𝓢𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓣𝓸 𝓕𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 ♾️

✨BROKEN BUT NOT DEFEATED-CHAPTER-20

Kanaga tried to laugh it off.

But Nithya walked in gently, slowly, and deadly.

"I heard every word. He is a joke to you, his family a burden, his past a failure, and his present a mistake."

Kanaga's voice trembled. "Nothing like that, ma... we were just—just talking about life..."

"Life? Or the second life you planned for him under your roof?"

The aunties didn't dare blink.

"You threw his parents out years ago just because they didn't have property. Insulted them. Made my Karthik feel like dirt. And now that your perfect son-in-law turned out to be trash, you want him back?"

Nithya stepped forward.

"You think my husband, is some rescue dog you can offer shelter and a job? That he'll come running to your bungalow wagging his tail if you toss him a bone?"

Kanaga opened her mouth.

But Nithya didn't stop.

"You want him as a second husband for Gayathri? Under your roof? Fed by your hands, dressed in your money, spoken to like a charity case?"

She turned her head slightly. Her eyes glittering with quiet rage.

"He never loved anyone before me. Never even held another girl's hand. He waited—through debts, insults, heartache—for someone who'd see him for what he really is. How can you talk like trash about a person like him?"

Right then—the door opened.

And there they were.

Karthik and Lalitha Athai. Standing at the entrance.

Karthik holding Nithya's forgotten phone in one hand and Lalitha's hand in the other, both of them stunned.

He had heard it all.

Every insult. Every cruel word.

And Karthik—who had always kept his pain inside—felt tears sting his eyes, watching his wife rise like fire in front of the very people who once spat on his dreams.

He gripped Lalitha's hand tighter, trying to stay composed. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Her face was tight with emotion.

Nithya froze when she saw Karthik standing there, just outside the doorway, phone in hand—eyes unreadable.

Her stomach dropped.

He heard everything.

Panic rose in her throat. Her eyes flicked to his face, trying to read if he was hurt, disappointed... shattered. She knew how much it had cost him to keep swallowing all those taunts for years. But this? Hearing someone call his love a mistake? His parents worthless? And offering him a second-hand life like he was some backup groom?

She stepped forward, her lips parted to say something, anything to comfort him—

But before she could speak, Karthik walked in.

With a sharpness in his gaze that made the room go still.

He caught her hand in his. Gently. Firmly.

"One minute, ma," he said. Not to her—but for her.

Then he turned.

To Kanaga.

She was frozen now. As if the ghost of Karthik's past had walked in with fire in his eyes.