Rajiv and Surjith looked at each other in shock.

"Please leave," said Teena.

"Mrs. Sethi, please. That is the only way to get your brother off my wife's trail," said Rajiv.

"I know, but I am sorry. I have to look after Sunanina and my safety. If I claim the properties, Pankaj bhaiyaa will come searching for us, and we might end up dead," Teena replied.

"But because of him, my wife can't be safe either," said Rajiv.

"I told you, I am sorry. But Sunanina's life is very important to me. I can't do that," Teena's face was grim.

"Listen, Mrs. Sethi, my wife spent years taking care of your daughter as well. She could have simply handed everything over to Pankaj and walked away from it all. We could have... we could have had years together as husband and wife, as my children's mother if she was selfish. But she wasn't, and she and my family had to pay a huge price to keep your family safe. Can't you at least take up your own responsibility?" beseeched Rajiv.

Teena's face was set in stone.

"Our children do not know that she is their mother. I can't introduce them to her without endangering them. My wife, she is pregnant now. She needs to be in my home, living as my wife and the mother of my children instead of living alone as a stranger," Rajiv said.

"I am sorry. But please leave," said Teena, opening the door.

Defeated, Rajiv looked at Surjith, and they got up and walked out.

"Rajivji, why don't you just inform Pankaj Shah that they are here in exchange for your wife's safety?" asked Surjith.

"Leena will never forgive me if I force Sunanina to do anything," said Rajiv.

They slowly walked through the garden path when they heard a whistle and turned towards the window that faced the garden.

****************************************

Mahadevan had been confused since morning. The call from Gomati was so cryptic that it felt straight out of some third-rate CID movie.

"Come to the house if you care for your loved ones," was what Gomati had said when she called him in the morning. But he had work at the office, so he told her he would come to the house in the evening. Around 3 o'clock, he drove his car to Rajiv's house. The security guard, Parthasarathy, at the gate was the only normal thing because as he drove into the compound, he understood that something was amiss. After parking his car, he went to the door, rang the bell, and was greeted by a very stern-looking Gomati.

"Come in," she said curtly.

Confused, Mahadevan followed her into the living room where Padmanabhan was sitting. He wasn't his usual chill self, which bothered Mahadevan.

"What is the matter?" asked Mahadevan as he sat down.

"Is there something you would like to tell us?" asked Gomati.

"What! You called me here. What's going on?" asked Mahadevan.

"Don't play dumb," said Gomati.

Helpless, Mahadevan turned to Padmanabhan. "What's the matter, chetta? I can't make head or tail of this!"

Padmanabhan looked at him in discomfort and said, "I don't know how to ask you such a question."

Angry, Mahadevan got up from the sofa and said, "If you both are going to speak in riddles, find someone else to play with."

"SIT DOWN," shouted Gomati.

Stunned, Mahadevan sat back down on the sofa.

"That woman, Leena, is pregnant. Is that baby yours?" asked Gomati, anger glinting in her eyes.

"Wha... what!!!" stammered Mahadevan.

"Why are you stammering? Answer me," commanded Gomati.

"Eda Rajive, nee enne ee kuzhiyil chadicho?" thought Mahadevan. (Figuratively: You Rajiv, you have created trouble for me).

"No, that pregnancy is not mine," said Mahadevan vehemently.

"But you were close to that woman. Everyone in the office said so," Gomati countered.

"I am close to a lot of people in my office. That doesn't mean I am sleeping around with all of them," replied Mahadevan.

"Then who is the father?" asked Gomati.

"Ask her. It's her pregnancy, her baby," said Mahadevan.

"She isn't saying. So whom do you suspect?" asked Gomati, dreading if he would name Rajiv.

"Your darling son Rajiv. I told him a million times that he needs to keep his hands off her until he could tell everyone that she is his wife. But did your son listen? Hell no. The first chance he got, he jumped into bed with her and got her pregnant. Now he can't say that she is his wife and can't say that the baby is his," thought Mahadevan, but he simply replied, "How would I know?"

"Ok then, let's have tea," said Gomati.

"No need, ettathi. My stomach is full with your taunts," he said, getting up and leaving without looking back. On the way back home, he decided to take a detour to Leena's office.

*********************

"Uncle, go to the turning after our gate," said a lilting voice from the windows. Confused, Rajiv and Surjith looked at each other, decided to follow the instruction, and walked to the turning. There were lots of trees on either side of the road that covered them from the view of the house. It took five minutes, and Rajiv almost thought it was some sort of prank until a young woman dressed in a T-shirt, jeans, and a denim jacket made her way toward them from the bushes that grew between the trees. She had short hair, an oval face, and looked a bit like Teena.

"Uncle, are you Leena aunty's husband, Rajiv uncle?" she asked Rajiv.

"Yes, I am. And are you... Sunanina?" asked Rajiv in wonder.

"Yes, I am!" she replied cheerfully. "And who is this?" she asked, looking at Surjith.

"My private investigator, Mr. Surjith Singh," introduced Rajiv.

"Is Leena aunty pregnant?" she asked Rajiv.

Rajiv nodded.

