The big bungalow was getting ready to receive the bride's family. In the Kongu area, we call it 'Maapillai Veedu Parkum Sadangu'. It happens after the wedding's fixed. The bride's family gathers their relatives and goes to the groom's house to show them where their daughter will live after the marriage. It is like a session where the bride's and groom's relatives get to know each other. Also, to show the groom's side that we have a big family to back us up if anything happens to their daughter. They will visit, eat lunch, and then leave.

It was Hariharan's wedding. His family is a big one. The head of the family is Angappan; at 85-years-old, he is still functional and leads the family. Everyone asks for his permission before doing anything. His wife, Maragatham, has passed away. He had two sons and a daughter. Elder son Perumal, his wife Suseela, their son Hariharan, and daughter Akshaya. Akshaya is married to Sundar. Younger son Chidambaram and his son IndraDev. Angappan's daughter Shenbagavalli and her husband Nagendran have a son and a daughter, Arun and Lekha.

Perumal and Chidambaram's family lives in the same house, and Shenbagavalli lives nearby. It is a harmonious family! Except for one man.

Hariharan's marriage is a love marriage. He saw the love of his life in his office. Hari runs their family business. They own a spinning mill in Coimbatore. Niralya works in the computer section of their mill. They met every day in the office, talked, laughed, and fell in love. Hari took their love to the family immediately. The families spoke, and viola, here it is! Their wedding preparations are going on in full swing.

"Suseela, is the lunch ready?" Angappan asked his daughter-in-law.

"Almost ready, mama." She answered him respectfully.

"Where is Shenbaga?"

"I just spoke to her, mama. She is on the way with her family."

"Akshu?"

"She is on the way too, mama."

"Where is he?"

"In his room!" Suseela answered, her eyes scanning upstairs. Was there fear in her eyes?

"Pch, no one told him about the function today? Why is he home? Chidambara!" Angappan called his younger son.

"Appa?" Chidambaram came to the hall.

"Why is your son home? Did you tell him about the function today?" He asked him rather angrily.

"I did, pa. As usual, he didn't say anything. I think he will go before they all come." Chidambaram told his dad.

"I don't want any mishaps like in Akshu's wedding. Our reputation is very important. We have never spoken of him to the bride's family. It is better to keep it that way."

"I know, pa!" Chidambaram told his father. He has lost his wife because of his son. The whole family hates his son. He hates him too. They have asked him to get out of the house once and for all, but he is a lawyer! He knew how family assets are divided among the heirs. He told them that if they acted against him, he would take them all to court. He threatened them legally! So they all are just enduring him. He is not family; he just coexisted with them. He has his own business apart from being a lawyer. He is rich on his own. He stays in that house just to taunt them all.

Everyone was waiting for IndraDev to leave the house before the bride's family came. But no! He didn't come out of his room. His room was tightly shut when they all arrived. Everyone hoped it would remain the same until they all left. Will their hope come true?

***

Vadivel and Sumathi had two daughters. Niralya and Aaralya. They are rich, not super rich like Hariharan's family, but rich. Vadivel owns a small fabrication industry where he makes spare parts for big units. He is a firm believer in astrology. When Aaralya was born, her horoscope said it was not ideal to keep her with the family. It said she was a danger to her father's life and to the financial development of the family. He wanted to send the two-year-old Aaralya to his parents' house. But Sumathi resisted.

Naturally, Niralya got most of her father's love, while Aaralya was left with the attention of her mother. That didn't last either. Vadivel got in an accident. It was his fault. But Aaralya came in handy to blame. One of his lathe machines broke, and he lost a huge contract. Aaralya took the blame for the losses. When she was 6 years old, Vadivel sent her to his parents' house in Peelamedu. This time, Sumathi was concerned too. So, she didn't stop.

Poor Aaralya cried for her mom for many nights in her grandparents' home before she realized that this was her life. She stayed in Peelamedu and finished her school. She is now in college. She is doing her second year of BA Psychology. She opted to stay in the college hostel as her grandparents are too old. She didn't want to disturb them anymore. Her parents don't really care. She just informs them of her decisions, and they give her money. It hurt her at first. But she got used to it.

"Thatha, did you ask appa if I could come?" Aaralya asked her grandpa. She put the bag on the sofa and sat near her grandpa. She had just come back from her hostel.

At 5' 3", 20-year-old Aaralya is a wheat-colored statue. Her wide eyes and the little dark mole on the left side of her chin are her attractive features. She is not thin, not fat; she is 62 Kgs. A little on the chubby side; you can call her curvy! She is a beauty who definitely turns heads. Her neatly trimmed mid-back-length hair is dead straight. She hates her hair. She would spend three hours curling her hair, and the next hour, it would all be gone! She loves curly, voluptuous, wavy hair. She wears neat kurtas to college. A simple ponytail, moisturizer, and sunscreen describe her beauty. An introvert who gets too comfortable in the known crowd. Her parents' disownment has slightly- no, heavily hurt her self-worth. She masks it with her confident facade.

"He asked you to come. So go and get ready. Also, stay here until the wedding." Rathnasamy told her with love.

"Really?" She asked with twinkling eyes. As she was blamed for any mishaps in the family, she started believing that she was truly a bad omen. She slowly withdrew herself from all auspicious occasions, not only in her family but with her friends and even with random people.

