Home Sweet Home, Uday thought with a tired smile as he entered Rajvansh Vilas after almost a month and a half. His previously planned one-month trip had taken almost two weeks extra to culminate but the thunderously positive response he had gotten in the pre-election campaign from every corner of Rajasthan had made his spirit soar. Hope was bursting inside him. All their hard work had paid off it seems. The upcoming elections will be a far cry from the humiliation his party had to endure in the last elections, he was very sure of it.

Gulal Singh greeted him at the foyer, "Khamma Ghani, Hukum. Welcome back home."

"How are you, Gulal?"

"Fine, Hukum."

"I just got off the phone with Ma. She is missing you. You took very good care of her," Uday smiled.

"Accompanying her was my pleasure, Hukum. Ma Saheb was looking much better when I left."

That reminded Uday of the person who was one of the reasons why she was not well in the first place. Who had given her hope and then snatched it away. He hadn't dared call Gulal Singh back earlier as he had planned when Ma had truly begun to recover in a calm environment and Gulal Singh's devoted care. His mother considered Gulal her son. He knew these two loved to place various bets with each other on a daily basis. Gulal not only provided care but a diversion to his mother as well. Also, he was the only one apart from him who could have made sure that his mother didn't contact Niyati herself. That was the reason Gulal too had returned only three days back from Kasol, after making sure that his mother wouldn't lapse back into depression.

"What news on Niyati? Servants tell me she doesn't come out of the room much and goes out every day from morning to the evening for the last ten days."

"Yes, Hukum. She doesn't eat at the dining table anymore..."

Uday cut in, "I know. I asked her not to."

Gulal Singh frowned. Hukum asked her to cook in her room? Because that was what she was doing. With the master key he'd had, he had looked into the room from which she didn't come out these days and had found that she had set up a small functional kitchen in one corner of the room itself and was making do with it.

"Where she disappears to every day is what concerns me more? Have you found that out?" Uday asked impatiently. He had put Gulal Singh on Niyati's trail as soon as he had returned. It made him feel helpless that due to all the media attention on election candidates now he couldn't freely spy on the girl he had married. And the only person he trusted for the job had been doing another important job for him.

"Niyati Madam has got a job now. She is working as a receptionist in A2Z Advertising Agency for the last ten days."

"WHAT? WHY?"

Gulal Singh shrugged. How was he supposed to know why she wanted to work? But he had done some discreet digging around the agency in the past three days that he had returned. "From what I have asked around, Hukum, nothing looks fishy. No one at her workplace seems to be aware of her connection to you. She keeps a low profile, uses Mishra surname, her home address is of that of a women's hostel here in Jaipur and the permanent address in her file is that of Mr. D'silva's in New Delhi. She got this job on her own merit because I looked and Mr. D'silva has no connection with this agency in any way or form."

"What the hell is she up to?" Uday snapped.

"If you ask me, Hukum, I would say nothing. Everything is just fine. Maybe she was getting bored and wanted to pass her time more constructively?"

Uday very much doubted that. Why would this girl go and work everyday nine to five on a pittance when she could get an amount she couldn't dream of earning by herself by just staying ensconced in all this luxury? Luxury, he was sure, she had never seen in her life before and doubtfully ever see again. Why? Something wasn't adding up here. And he cannot take the risk of letting this discrepancy slip by. Too much was at stake at present. If anyone got the wind of his wife working as a lowly receptionist in some advertising agency, disowning her connection with him... he didn't even want to think of what kind of press that would generate.

Obviously, the girl had zero self-preservation instincts. Why else would she go against his wishes like this? Even one more day of this disobedience was unacceptable!

He will set her straight right away.

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At around seven in the evening, Niyati tried to make the least possible noise as she unlocked the door of her room. The room given to her had two exits, one that led into the house and another that led to the less opulent backyard garden behind the house. The backyard also had a gate leading to the outside of the property that was used by servants. She, too, had started using that. For all intents and purposes, she had stopped stepping in the main house except for fetching herself drinking and cooking water once in two days.

