Updated 3 chapters last week ' 8, 9 & 10 '. If you have not read the last three chapters, don't forget to read them. A reminder :D

Glossary

Patti - grandmother

Periyappa - father's elder brother (in this story- father's cousin brother)

Periamma - mother's elder sister (in this story - periyappa's wife)

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Did she wake up at the wrong time or was her stars not in her favour? Because she had sensed the presence of calamity waiting in her room as she minced her way through the narrow path way towards the hall.

Deep breath in, deep breath out. Yashodha chanted to calm herself down while regretting for even agreeing to attend the wedding function.

At the corner of the huge room sat one of her youngest cousin sisters, weeping and in the middle of the room, on one of the sofas, sat Janaki. The mood in the room was enough for Yashodha to guess what could have happened in her absences. Nonetheless, she tried to calm herself not to let out words in anger, she had done that already but Gayathri's sobs wasn't letting her keep calm.

Despite the need to speak, Yashodha kept mum and stumped to her luggage for fresh set of clothes as quick as she can ignoring her grandmother. But then will the old lady stop?

".... I even told your parents not to bring you here. Your brother is going to start a new life soon and your misfortune can be a portent to his life in future..." Yashodha controlled her boiling rage as her grandmother continues, clenching her hands into a fist.

"Yashodha! Ask her to stay here and not attend any of the eve-" Janaki almost forgot to whom she was seeking help to keep her so call bad omen out of sight.

"You do not talk to me, is that clear!" Yashodha snarled.

"Why are you here in this room? To hurt her? Why does she need to stay in the room when the rest are out there having fun? You are getting worse than the last time I saw you, Patti" she exploded, throwing a yellow salwar somewhere behind her.

"Yashodha! you are forgetting that you are talking to your father's mother! Have some respect! I'm asking her to stay away for Kabilan's own good" Janaki retorted.

"Don't you forget that I'm behaving this way because of you! And she is keeping herself locked in the room since morning, is also because of you! And what do you mean by for Kabilan? Her presences is not going to destroy his life! For god sake, stop it, patti. Kabilan won't be liking it of you speaking ill about his sister" She yelled. There were a long silence.

Janaki opened her mouth to respond, Yashodha held her hand up asking her to stop.

"Not another word, Patti! Leave Gayathri alone and stop criticising about her being a widow and that she is a portent to the family. Understand!!!" Yashodha was losing her cool, her grandmother had been after the poor girl, Gayathri ever since they had arrived at the Umaid Bhawan.

Tears stung her eyes. Never had she ever wanted to scream at Janaki like the way she did but Yashodha finds herself doing it every single time she encounters Janaki. It hurts her to hurt her grandmother but Janaki doesn't seem to care about hurting her own grandchildren.

"You don't understand, Yashodha. It's a bad omen for widow to attend weddings or auspicious events" the small sized hunched lady with almost no teeth continued as if nothing happened a few minutes ago.

"Again?! Do we really have to go over it again? Patti, either you stop talking or I'll call periyappa, here!" Yashodha threatened Janaki.

She was on the verge of pulling her hair out as Gayathri kept weeping sitting in a corner of the huge room. She held her aching head.

The tension between Yashodha and her grandmother had been growing bigger every passing minute yet the old lady seems not to bother with Yashodha's irk. She kept on taunting the poor girl who said nothing but cry.

"For your kind reminder, Patti. Be thankful you are still alive for what you did to me. So, please leave Gayathri and me alone or I'll tell periyappa about what you are silently doing here. Okay?" Yashodha whispered to her grandmother dangerously close and retrieved her spot two step back.

"Gayathri! Stop it now. Get up and go wash your face" she instructed to which the girl obliged like an obedient sister.

The agitation in the room was still in the air with her grandmother still settled on the sofa. The room suffocated her. Yashodha needed space, air to breathe or something that will help her be less on the anger spectrum, it was going beyond her control.

