Ch-11
"Your dad is dead and will never wake up,"
"You are an orphan,"
"You are unlucky girl,"
"You are a bad omen,"
"She should be thrown somewhere,"
"She is such a bad luck attracter,"
"You little bitch get out of here,"
"She should be killed,"
"NO! NO! STOP IT! DAD! DAD! WHERE ARE YOU!?"
"DAD!! DAD!!"
Laya sat up straight at the nightmare she got. Indeed, it's not a nightmare but a memory of her childhood.
She tried to run her hand through her hair but something tugged her. She saw a drip was connected to the back of her right palm. She sighed as she remembered the incidents that happened in the morning. When she got to know that it's her engagement, she fell unconscious. She only remembered her brother carrying her to her room or one of the rooms in the mansion.
She removed the needle as the drip was empty. Laya smiled bitterly when she realized there was no one for her to remove the drip after it got emptied. Trying to ignore the pain that was rising in her chest, she walked towards the window and saw the sun was still there. She wondered what time it was. She looked at the wall clock and saw it's past three in the evening.
From what she got to know; the engagement was supposed to be in the morning. It's most likely that the engagement got canceled. Smiling at her luck she made her way out of the room. She didn't like this room because it's her dad's room. After her death, she never entered this room and no one did. If not for the engagement no one would dare to open this room and clean it. Her father never lived here; it's just that she stored her father's things in this room. Everyone calls this room a storeroom but she calls it her father's room. Maybe due to the arrival of guests, her Peddananna opened this for them to stay. She wasn't complaining about this but felt that he shouldn't have done that. But again… who was she to voice her opinion. Her opinion has no value.
Walking out she went near the steps. As she climbed down the stairs… She saw a man with a well built and attractive stature facing his back to her, talking to an unknown middle-aged woman. The woman showed her dissatisfaction towards his words but gave in at the end. The man left the house hurriedly. She wanted to see his face and know him better. Laya knocked her head for her silly thoughts. She decided to go down and find her sister-in-law to know the details of the morning situation.
But to her bad luck, someone called her name that was none other than one of her cousins.
"Sister! You are awake!" Keerthi yelled in surprise. Laya loves Keerthi; she pampers her a lot as she is the youngest of all her cousins. But can she say she hates her now? She wanted to act like a dead person now… but she exposed her.
"Laya… Why did you remove the drip? Hmm? Don't you listen to us at least once? It's about your health!" Arjun said with anger and worry in his voice.
"Brother…" her voice was so hoarse; she couldn't even speak.
"Durga gets some water," Arjun said to his wife.
"Abhinav, pull a chair for your patient sister," he said to his youngest brother.
Durga left to pour some water to Laya while Abhinav brought the chair for Laya and made her sit on it.
Durga brought the filled glass to Laya. Laya tried to hold it but couldn't do it. Seeing her state… Durga helped her drink.
"The drip is finished. And there was no one in the room. I was worried as I couldn't make it to the morning segment. So… I came to apologize for the inconvenience I caused," Laya said in her weak voice.
She heard her brother's words 'Trust me beautifool for once,' She decided to trust him for this once. It took a lot of courage for her to get to this decision. And she knew if her brother looked for a groom, he wouldn't look for a normal one. He would look like some really good ones who would match their status. She didn't dare offend the groom's family as she doesn't want her family business to face a trifle because of her.
"Did they leave, Anna? Shall I go to them to apologize? They must have been disappointed," Laya added in her weak voice.
She didn't see the groom's family was still there in the hall hearing her word and watching her every action.
Maha Lakshmi, Rahul's mother who was observing everything nodded her head in approval. Her daughter-in-law indeed knew manners. While Harish Chandra, Rahul's father smiled at her and again felt worried at her condition.
"Since, she is awake now. We can go with the ritual," Maha Lakshmi's voice ignited the thunder in the house
"But didn't the auspicious time already finish?" Sitamma said with a worried voice. Sitamma is the youngest aunt of hers. She is the wife of Ramakrishna, who is the youngest brother of Devraj and the one who was eyeing at the Laya's properties. Even though he was bad, his wife sitamma is an angel. She treated Laya well, she used to give money to Laya sneakily and used to buy some clothes and jewelry for her sneakily. Unlike her husband, she is a real angel. Laya respected her and loved her but she hid her respect and love in front of her uncle for the fear of him causing trouble for her aunt.
"That's not the case. Whenever I say, it is the auspicious time for my son," Maha Lakshmi said.
"Vadina, It's not that. It's the future of our two kids. It's just if he does this ceremony during the auspicious time, we would relive that feeling they have blessings of God," Sitamma tried to talk to her.
Ramakrishna three glares at her but she ignored them. Sitamma doesn't want anything bad to happen to Laya. For the first, she ignored her husband's orders only for Laya.
"Maha… Sitamma is right. Let's ask the pandit. He is here anyway," Harish Chandra said to his wife Maha Lakshmi.