Inside the room, near the rear window, where she had taken down all the expensive curtains least they get spoiled due to the cooking fumes, she had set up her refurbished induction cooktop and a small array of cooking and eating utensils on a second-hand table she had bought. The bottom shelf of the two leveled table held her meager pantry. She only dared cook very basic stuff in this opulent room. Anything remotely messy would have to wait until she got her own place for she would be unable to afford the lofty damages around here, in case any occurred.

Rajvansh Vilas was not her home.

It was free-amenities rent-free boarding house in an extremely posh locality of Jaipur and thus city buses for mere mortals like her were far and very few in this area, she thought frustratedly. She had to walk fifteen minutes to the nearest bus stop to catch a bus that had no set schedule. It was probably up to the driver's mood when he showed up. The public transport system in Jaipur sucked in comparison to that of Mumbai. If this continued, she would have to soon find an alternate mode of transport. She had overheard some girls in the office talk about cab-sharing but hadn't dared ask them to consider her too. How far she could walk to take that cab? Everyone would wonder where she lived if she boarded even from the vicinity of this area.  

With a sigh, she put her purse down and fished out her petite pressure cooker to make herself some rice and dal khichdi, again. She hadn't gotten a chance to purchase vegetables for almost ten days now since she'd started the job. And the prices of those things were too high anyway to get them from any tom dick or harry. If she would be shelling out that kind of money for the luxury of nutrition, she wanted to buy the freshest produce available if not trendiest.

She sat down for her humble meal after changing out of her office clothes. Few dark-colored slim-fit skirts and light-colored blouses that she used to wear in Mumbai for her job as a hotel receptionist, were serving her here very well too. The thought brought a weak smile to her face. When she had started her job search, she'd targeted numerous hotels and restaurants only but soon had realized that it was doing nothing but narrowing down her options. The competition was fierce in that area here, so she'd taken the first job that had been offered to her after numerous unsuccessful interviews. Her heart's desire was to work in the hospitality industry but she knew that with only graduation degree under her belt it would be difficult for her to make her mark there. It would take her years to get to managerial positions. Procuring a relevant post-graduate business degree was staunchly in her to-do list for some time now. It will take her time, but she was adamant to get there. Somehow. Those degrees weren't cheap either like these blasted vegetables.

She'd thought that Jaipur would be cheaper than Mumbai, but because she didn't know this city like she knew Mumbai, it wasn't proving to be the case for her. The pace of life here was very comfortable though and being one of the angles of the golden triangle of tourism, the hospitality industry was equally big here as Mumbai. When her time here would end, she'll have to decide whether to stay on here or go back to Mumbai. Washing up her utensils, she'd decided to cross that bridge when the time comes.

Just then, a knock on the door made her frown. Nobody knocked on her door anymore. Wiping her hands dry, she opened it.

"Khamma Ghani, Madam."

"Ghani Khamma, Gulal Ji," Niyati automatically replied. In his late thirties like Uday Rajvansh, Gulal Singh had the same height of six feet as his employer but a larger build, impressive curly mustache, and a benevolent face. Though she didn't know him much, what she gleaned from Kaveri Devi's ramblings was that he was an unusually calm and reasonable man.

"Madam, Hukum wants to have a word with you."

For a moment Niyati's heart stopped beating. The dreadful man is back? She knew from servants that he wasn't in town for the last month. It had been a tacit relief to her.

"Madam, Hukum is asking for your presence," Gulal Singh prompted when she failed to respond.

"Now?"

"Now."

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As she followed Uday Rajvansh's right-hand man to the living room, Niyati herself worked out what this audience was going to be about. Her job. Except for meekly staying in her room waiting for her food tray to arrive, she hadn't disregarded any of Mr. High and Mighty's dictate. She hadn't sought him out, she hadn't contacted his mother, she had made this place her base until elections and she hadn't plotted anything against him. The only thing she hadn't done was roll over and play dead while he walked over her trampling her self respect.

But honestly, the prospect of facing that man made her jittery, and so angry at that stupid nervousness.

The man in question was pacing in the living area agitatedly as they entered it. As soon as he spotted her, the pacing stopped and his mouth compressed into a hard line. Niyati stood up straighter and stared back at him defiantly.

"Do you have trouble following simple instructions?" he started.