"I heard everything that you said to Mumma," she said to him, her face downcast. "Mumma is very protective of me. I feel bad that because of me Leena aunty and all of you are suffering. But unlike Mumma, I do not believe in hiding when the people I love are in danger. I have been telling Mumma to ask for all the properties, but she is afraid of everything. Can you come back tomorrow morning? I will discuss it with Mumma," she asked him.

"Of course, we will come tomorrow if you wish," said Rajiv, and he and Surjith left.

The girl made her way back to the house only to find her mother in the garden taking a stroll, lost in thought. Sunanina tried to creep behind her but accidentally overturned a pot, and Teena looked at her.

"You were out?" she asked in wonder.

"Yeah," replied the girl reluctantly.

"Just now you were inside the house. Where did you go?" asked Teena.

Mustered courage, Sunanina replied, "I went to talk to Rajiv uncle."

"You did what? How dare you?" Teena asked, seething with anger.

"Because I don't want Leena aunty to suffer. She needs to be with her family," said Sunaina defiantly.

"And what about you? Do you have to risk your life for that?" asked Teena.

"Yes, I have to. Mumma, aren't you sick and tired of hiding like this?" asked Sunanina.

"No, because that is what is keeping you alive," said Teena.

"But I am tired, Mumma. I am tired of hiding myself. You never let me go out, play sports, perform art, anything that I want to do because you are scared Pankaj uncle will attack me. But what kind of life is this? I want to live one day as a lioness and not my entire life as a sheep," said Sunanina.

"But..." countered Teena.

"I want to live free, Mumma. And I know, deep down inside, if it weren't for my sake you would have confronted Pankaj uncle and lived like a lioness. Lionesses are lionesses even with cubs. They teach them to hunt, not hide behind them," said Sunaina, and she went into the house, leaving a distraught Teena.

*****************************

Mahadevan's car came to a halt at the parking lot of the Aditya Breweries branch managed by Rajiv. He called Leena's number and said, "Leena, come downstairs to the parking lot. I have some news for you."

Intrigued, Leena went downstairs. Mahadevan was standing propped against his car, and seeing the beautiful woman, he had to remind himself repeatedly, "She is Rajiv's wife."

"Sir, what a pleasant surprise," she said with a smile that used to melt him.

"Well, it's going to turn sour soon. Didn't Rajiv get you pregnant?" he asked her point-blank.

Leena was startled for a second, but then she gathered herself and nodded.

"I told him not to do something like this until you were officially his wife. Now you are in such big trouble," he said to her.

"That Amma know I am pregnant?" asked Leena.

"If it were that simple. Leena, is there any place you can stay for the time being? Until Rajiv can clear out most of the issues you have?" asked Mahadevan.

"I can't. Unless and until Rajiv comes back, I will be staying in that house. My kids are there," she said to him in a pleading voice.

"I understand, Leena, but what is going to happen is very unpleasant," warned Mahadevan.

"What unpleasant thing?" asked Leena.

"I was called by your mother-in-law to that house, and she proceeded to drill me on who the father of this baby is. She had it narrowed down to Rajiv, that bloody Vyshakh, and me! I tried convincing her and she almost agreed. But then, on the way here, your father-in-law called and told me some rather disturbing news. On the day Rajiv comes back from Delhi, she intends to call all his cousins and my brothers and sisters to force Rajiv to make a decision to make you leave the annex. She is going to hold a court and declare your punishment for getting pregnant!" said Mahadevan.

"WHAT!" Leena looked at him in shock.

"I don't know, she has gone crazy, I think. It's enough that we know it. But no, she has to call our relatives and make it a spectacle. I am appalled! Even if it gets sorted out, we won't be able to show our faces to anyone. But I also think it's a clever move on her part. If she thinks that you and Rajiv are having only a fling, she is going to pressurize Rajiv to get rid of you using our relatives and the fear of the shame it will bring to the kids," observed Mahadevan.

Leena's eyes looked troubled.

Mahadevan looked at the vulnerable woman in front of him and said, "I think it's high time we call Rajiv and warn him," and he took out his phone. But before he could dial it, Leena raised her hand to stop him.

"Sir, please, no. He has gone to deal with some of the worst people we had come across. I don't want him to be tensed about anything that is going on here. We can inform him when he gets back," said Leena.

"Alright, then I will go now," said Mahadevan, and his eyes came to rest on her pregnant belly.

"Take care of yourself, Leena. You have to be strong not just for Rajiv and the kids, but for yourself and the baby inside you. If you want any help, do not hesitate to call me. Don't think of whatever ettathi will taunt you with. You know the truth of the matter and the immense love that you have for your family. Just hold on tight," saying this, he got inside the car and drove away.

Leena went back to her cabin and shut the door. Her hand drifted to her stomach, where the fruit of that one night of unbridled passion, on the night of Praseetha's engagement, had gifted her. She thought of the kids and the dangers Rajiv was facing, and then about the baby growing inside her. How is she going to face what is going to happen? Facing bullets is something she is used to, but not relatives, especially Rajiv's. How can she deal with them without upsetting them? She was once responsible for Rajiv breaking up with his family, and she wasn't going to let it happen again. But she was lost and scared. A lone tear made its way down her cheek, and she whispered, "Where are you, Rajiv? I need you..."

Picture by Louis Galvez (Unsplash)

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