" She believed the relationship would work
He wanted her to do all the work for the relationship
She believed adjustments needed to be made
He wanted her to improve for the sake of it
She was in pain, she was suffering because of the hardships
He told her the hardships were because of her.

She tolerated all the abuse silently, verbal and psychological;
He abused her every single time that he could
She grew tired of it, finally -
Started to ignore his tantrums
He intensified the tantrums;
She told him she was depressed
He told her he was depressed
It was a battle of emotions
To see who wins in the end.
It was not a relationship anymore,
It was a game, to prove who is suffering more.

She lost her calm, made it clear that she cannot take it anymore
He walked away, like he always did -
He made sure people knew he suffered ‘thanks’ to her
She did not know what to do,
What step next to take
He knew exactly what he had to do -
He knew the ways
He pulled out his sword of manipulation
Scared the other family members so much
That she was scared as well -
And decided to give it another chance.

She’d done enough to bring herself out of the loop
And finally she walked into another one willingly
Because for her, the relationship mattered -
She failed to see the manipulation;
For her it seemed like his love for her.
Promises were made -
He said he’d change,
She believed.
Because she still wants the relationship to work -
And he knows it well.

Amidst all this drama between the couple
In some corner, an alone child suffers -
And - learns that tantrums give favourable results.
In some corner, a child grows up -
Trying to understand the complexities of a relationship
The dynamics of it and its worthiness
In some tender-mind corner, a doubt grows -
Is it all worth in the end?

Meanwhile -
The calm after the storm continues
No one bothers to see what the storm has damaged
Fresh efforts are put in -
She believes the relationship can work
He knows he still has the control.
Things might continue the same -
For how long, no one knows -
Why? No one knows.
But it does -
While others stand spectators -
Trying to understand the dynamics of the relationship. "

― Arti Honrao