"I don't think so. My employer just today said that I am great at understanding instructions and following them," she retorted.

Uday couldn't believe her audacity. His jaw tightened. "Why, may I ask, did you need employment?"

"To make my way in the world. For financial freedom. Why does anyone need employment?"

"You are already employed here," Uday bit out.

"I do not like my job profile here, nor do I like the management. Consider my stay here as me serving my notice period."

Uday Rajvansh, for one moment, and for the first time in front of this chit of a girl, was speechless. She had always been such a silent type that listening to her talk back was hard to believe. And that bite in her voice even more surprising. But he collected himself pretty fast.

"Don't act smart girl. You have no idea what I can do to you."

Oh, she had an idea. Wasn't that the reason she was shaking like a dry leaf from the inside? She hadn't realized the full measure of power he yielded among them mortals when she had in her naivete hurtled in his life with Anthony uncle by her side, demanding him to right the wrong done to her by his brother. But now, when she had seen and experienced their royal aura and social station, more often than not, she felt more than a little scared in front of him. He could have had chopped her into tiny little pieces and had thrown them in a garbage bin, and no one on this wide earth would have suspected him, let alone accuse. Anthony uncle was no match for this freaking first cousin to the Maharaja of Jaipur.

"You will not see a penny of those five crore rupees if you defy me like this," he added.

"I don't want to," Niyati replied.

"What?"

"See a penny of those five crore rupees. I don't want it. You can keep them."

Uday's eyes narrowed. What the heck was she playing at? "You don't want five crore rupees?" he checked.

"No."

The penny dropped in his brain. "Don't you dare sell any of the wedding jewelry that was given to you. There are some heirloom pieces that have been in the family since generations and I want them back. At a price, of course."

Niyati seethed with anger and humiliation at his low opinion of her. Why? She didn't know! She should have expected it. With burning eyes, she glared at him before saying, "Wait here. I'll be back."

With that, she turned and walked to her room. She had long packed all jewelry, all clothes, all make-up, all trinkets, the last atom that was given to her in the wedding. Collecting a hefty suitcase and a big carry-all she marched back to the living room.

"Here is your jewelry and everything else that you people had given to me. I haven't kept a single item, you can have it all checked. Also, you will find a plain note signed by me releasing you of any liability to give me those five crore rupees as compensation. If you want that paper notarized, you have my consent and co-operation," she kept everything down on the floor near him and moved back several paces.

Confounded, Uday looked all the luggage lying at his feet, then at the girl, then back at all the returned gifts. After a few seconds of silence, he cleared his throat and nodded his head towards Gulal Singh who had been standing at one side listening to the exchange. Gulal moved and deftly opened the carryall. On top of everything was placed a neatly folded paper and Niyati's wedding mangalsutra safely enclosed in see-through glass top jewelry case. The rest of the black and red velvet jewelry cases could be seen stacked beneath them. Gual removed the paper and handed it to Uday.

Uday looked at the girl before reading it. As she had claimed, the paper clearly stated that she had absolved him of any responsibility to pay her the agreed compensation.

"Are you planning to leave from here?" he asked suspiciously.

"Not before the elections."

"Then what keeps you here?" Nothing was making sense dammit!

"Kaveri Devi asked me to stay. I stay here for her."

"Are you in contact with her?" he jumped on that possibility.

"No."

Uday looked hopefully at Gulal Singh for a contradiction, but he shook his head in negation as well.

What the hell was going on here? She, who had had him sign half his wealth in her name, now didn't even want a penny from him? He didn't know what to think!

"What do you want then?"

"That you leave me and my job alone. You might find it hard to believe but I have no interest in your elections, positive or negative. My only interest was my baby, and with him gone, just like you, I find our connection a burden."

Gobsmacked? Stunned? Jolted? Uday couldn't decipher what he felt at that moment. She? She finds their connection a burden? He needed time to process all this, which was a novelty because he was a very quick thinker normally.

When he didn't say anything for five long minutes, after a lot of fretting under his probing eyes, Niyati finally bade him an abrupt Good Night and fled the scene.

Good Night? he thought hazily. What a joke!

This was surely going to be a ghastly night.

Again, what the heck just happened here?

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