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"What do you mean by your not being his first wife?" Karthik questioned Vaitheeshwari, who was looking at the photo.

"She.." Vaitheeshwari showed the photo to him, pointing to the woman standing beside his grandfather. Karthik saw the lady, and he turned to look at his grandma, who stated, "My elder sister, Azhagi, was his first wife."

"You had an older sister?" Karthik asked in surprise. Vaitheeshwari smiled upon hearing him and said, "She was more like a best friend to me."

Karthik stared at her, seeing his curiosity Vaitheeshwari laughed, "Don't give me those looks! I will tell you everything".

"Appa and Akka were the only family I had. My father didn't get married after my mother's death and started looking after us while teaching kids in our village school. Even though Azhagi was three years older than me, she tried her best to fill a mother's place in my heart.

When I was 12, my father got a job as a headmaster in a neighbouring village. So we shifted with him, and there my sister, Azhagi, and the village's Zamindar's son, Karuppaiya, fell in love and secretly started to see each other.

Unknown from his daughter's love story, my father started looking for a groom for my sister, who was already 15 years old. Without asking Azhagi's consent, my father invited the boy's family to our home.

But Karuppaiya came in between the meetings, held my sister's hand, and said to everyone, 'Azhagi can only be my wife'. Hearing him, my father was so taken back that he needed a few days to recover from the shock and accept their love. But he was worried that the Zamindar would accept his daughter. But to be more surprising, even the Zamindar gave a green light to their marriage.

Believe me, Karthik, that day, I literally thought I was watching some movie." Vaitheeshwari said with a small giggle in the middle, remembering those days. Karthik smiled, seeing her giggle like a baby.

Vaitheeshwari continued, "The day of my sister's wedding was no less than some festival; as it was the Zamindar's only son's marriage, he didn't make any less arrangements. And as a bride's sister, I was having my own enjoyment.

After their marriage, it was just me and my father. I would go along with my father to attend my class, spend time there, and then come back. Azhagi and my brother-in-law used to visit us on festivals and weekends. They would bring me a lot of gifts whenever they visited.

It continued for two years, but soon Azhagi stopped visiting us. My worried father thought to visit his daughter's home with a big smile and took a lot of gifts with him. When I insisted on coming with him, he said I should stay at one of his friends homes and wait for him.

In the evening, when he returned home, his big smiling face disappeared, and guilt carried his face. When I asked him what happened, he said, I will be getting married soon without answering my questions."

"To whom?" Karthik asked in the middle.

Vaitheeshwari chuckled. "When I asked him to whom I was getting married, his answer shook me to the core.

He wanted me to marry my sister's husband. When I asked why, he explained that Azhagi cannot become a mother in this life due to health difficulties. That's why the Zamindar wants his son to marry another woman so his lineage can continue, therefore he urged my father to take Azhagi away from them because she doesn't want her husband to marry another woman.

Not wanting to ruin his elder daughter's life, he put his younger daughter's life at stake and told them that I would get married to him and let Azhagi and I stay together.

"Did your sister and brother-in-law agree? Aren't they loving each other?" Karthik asked, having a slight anger towards his great-grandfather for sacrificing his grandmother for his elder daughter.

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