Telugu words in the chapter: Garu - a word used as a suffix to a person's name (e.g. Amar garu) or title (e.g. minister garu) as a mark of respect

---***---

"Mr. Prakash Dhanunjaya, you promised your daughter's hand in marriage to my nephew. Where is she now? I have been told that she ran away. What's happening? Explain." Shambhavi's anger grew with each word she spoke.

"Shambhavi garu , we are searching for her. We didn't expect her to take such a drastic step," said Prakash while everyone was looking at them with rapt attention.

"Let me remind you that it was you who proposed this wedding alliance between the two families during our meeting over the business deal. We didn't ask for this." Shambhavi continued, "Do you realize what your daughter's folly will cost us? My family's reputation. My nephew is famous all over the world. The media is waiting to report the wedding. Our guests include many famous business personalities. What will happen when this news is out? My nephew will be laughing stock. He will be ridiculed by the media for no fault of his." 

"We apologize for our daughter's mistake" said Nanditha.

"You think you can ruin our reputation in the society and get away with a simple apology? You need to be punished. We back off from the business deal between the two companies. I cancel the deal at this instant." Shambhavi's rage was uncontrollable.

The Dhanunjayas were shocked by her decision. "NO. You can't." Nanditha screamed. 

"We already started working on this deal. It is a very prestigious project for Prakash anna. He invested thousands of crores on this." Praveen tried to explain.

"Shambhavi, we can't do this. The deal and the wedding are two completely different things. We can't mix them up. Think about our company's loss too." Bharat tried to reason with her.

"Fortunately, our company's loss will be negligible because we didn't start working on this project yet. And I have every right to cancel the deal because I have added a clause in the agreement which says our company is free to cancel the deal if the wedding between Amar and Mr. Dhanunjaya's daughter does not take place." Shambhavi quoted the clause. "And that's not all. Wait till you receive legal notice from my lawyer for defamation. I will make sure that you two are jailed for promising your daughter to my nephew and not bothering to keep it." 

"Shambhavi, please don't do this. My family is in deep trouble already. Please don't make it worse for us." Lasya's grandfather spoke for the first time.

"I have great respect for you, sir. But this is something I can't accept," she answered.

Nobody spoke for a while. Uninterested in the discussion, Vennela was sitting in a corner, hugging her knees.

"You are right. We have no right to ruin your family's reputation. But cancelling the deal and getting us jailed will not fix it. So, I offer an alternative," said Nanditha.

"What would that be?" spat Shambhavi.

"As per the clause, the wedding has to take place between your nephew and our daughter. Everyone out there-- the media, the guests and the investors are here to witness the wedding of Devaraju family's son and Dhanunjaya family's daughter , not Amar and Lasya's wedding. This is also the reason why you agreed to our proposal. The union of two big business families." Nanditha chose her words very carefully. Shambhavi didn't understand what she was implying.

"We have another daughter whom we are planning to marry off in the coming year. Our niece. The only child of my husband's late younger brother. If you agree, we will get her married to Amar." Nanditha put forward her proposal.

The proposal seemed fair enough to Shambhavi. This way they can clear up the mess. "Who is this girl-- this niece of yours? Take me to her."

Prakash and Nanditha took her to the corner in which Vennela was sitting.

"She is beautiful. How old is she?"

"24. She is very intelligent. She works for your company in Hyderabad" said Prakash.

Vennela wanted to yell in protest. But her voice disowned her when she needed it the most. "We'll talk to her. Explain the situation to her." Nanditha and Prakash took her to the nearest room.

"Convince her. I want to hear 'yes' from her." Shambhavi called after them.

"I don't want to marry him. I can't do this." Vennela said as soon as they entered the room.

"Vennela, please try to understand. She will cancel the deal if you don't agree. Thousands of crores will go in drain." Nanditha tried to convince her.

"But our family can afford to lose some money. You people are rich. Aren't you?" Vennela asked.

"Vennela, you have done your MBA from a very famous business school. Didn't they teach you that cancelling such big business deals will result in decline of stock prices? The Board of Directors will blame our family for this. How do we answer them? They will vote against us and elect a new chairperson. The ownership will slip away from our hands. Our status will be reduced to mere shareholders in the company." Nanditha explained the scenario.

"But you can win it back in a few years. Is the ownership and social status more important than my life?" Vennela questioned their priorities.

"Okay. Forget about the company. The lady out there has threatened to slap legal notice on us."

"Who would dare to arrest you?Just use your influence like you always do. Uncle Praveen will arrange for bail if you two get arrested." Vennela offered the solution.

"Think about the insults we have to face. Do you know who the worst affected person would be? It's Shruthi.  Her elder sister eloped, her parents will be slighted and her family reputation will be damaged. Her future will be ruined." Prakash spoke.

Vennela was alarmed at the mention of Shruthi's name. She didn't care if the company faced loss. But she cared for Shruthi. If there was one person she would gladly take a bullet for, it was Shruthi, her innocent sweet little sister. 

"I want to talk to the groom before I decide." She said weakly.

"That could be arranged." Nanditha and Prakash hurried out of the room.

--***--

"Anna, wake up. Amma called. She wants us at Dhanunjaya mansion in 10 minutes." Anirudh woke him up.

"Why? Did she find out? I told you to stay calm. But you were laughing as if you inhaled laughing gas." Amar complained.

"No chance. Who will tell them the truth? Besides, you covered up really well for my laughter. To be honest, I didn't expect you to come up with such a good idea." Anirudh praised Amar. They reached their destination in 10 minutes.

"Aunty, let's go home. There is no use quarreling with them now. Lasya is gone. Let them search for her peacefully. You are only adding to their agony," said Amar, unaware of how his aunt threatened them before his arrival.

"You're right. There is no use quarreling with them now. So, we've come up with a solution." Shambhavi announced. "Lasya's cousin will take her place as your bride. Her name is--" 

Amar didn't let her complete the sentence."WHAT!!! NO." He yelled. "What do you take me for? A machine? I don't have a delete button to erase everything. I need some time to forget and move on." 

"What are we going to tell everyone tomorrow? That the bride ran away? Your reputation is at stake. You will be subjected to mockery." Shambhavi explained the situation to him.

"I don't care. I don't care if my reputation is ruined. Let everyone mock me. I don't care about the media." 

"Amar please, please. At least go and meet the girl. I won't force you if you don't like her. No pressure. Please." Shambhavi requested him.

"Okay. I'll meet her. But you know my answer. I won't be getting married to her." He declared.

Shambhavi asked Nanditha to take him to her niece. 

"Just talk to her for few minutes. Come out and say no." Anirudh told him. Amar nodded and followed Nanditha.

"She is sitting inside," said Nanditha stopping at the door. "Please go and talk to her. I'll wait downstairs along with the family."

Amar thanked her and entered the room. He saw a girl sitting on the couch holding her head in her hands. He cleared his throat to announce his arrival. She looked up. 

Amar was pleasantly surprised. His face broke into a wide smile upon recognizing the person standing in front of him.

"Vennela garu!!" He exclaimed.