She has avoided distributing prasad in temples, she took a back seat when something good happened to her friends, she even wished them last, fearing her presence might cause them harm. She never went forward to do anything. She always has learned to hide herself in the crowd. Her dad appreciates it. He has never taken her to any of the family events. So she was sure that she would not be invited to her sister's wedding either. But when her grandpa said that her dad asked her to come, she was overwhelmed.

"Yes!" He smiled lovingly at her. He loves her. His wife, Kosalai, loves her. They tried to give her the parental love she lost. She appreciates it. But they could only do so much.

"Your mom has sent you a halfsaree. It is in your room. Go and get ready soon, dear."

"Ok, thatha." She told him. "Appatha!" She called her grandma as she ran to her room.

Vadivel and Sumathi came in their car from Vadavalli to Peelamedu to pick them up.

"You look lovely, Aara." Sumathi hugged her daughter.

"Thanks, ma!" Aara hugged her back and let go immediately. As usual, Sumathi was hurt by her daughter's digression. She didn't show it.

"Shall we go?" Vadivel asked them, and they all got in the car. The car travelled towards RS Puram, to Hari's house. Vadivel had arranged for a van for his close relatives, and they were already on the way to Hari's home.

Aaralya's eyes grew wide upon seeing the big house. The street, the house, everything gave her jitters. She chided her weird feelings and went in with the crowd. Her cousin sisters and kids had all come. She joined them. Akshaya's daughter, Aira, was three years old. She was the littlest and cutest of the kids. Lekha had a son, Adidev. He was five years old. Aira and Adidev joined the group, and they all ran around making the house loud and cheerful.

"Please, be seated!" Perumal invited them all in. The whole family was there except Indradev.

They all talked about the wedding, the preparations, the number of invitations they are planning to print, the catering, the decorations, the photographers, and everything needed for the wedding to happen smoothly. Aaralya was bored.

"You look beautiful!" Lekha told Aara. Aara smiled hesitantly.

"Thank you, akka. You look beautiful too. Your son is super cute." She complimented her back. She felt compelled to do it. Also, she thought it was impolite not to talk.

"Haha, thanks. How's your sister?"

"She is good. Must be in the house with ammachi (mom's mother)" She told Lekha, very unsurely.

"Must be?"

"Oh, yeah, I am doing my Psychology. I stay in the college hostel. I came straight to my grandparents, and my parents picked us up from there. So I don't really know what my sister does." Aara answered truthfully.

"Oh, ok, ok." Lekha nodded her head. Aara breathed in discomfort at the long pause. She felt the need to talk to keep the conversation going.

"Um... the house is beautiful."

"Yeah! I always love coming here. This is a huge house. Suseela athai has a wonderful garden on the balcony upstairs. You want to see?"

"Um... sure!" Aara stood up. Her cousin sisters Pavi and Shivani stood up along with them.

"We will come too."

"Come!" Lekha took them to the balcony. It was indeed a beautiful place. The iron rails had pots fitted with creepers that ran down the house, giving it a fairy-tale vibe. The potted flower plants gave off a good fragrance. Her heart felt calm in that place. The noise in the house quieted down, and the rustle of the leaves filled her heart.

"Aara, come, we shall go and see the inside," Pavi called her when they were about to leave.

"You all go. I will be here for some time. This place is beautiful."

"Ok!" They all left her there.

"Aara akka." She turned to see her little cousin, Hira.

"What is it, Hira?" She knelt to talk to her.

"We are playing hide and seek. Hide me somewhere." She whispered.

"Hide behind me. I will not breathe a word." Aara whispered back as she hid Hira behind her.

After a little while, Hira got caught. "You play with us, too, Aara akka," Hira called to her.

"Ok!" Aara closed her eyes and counted to fifty. "Ready or not, here I come!" She screamed and walked inside from the balcony.

"Adidev, out!"

"Raya, out!" Aara kept calling out names as she found them. She kept rummaging through the rooms to find the rest of the kids. She entered the room on the far left of the first floor. That area of the house seemed eerily quiet, she disregarded her intuition and entered the room.

"Hira?" She called out as she looked around the room. She looked under the huge bed, at the side of the dresser, behind the window curtains- Hira was nowhere to be found.

"Where did she go?" Aara mumbled to herself as she opened another door inside the room. She thought it must be the restroom. Well, she was right. Just as she opened it, he opened it from the inside.

"Ahh!" She screamed in fear.

"God, shut up! You are early!" He yelled irritably, but looked at her from head to toe.

"Aiyo!" She spun around and closed her eyes tightly. Yeah, he was wrapping a towel dangerously low on his waist. It was just hanging by a loose tuck.

His eyes landed on her savorily. Her dark purple dhavani with a mustard yellow blouse and skirt made her look more attractive. Her curves were so delicious. Her dead-straight hair fell right on the start of her blouse on the back. That was a deep-neck blouse. The jasmine flower strand in the center of her hair reached the blouse.

"So... sorry, sorry!" She mumbled. He didn't wait. He hugged her from behind. He pushed the dhavani aside and touched her skin with his cold hands on her waist and stomach.

"Aahhh!" She screamed as she turned around in his hug. "What are you doing?" She asked him. She was fuming. She tried to pry his hand away.