“NO. They will give it to me”
“I need it”
“Taara… shall we?” Pradyut interrupted
“Beta, will you speed up the payment you owe us? Its been so long” Nidhi was brutal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charitably
“I think we can speed it up” Pradyut nodded with an inscrutable expression
“My daughter has done her best, she did her best to hang on to it, but its over now, and we want our money” Nidhi put an arm around Taaruni’s shoulders fondly
Her expression clearly told Pradyut she was blindsided by her own mother
Tushar was off to buy ice cream for the nephews and Pallavi was standing a few feet away giving the help dinner instructions
Taaruni gently pulled away from her mother and nervously chimed in
“Actually Ma, I was supposed to meet the lawyers next week, maine kaha tha aapko, shaayad aap bhool gaye”
“Your life has been chaotic puttar! Understandably so, everything has been so bizarre, please focus on being in Delhi, we will be OK here”
“Ma… I will be here to sign”
“You don’t have to… I can get the check”
“She HAS to, umm.. she signed on the agreement the night before the wedding”
“This has caused a lot of grief and pain for my daughter, is she also getting damages?” Nidhi was insistent
“Well, that wasn’t part of the agreement” he looked at her boldly and spoke up
“MA” Taaruni tugged on her arm
“Ek second beta, I have SEEN how broken you are, aise kaise”
Nidhi was going off the rocker
Was she getting back at Pradyut for his behavior toward Gaurav? Possibly!!
But Taaruni was speechless by her aggression
“Ma, we talked about it” she whispered
“Arey, he is MY SIL I will talk” “Take care of yourself puttar” she reached and hugged him
“Ma, aapko main call karti hu”
“Don’t worry, your health is important, don’t do silly things like running away from this good kind boy” Nidhi was effusive
Taaruni cringed
“Oh Lord!!
“Ma… I had my reasons” Taaruni muttered staring at the ground
“Haa jaanti hu, kisi undesirable area mein tumne shop laga di, raat ko apnea ap ko mushkil mein daala”
Taaruni was even more shocked
“WHO told her?”
“Ma… they were caught”
“YES I know, Pradyut ne kia na?”
Nidhi smiled beatifically
Taaruni didn’t know this woman, why was she being so weird
“Pradyut, if I hear that you are in town, and don’t stay in my house, I will be upset” she hugged him again “I am going to get the house cleaned, Taaruni dumped everything from the Zenith Astro store location, in the boys’ room, main sab clean kark doongi you will have a place”
“Ma… no…. no” Taaruni looked at Pradyut panicking
Her baby was tossing inside like crazy
Harold got wind of it and barked wanting to be picked up
“Papa is gone, I am donating the books” Nidhi chose to break it to her 30 minutes before her flight to Delhi
“MA Ive locked up that room”
“Meri baat ho chuki hai, those books belong in a nice library. The oldest school in Chandigarh, Manimajra Govt High school”
“Maa…. No” Taaruni felt tears rolling down her cheeks
Pradyut reached for her hand and squeezed it, texted with one hand, to a construction office assistant “I might need your help in getting some books out of a family member’s home”
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