Gayathri return in a short while and sat at the same spot with the same gloomy face.

Yashodha took a moment to read her. Gayathri had lost the charm in her pretty hazel eyes and the lovely smile on her face had faded since the last they met. The lost of her husband had caused her to lose herself with him. The thought of losing oneself reminded her of a lot of other things.

The sound of throat clearing pulled her back from her drifting mind. "What are you thinking about, akka?" Gayathri's soft voice pulled her out.

"Nothing. You should get ready for dinner. You'll need to meet our long lost relatives and get along with people. Locking yourself isn't going to help in any way" Yashodha said loud enough for Janaki to hear and left to the bathroom fetching the discarded yellow salwar, not before mentally shooting bullets on her guilty grandmother.

Shutting the wooden door behind her, Yashodha dived into a different state of mind. Somehow, the bathroom seem to be the only place that she could vent out all that's in her. Yashodha took a step forward and held the edge of the cold slab, facing the mirror.

Staring at her reflection blankly for sometime, her breathing turned heavy as her lower lip began to quiver. Tears stung her eyes as they welled up and slowly sip down her red cheeks. A strange feel hit her as the unrecognisable reflection stared back at her.

Reaching for the knob on the ceramic sink, she splashed the cold water on her face.

"What has gotten into you, Yasho? Why do you let anger spoil your day?" she cried, recalling the arguments happened between Janaki and her.

Yashodha very well knew it wasn't her anger that was affecting her rather her grandmother's action that was making her furious and caused her to behave as such.

A single day of taunting wouldn't have affected her much. A series of continuous nagging of the same topic was very much disturbing.

It was a forbidden subject yet Janaki constantly brought it up.

Arun's topic.

Her ex-husband's topic.

"He is a changed man now! What is it so difficult to accept him back. After all he is your husband" Janaki said to her while no one was around. Pestering her to accept him back in her life. "Forget about the past. He will be a good husband" she said. 

'Forget the the past' seemed easy said than don't. Especially when no one knew what happened before the outburst. No one needed to know but accepting him is like scratching the old wound making it worst. Janaki made it worst and was bringing the topic again and again despite her warning not to do it. 

Loud pounding on the door, broke her trance. "Akka! Are you okay in there?" Gayathri's concerning voice muffled through the door.

"Yes! Yes, am fine. Will be out in a bit"

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As she stepped out, she caught the sight of Gayathri dressed up looking pretty like a doll in her sweet pink lehenga. Yashodha instantly had a smile on her face forgetting the storm she had let out to herself inside a while ago, she concentrated on Gayathri. 

"Looking like doll, Gayu" 

Adoring her young sister, Yashodha wanted to do something for Gayathri. Her cousin doesn't deserve to live a life hidden like this. She hope to see a miracle happen to her sister by the end of the event.

Yashodha's eyes immediately darted left to right, searching for the troublemaker, "Patti left soon after you went for shower" Gayathri replied even before she could ask.

"Good! At least there will be a little peace of mind" she heaved a sigh, chucking the wet towel on the bed.

The doorbell rang. The loud noise outside was enough for her to make a guess who they could be. Gayathri answered the door and a bunch of their cousins barged into the room hooting and cheering. Soon, Yashodha found herself squeeze by six of her cousin sisters as they attacked her with a group hug.

"Yes, I miss you'll too. But if you let go, I'll be alive long enough for you to be with me" Yashodha joked, trying to get free from the hug.

Letting go of her, all of them began chatting in excitement and updated her about events that happened in the family while she was absent for a long time. However, family stories never ends thus, Yashodha had to send all her cousins out since their presence were too much of a disturbance for her to get ready and said she would join them soon to continue their story.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang again, it was her super free, hypercritical grandmother at the door. "What do you want?" she asked in an irritated tone.

"I left my money pouch" the old lady replied and entered the room pushing Yashodha a side, she stumbled a little. She got annoyed but was glad her grandmother wasn't saying anything as she searched for her pouch. Not until she found it.

