Barrister Babu

Chapter 76: His Way Of Handling

"Chameli Bahu!" Trilochan hollered, stomping his stick in anger. "How dare you push my bahu?"

"Why not, Sasurji? She dares to disobey and disrespect me!" Chameli yelled back.

"What's going on here?" Anirudh's voice came through the entrance. He was back home early today because he was scared of what was going on in his wife's head. But when he stepped inside, the sight he saw was confusing.

His wife was standing near the table as Chameli and Trilochan were talking loudly. He could sense the tension.

Chameli's eyes widened seeing Anirudh. If Anirudh learned that she pushed Bondita, Anirudh would end up killing her. She certainly didn't expect him to be back so early.

"Patibabu..." Bondita glanced at her husband, wondering if she should tell him the truth or handle it by herself.

But before she could decide, Trilochan walked to Anirudh and said, "Look at this, Anirudh. Look who evil-eyed my house. Chameli bahu pushed my bahu."

"What?" Anirudh felt like he heard something wrong. Chameli and Bondita were really good friends, after all. "Chameli... pushed... my Bondita?" he asked to be sure.

Trilochan nodded and Anirudh clenched his fist in anger. He took sharp steps toward Chameli, who took a step behind in fear, unable to meet his gaze.

"Patibabu, leave it," Bondita said as she grabbed Anirudh's arm gently. "It's our issue and we will sort it out. Please."

"No, Bondita," he turned to glare at her. "Never. If the matter is related to you, especially harming you, there is no 'sorting' it out."

Then Anirudh turned to Chameli again. "Tell me, Chameli. I will ask this only once. Why. Did. You. Push. My. Wife?"

Chameli could feel shivers running down her spine as she stuttered, "I... Anirudh Dada... I... it wasn't my intention... It was... an accident... and..."

"An accident?" he chuckled in disbelief. "Was it an accident?" he asked Trilochan and Bondita.

Trilochan wanted to deny it but Bondita shook her head, making Trilochan quiet as well. It was better not to reply. But Anirudh was no less.

"Mala!" he called out aloud, almost making everyone jump in fear.

Koyeli and Bihari rushed out of the kitchen while Mala, who was secretly hiding behind a nearby pillar came out, lowering her gaze.

Anirudh took a step toward Mala and said, "I saw you hiding there when I stepped inside. So I assume you have seen the entire scenario before Chameli pushed my wife, right?" When Mala stayed quiet, he hollered, "Jawaab do!"

Fresh tears formed on Chameli's eyes, fearing this was her end today at the haveli.

"Patibabu, what are you doing?" Bondita tried to stop his inquiry. "Why are you dragging Mala here? Please, end the matter here."

He glanced at his wife, the coldness in his eyes disappearing for a moment. He gently lifted his right hand and caressed her cheek. "Tumhein koi chot toh nahi ayi na?"

She shook her head.

He gave a curt nod and dropped his hand, before looking back at Mala again — the coldness back in his eyes. "Look, Mala, if you answer me honestly today, I will forgive your maa, which means I will support you when others at the house aren't as they are angry at your maa and ignoring you."

At that, Mala's ears perked up. This was her chance — to be honest and win her Anirudh Babu's heart. After all, this was the most attention she got in these few months.

"Patibabu, this is technically bribery," Bondita tried to argue. "You can't do that despite being a barrister."

Another humorless chuckle escaped his lips at his beloved wife's words. "Bribery, huh?" he arched an eyebrow. "How about... tum apna case ladho and let me handle this in my way?"

Trilochan was wondering if he should interfere in the situation or not. But he was angry at Chameli for pushing Bondita, so he let Anirudh handle the situation and made a mental note to complain to Keth once he came back.

"So Mala... tell me the truth, please," he let out and Mala found him so sexy at that time. If he would have told her to bring the moon, maybe she would have. After all, her love for her Anirudh Babu never died.

Mala ignored the way Chameli was shaking her head to not expose the truth.

"Woh... Anirudh Babu... Badi patni pushed Bondita intentionally. She..." Mala informed everything to Anirudh honestly.

Bondita mentally slapped her forehead as Anirudh shot a small smile at Mala. "Thank you, Mala. I appreciate it."

Amidst that, Bondita noticed the way Mala's eyes sparkled at Anirudh's words. She pushed off those uneasy feelings, focusing solely on the situation at hand.

Anirudh took his gun out from the holster and placed it on the table in front of Chameli as everyone became silent.

Chameli gulped in fear.

"Chameli, do you know why I started carrying this gun with me?" he asked coldly.

"Anirudh Dada, I am... sorry... I—" she was rudely cut off by him.

"Yes or No?"

She closed her eyes, saying, "Yes."

"Why?"

"It's after Bondita's accident so to protect our family, you..." she couldn't finish as he cut her off again.

"After Bondita's accident... so the most important reason is my wife, right?"

He was letting Chameli know that no matter who was standing in front of him, Bondita was his first priority. Even though he accepted Chameli as his younger sister, still, no one was above Bondita.

"Ji," she said meekily.

"So I will tell this only once and hopefully the last time," he started speaking as he took the gun back, putting it in his holster, "If Bondita gets a tiny scratch, I won't hesitate to put a bullet through a person's head. No matter who that person is."

Color drained from Bondita's face, hearing this from Anirudh's mouth. Today was the day, she was seeing all the scary versions of her patibabu.

Meanwhile, Chameli dropped on her knees, more tears streaming out of her eyes as she touched Bondita's feet. "Bondita, I am so sorry. Please forgive me. I won't do this ever again. Oh Durga Maa, I have committed a sin. Please forgive me. Please tell Anirudh Dada to forgive me. Please."

"Areh, Chameli, what are you doing?" Bondita tried to gently push her away, wanting to prevent her from touching her feet, but Chameli kept crying.

A small smirk appeared on Anirudh's face as he turned to meet his wife's sharp gaze. He arched an eyebrow at her, indicating to her that he was proving his point: the weapon was doing things which the tarks didn't do before. Protecting her.

Bondita gave a disapproving look as she shook her head slightly, letting him know that she didn't approve of the way he was doing things now, even if it was working, there were definitely better ways.

However, Trilochan Roy Chawdhary stood silent, watching the scenario. He thought if Bondita would recover, she would fix everything. But he forgot that his nephew was fitoori like his bahu. And this new clash between Anirudh and Bondita would ruin every peace of the haveli.

A/N: Hey! Thank you for reading the chapter. How was it? Hoping to get 20+ comments on this chapter. 

Translation:

"Jawaab do!": Answer me!

"Tumhein koi chot toh nahi ayi na?": You didn't get any injury, right?

"tum apna case ladho": you fight your case

"Ji": yes

"Tarks": arguments

"Fitoori": madness