Progoti asked, "So, Suman, what's going on in your mind?"
Suman was silent at first, then said, "Who really knows the whereabouts of the mind? Even the one who possesses it often doesn't."
Soma Devi had left some snacks and hot chocolate for both of them.
Progoti asked again, "So, when will your 'mind' return?"
Suman, looking in that direction, said, "I don't know."
Progoti replied, "Will it return at all? Or never again?"
Hearing this, Suman glared at her with anger and disgust and said, "If you have something else to say, then say it. I don't have time for nonsense. And what makes you think my 'mind' will never return? And even if it doesn't, what does it matter to you?"
While sipping her hot chocolate, Progoti thought, "Uncle still doesn't know the truth. Suman still hasn't realized that the one he's been talking to isn't Ankita."
What if she tells him that Ankita is dead? Will Suman still not believe it?
From outside, Budhoda called out, "Dada-babu, I'm coming in."
He entered and said, "Mother is calling you both downstairs. Everyone's in the sitting room. She wants you there too."
They got up and headed downstairs. Budhoda muttered, "So much food gone to waste. And here we struggle to put together even a handful of rice in our home."
---
Downstairs, the atmosphere in the sitting room was lively with conversations.
Suman looked around and asked, "Where are mom and dad?"
Before Shubhendu Babu could reply, his mother, Karuna Devi, said, "Your mother is in the kitchen, dear. She said she wants to prepare everything with her own hands today."
Shubhendu Babu's sister remarked, "Why did mom assign everything to bhabhi? Was that necessary? Couldn't Budhoda or Tanu di handle it? Who knows what trouble she'll cause again—such a scatterbrained woman."
Suman initially thought his aunt Jayadebi was supporting his mother out of love, but now he realized it was sarcasm. The guests were also stifling their laughter.
Unable to take it anymore, Suman asked, "Did you call me?"
His father said, "Yes, sit down. We need to talk." Then he said to Progoti, "You sit too, dear."
Suman replied, "If it's something important, I can hear it standing."
Shubhendu Babu said, "It's about an important matter."
Suman asked, "Is it about business?"
Shubhendu Babu said, "No, it's about your marriage."
"Dad, I'm not particularly worried about marriage. And the ones who matter in this conversation aren't even here. Besides, my mind isn't in the right place right now, and neither am I ready for marriage."
Before Shubhendu Babu could say anything else, Karuna Devi interrupted, "Sit down, dear. We need to talk a lot with you."
Suman calmly said, "Just as you all have a right to talk about my life, so does my mother. And if the guests can join in, then my mother certainly can."
Karuna Devi said, "Then go call your mother. But I don't know what decision she'll take."
Suman asked Budhoda to call his mother.
As Soma Devi entered the sitting room, both Karuna Devi and Jayadebi sat with serious expressions.
Suman went to his mother and said, "Mom, you know everything. Please explain to dad—I will not marry anyone except Ankita."
At this, Progoti broke down in tears. "How much more, Suman? Don't you understand that I love you? Ankita is gone. She's never coming back—why don't you see that? And the person you call every day, thinking she's Ankita, is not worthy of you. How will you live with a low-standard girl like her?"
She grabbed Suman's arm to shake him, saying, "Come out of this illusion!"
But Suman jerked her hands away and shouted, "You've gone mad with jealousy! What nonsense are you spewing? My mind can never leave me!"
"Progoti, I at least thought you had taste—but you too?"
Soma Devi walked up to him gently and said, "Calm down, son. I know this is very difficult for you. But it's time to hear the truth. Ankita is gone. She's never coming back."
Suman screamed, "No!" and collapsed, clutching his head, feeling as if it was splitting from the pain.
---
Meanwhile,
"Amy, you're ruining it—give it back! Mom gave it to me," Amba reached out.
Ambika screamed, "Didi, are you calling me Amy again?"
"Hmph, I didn't call you Amoeba—your luck saved you!" Amba replied, tapping her sister on the head.
Anika Devi, listening from the kitchen, was delighted. Her daughters were playing and laughing like old times. The distance between them had finally started to melt.
But what would she say to Suman's mother, Soma Devi now? She had made a big promise—that as long as Suman was recovering, she wouldn't arrange Ambika's marriage elsewhere.
Just then, her thoughts were interrupted by Rupak Babu's shout: "Is the cheesecake for tomorrow's dinner?"
Embarrassed, she rushed to the fridge, took it out, divided it up, and handed it out. Rupak Babu, taking a spoonful, said, "Won't you eat today? Come sit."
Then he passed the remaining cake toward his wife.
Amba and Ambika, used to such scenes, silently prayed that such pure love would come into their own lives too.