"Yashodha, you are getting angry often now. It's not good. I'll tell your periyappa and appa to find a groom for you and all your anger will come to a control. Believe me" she said like the most lovable grandmother.

Taking a deep breath, Yashodha turned to face her grandmother. "Thank you but I don't need your recommendation nor anyone of your choice if by chance you have because you had caused me enough pain already" she seethed, Janaki's sweet demeanour changed as she spoke.

"Huh...... My choice caused you pain? It's you. You didn't serve your purpose as a wife that's why he had gone looking for another women. Had you stayed like your other sisters with their husbands, all this wouldn't have happened" the lady huffed.

Janaki's words hurt her like a sharp razor, Yashodha did not think twice to retort back.

"You know nothing! You know nothing about what happened after I return back then! No one knows what happened and I wish not to share! So, don't put fault on me just because I did not give him the liberty to use me! Get it!" exploded Yashodha.

"What new story is this, Yashodha? Won't you ever take the responsibility of him going after someone else when he had you, a beautiful wife? You are still blaming him?"

"Patti, enough!" Yashodha screamed her lungs out, tears stung her eyes. Janaki left, slamming the door shut.

'What did her grandmother mean by that? Is her only responsibility as a wife is to fulfill his physical needs? To stay at home and do house chores? Then why the hell did he promised so much?' she paced back and forth in the room, reminiscing the time she made herself look dumb before him and herself.

Yashodha hissed at the memory of such an embarrassing moment in her life. She sat there at the corner of the bed, crying for a very long time. She begin to feel suffocated locking herself in the room, Yashodha stomped out. Headed towards the elevator and punched the button going down repeatedly as if it would quicken the elevator's speed.

Yashodha growled and punched the button again.

The blurry reflection of herself on the gold facade of the elevator door was not much of a help as she tried to check herself out on how hideous she look like after bursting a while ago. "What a day?" she mumbled tapping her feet impatiently.

"Has Ms. Cool, lost her cool today?" a baritone she knew very well. A voice that has embedded deep in her memory sounded stronger than the last time she heard, came from behind her.

She froze, the tapping of her feet stopped. Her heartbeat raced, she could feel it would leap out of her mouth if she doesn't get a control of herself. She stood rooted to the ground, nonetheless. From the reflection on the elevator door, a tall blurry figure was approaching her. Unknowingly tears were welling up.

Yashodha swiftly swirled around and the first glimpse had her heart thump a beat. She was flabbergasted as she gaped at the last person she was expecting to see at the wedding. He was as if her last resort that would keep her sanity, Yashodha leaped for a tight hug and it took him only seconds to reciprocate with the same excitement and intensity.

Adeline rush sparked all the way down their spine as they held tight on each other. Somehow, the two years gap seemed to have vanished instantly, they did not feel awkward clinging to each other for some reason.

They had certainly caught attention of a few from the elevator as the door opened a couple of times but none bothered to tear apart.

Until the lady finally did, "I can't explain how happy I am to see you here. Oh God! I missed you so much! What are you doing here?" she asked elated, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.

"What can I say? I'm here for you, sweetheart" he winked, made her blush harder.

"You are just what I need. Like literally" she said aloud, relieved. 

Was it her or her words or both whichever it was, she made him feel special within minutes of their meet. Happiness is in the moment so intense, he knew made the right choice to come for the wedding.

*****
Long update of nothing much :D Wanted to update another but I don't have it ready with me so, only one this week. 

A week ago I stumble upon this post in Instagram and the moral of the mini story was quite relevant to this story and followed by a series of post that was related. Hence attaching a screenshot of the story below.

To those who never fails to leave a comment on every update and the readers. This chapter is dedicated to you all!!!!

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And the readers who votes only, I'm grateful for your silent presence. The visible and the invisible.

Thank you! To the reader who found me on Instagram, You made me feel special and traceable :D :D :D!!!!!!