her heart skip a beat. For a fleeting moment, memories of their younger days washed over her—when his smile could light up her world, when his touch felt like home.
But then, he caught her looking at him. His eyes turned cold, even mean, and he quickly looked elsewhere. The warmth vanished, replaced by a chilling reminder of how much had changed. It hurt her to think that the same man who once vowed to love, protect, and cherish her could now treat her with such selfish indifference.
Her lawyer returned, pulling her back to the present. “Congratulations, Meena,” he said, his voice laced with satisfaction. “The verdict is in your favour. Sole custody of your daughter, and the alimony you requested.”
He seemed pleased with himself, as if he had just won a high-stakes game. Her husband—no, her ex-husband—on the other hand, looked disgusted. His jaw tightened, his knuckles whitened, but he said nothing as the gavel’s final strike echoed in her ears. She had won, hadn’t she?
Yet, inside, she felt nothing. No triumph. No joy. Just an unsettling hollowness where her heart should be.
As she stepped outside the courthouse, the midday sun struck her face, warm and blinding. She barely had a moment to collect herself when a familiar voice sliced through the air.
“You happy now?” he barked, his tone dripping with venom. He stood there, fists clenched, his anger bubbling to the surface. “You ruined everything! After all these years, this is how you repay me?”
His words battered against her ears, but they hardly made a dent. For years, she’d stood by him. Through every drunken brawl, every cruel insult, every shattered promise. She had loved him fiercely, even when he betrayed her with other women. She had believed in their marriage, even when he treated it like an afterthought.
And yet, as she looked at him now, something inside her shifted. His face, once so devastatingly handsome, seemed almost ordinary. The sharpness of his jawline, the gleam in his dark eyes—all faded against the ugliness beneath. She no longer heard his accusations. Instead, echoes of the past rang in her ears: his slurred apologies after another night out, his hand raised in anger, the tears she had wiped away in secret.
The truth dawned on her, clear and bright as the afternoon sun.
This divorce wasn’t as painful as she had feared. In fact, it felt like relief.
For the first time in twenty years, she realised something profound: she was free. Free from his temper, his infidelities, his shadow. He no longer had a claim on her. The name “Mrs Meena Rai” no longer bound her to a life of quiet suffering.
She adjusted her scarf and lifted her chin, a soft smile curling her lips. “Hello, Meena,” she murmured to herself. “You’re just fine, girl. Just fine.”
Without another glance at the man who had once held her heart captive, she flagged down a taxi. As she crossed the busy street, the world felt strangely new. She was oblivious to the admiring glances she attracted. For once, her thoughts weren’t tangled up in someone else’s needs, someone else’s anger.
She was simply Meena.
And she was finally free.
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