06: a third heart attack

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Pallavi got down from the auto rickshaw that stopped in front of her to-be sasural's house

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Pallavi got down from the auto rickshaw that stopped in front of her to-be sasural's house. She handed the auto driver the amount she owed him and walked towards the Raos' new house. Her steps were small because she was trying to delay the inevitable. With Nikhil in jail and her baba in the hospital, recovering from his second heart attack, Pallavi had no choice but to turn to Raghav Rao for help.

The man had blackmailed her to marry him if she wanted her brother's record to be clean.  And she couldn't say no to any opportunity that gave her the possibility of saving her family from trouble. She did try and work around Raghav Rao's crude tactics, but every solution always led back to him. She would have to get involved with him in order to set her brother free.

As she made her way to the front of the Raos' quaint house, she recalled her conversation with her mother-in-law.

"Aai, don't worry. Aaj Nikhil ghar aayega. Yeh mera vaada hain aapse," Pallavi said as tears trickled down her face.

"Pallu, mujhe poora barosa hai tujh par. Mujhe pata hai tu kuch bhi karengi lekin apne bhai ko uss jail mein ek raat ke liye bhi nahi chodengi," her aai cried on the other end of the phone.

Kya me sach mein kuch bhi karlungi apni parivaar ke liye? Nikhil ke liye? Kya Aai ko koi dikhaat nahi hogi meri shaadi ki faisale ke saath? Aur Baba? Woh kya sochega? Pallavi thought to herself.

"Pallu, ab tu khana khalo, theek hai? Mujhe pata hai ki tu subah se parishaan ho iss baare mein. Lekin mujhe yeh bhi pata hai ki tu Nikhil ko jail se jaldi chudwa dengi. Abhi ke liye, kuch khalo, okay?" Aai said.

"Ho, Aai," Pallavi agreed. "Aai..."

"Kya hua?"

"Aai, woh, Raghav Rao..." Pallavi licked her lips as she tried to garner courage to tell her mother about her upcoming marriage. "Aai...usne Nikhil ko jail bhej diya. Aur woh keh raha tha ki mujhe usse shaadi karni padegi agar me chaati hoon ki Nikhil jail se chhoot jaye."

"Pallavi...yeh tu kya bol rahi hai?" her mother said in disbelief.

"Aai, maine haan bola," Pallavi whispered as silent tears streaked down her soft cheeks.

Immediately, Pallavi could hear beeping sounds and shouting from the receiving end of the call.

"Aai! Kya ho raha hai wahan?" she asked, in worry.

"Pallu, tu speaker par thi aur teri Baba ne sab kuch suna," her aai sobbed into the phone as a doctor's voice echoed in the background. "Pata nahi ab kya hone waala hai..."

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