Nancy got a job change and moved to Chennai during March 06. This should have strengthened the bro-sis bond. But sadly the brother and sister started fighting over every possible issue and the gulf was constantly widening between the brother and sister. Mano was convinced that his sister was not as responsive as she used to be. He also felt that Nancy had started contradicting herself too often.

On the other hand, Nancy found Mano becoming too emotionally dependent on her cramping her for space. She felt that Mano was becoming too possessive about her. Within months after she moved to chennai, the fights had reached astronomical proportions. Nancy finally stopped speaking to Mano from September 06. No matter how much Mano tried, Nancy would never speak to him. Nancy stopped answering his calls, never bothered to reply to his messages or mails.

There was very little others could do when Nancy was so sure about her decision of breaking her ties with her brother, a man she once held in high esteem.

*******

Mano was thoroughly confused and depressed after the fights. He did not mind accepting the full blame for the fights but he did not know where and how exactly things went wrong. He requested his wife Priya to speak to Nancy. Nancy would not answer Priya's calls too. Mano spoke to Nancy's mom twice in next one and a half years but even her mom said she was helpless.

*****

In Jan 08, nearly one and a half years after the fight, Mano came to know of a secret surrounding Nancy's birth. Nancy's mom first got married to a wealthy and influential man who was already married. But the marriage did not last long as the man's family ensured that he reunited with his first wife. Nancy was born through this first marriage. It was then that Nancy's mom married Abraham and Nancy's sister Mary was born out of this second marriage. So, Abraham was her step father and Mary was his half sister.

Mano felt sad for what Nancy had to undergo in her life. Mano thought he clearly understood what went wrong. So, Nancy's mail had been miserable right from the start. The secret regarding her birth and the child abuse must have shattered Nancy's hearts to pieces. It was amazing that she presented such a confident and positive side of her to Mano and his family for over three and a half years. Mano still had confidence that Mano would regain her confidence and old self back.

He wrote a very emotional mail to Nancy hoping to end the misunderstanding. It received no response from Nancy.

Mano was getting increasingly worried as to whether Nancy was suffering from a psychological disorder. He had no trust that her family - her mom and step dad - would do what was right for her in such a scenario. So he tried his level best to reach out to her. All his efforts to reach her failed. She had changed her mobile number and Mano had no idea if she was checking her mails. He was feeling increasingly miserable as he was deeply concerned about Nancy's well being.

So, in the month of June 08, he went out on a fact finding mission. He spoke to several of Nancy's friends and past colleagues with whom she was still in touch. He was relieved to know that Nancy had not displayed any signs of psychological problem. This gave him some peace but he still could not understand why she left him. He felt that he would never understand this in his lifetime.

Mano was wrong again. He was going to find out what went wrong very soon.

_________to be concluded in next chapter____________