The Birlas' - BHAVANA

Chapter - 19: It's Finally Time (PART - A)

After that stressful night of not sharing anything with Abhimanyu, Neil pushed for Divyanka to talk to Abhimanyu immediately even if it meant to take a session via a video call. Rohan tried to explain him, but Neil didn't back down. 

Divyanka was still in town for her personal reasons, and she thought that it will be better to get done with, when she could still take the session in person. Once they leave for Mumbai, she will not have that luxury and she completely trusted Neil to not keep his mouth shut if she delayed any longer. 

So, she scheduled a session with Abhimanyu on urgent basis and that had Abhimanyu tensed a bit. But he was equally looking forward to the session as this would be the first one after he texted her about his dilemma. She was sweet enough to help him out on call and suggest him accordingly, but he still had a lot of doubts regarding that. 

He wanted them clarified as soon as possible because he didn't want to upset any of his kids anymore with his changed behaviour. He had a first-hand experience about what his stupidity can lead to, and he would never want a repeat of it. Not when he could avoid it.

Abhimanyu's thought process was clearer in comparison to before, when it came to Akshara and is way more motivated to move on from her. He wanted to stop treating her differently and letting her impact him even remotely. No matter how demanding the journey towards that may be, he was ready to embark on it. 

Divyanka tried to be as prepared as possible to be able to deal with any reaction from Abhimanyu's end. She was ready for extreme reactions as well, but she knew somewhere deep within that Abhimanyu will not do anything like that. Extra preparation doesn't hurt. So, she chose to be safe than sorry. 

She wanted to help him out and clarity of thought is something she needs to have to do that smoothly. With time, she has gotten to respect him a lot more than earlier. Abhimanyu was a couple of years younger to her by age but way more experienced in the professional sphere. That respect made her nervous, but she successfully calmed them by the time, the session commenced.

Abhimanyu sat through the descriptive narration of his potential condition with a blank face and stoic silence. Stockholm Syndrome isn't something foreign to him. Manjari suffered from a similar condition long ago. He got to know that from the counsellor after he forced Manjari to have a couple of counselling sessions. 

Abhimanyu was too frantic about her threat of self-harm and was desperately trying to understand why she was behaving that way. When he found out the reason, he was shattered. He felt sorry for her, and his icy attitude vanished in a second.

Abhimanyu only loved and cared for his mother after that. He tried his best to communicate with her and make her see the truth. He kept trying and didn't give up when Manjari didn't budge. But after the Akshara fiasco, Manjari suddenly realized, and all his efforts bore fruit. 

She successfully broke the cycle and moved out from it. Only after 2 long years of atonement, she gave Harsh a chance. She was ready to back off if her kids didn't agree with her decision. Her priorities saw a massive shift.

Manjari had managed to gain control on her life in that span of 2 years and never for once looked like she wouldn't survive if they didn't agree. Her stance and her improved self-love forced Abhimanyu to trust his mother's choice. That's how things got better for his mother and that was how he knew of Stockholm Syndrome.