A suitable Man

Chapter 23

Chapter 23.

The entire place fell silent for a minute. Dodda's gaze became frigid. Mahendra sensed the awkwardness. Smriti was at a loss of words. Karunakar was looking at Smriti angrily. Vasundhara was trying to calm him.

"Of all the girls in the world, you had to choose her?" Dodda asked Mahendra sternly. " Do you know what has her father done?, or you are so blinded by love that you overlooked what you were seeking?, you are the scion of the empire we have built for you, do you think it was built in a day? Look at my son, my only son crippled, speechless. Look at your mother, you don't have that many years to your life compared to the lines she has on her hands. We have toiled... Mahendra... toiled day and night, this entire empire stands on the blood of your grandfather, your entire family . Do you know we had to go through all this without the perpetrators being punished?" Dodda almost shouted, " And do you know, the silence of one man brought this fate upon us? And that one man is Padmakar Bhat!!!!!!!!!!!!

Smriti was petrified. She knew her father was a disagreeable man, but committing  a crime was beyond her comprehension. She stood rooted to the ground, when she felt Mahendra take her hand in his. There was pain in his eyes as he held her hand  and turned towards Dodda and said in a calm voice, " I knew who Smriti was from the first day I met her, Although I don't exactly know what Padmakar Bhat did, I can vouch for one thing, Smriti...she is the daughter of Padmakar, I agree. But she is totally unlike her father. You all see her, accuse her of being her father's daughter but what I see is an innocent, helpless girl, almost sacrificed on the altar, to a man twice her age, a girl treated like a servant by her own father; a girl who inspite of all this carries so much love in her heart that makes me awed by her compassion. I have fallen in love with this beautiful soul that she is. Her father snapped all ties with her, the day I married her. And never ever in my life I have denied the sacrifices and the efforts you all have taken for me, for bringing me to this point where I am. I have never let you or Amma down, I have gathered all the proofs and information necessary for convicting Sheena. I am waiting for him to make one move, one single move and I will destroy him."

Dodda flinched at the mention of Sheena's name. The whole past again stood in front of her eyes, a past she had tried to push away from her thoughts, her life. But then she looked at the young girl standing abashed. She knew how a person was by just looking at them, and this girl, before she knew whose daughter she was, she had liked her. Mahalakshmi tried to reason with her thoughts, her heart and mind were at a duel.

Vasundhara was also shocked at the revelation. In her entire life if she had loathed anyone, it had always been Sheena.  But Smriti, her heart went out to her. It was not her fault that she was Padmakar Bhat's daughter. The girl was totally unaware of her father's misdeeds. She looked at Karunakar, he was still not in grips with his emotions. She said, " Karuna, Look at me Karuna, Why are you getting angry on our Smriti? Is it fair to punish a daughter for her father's sins?". She turned to Mahalakshmi and said, " Amma, please don't do this to her, there is nothing she needs to feel sorry for".

Mahalakshmi closed her eyes, a gamut of emotions passing through them. What an irony life was, she thought. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Smriti. Wisdom told her, whatever Vasundhara said was correct, but how could she forgive her father? Every time she would see Smriti, it would remind her of Padmakar. The hurt was too deep to be overlooked. She looked at Mahendra's pained face, her beloved grandson, it was agonising for her to see him unhappy.

She said, " I understand that it is not Smriti's fault, but as long as she is in front of me, it will remind me of her father, of all the things that had happened. I am not saying that she isn't welcome here, but It will take some time to accept her, It is too much for me to do that now". Saying so Mahalakshmi walked away slowly to her room.