*Setting: Raghav is standing outside the courthouse, watching Pallavi panic about her brother's, Nikhil, situation.*
Nikhil is in jail, because Raghav trapped him, Raghav had no other choice. He needed to get Pallavi to marry him, at any cost. Yes he felt a little bad for the kid, but at this moment, his Amma's happiness is more important than taking care of his employees.
Pallavi just figures out that the man Nikhil said he worked for, Harish, works for Raghav. She was about to dial the phone to let Milind Kaka and Aai know that Raghav is behind all this when she heard a familiar voice behind her, "So, looks like your brother's in a bit of trouble."
Pallavi spun around, Raghav Rao was behind her, leaning casually against his car, without a care in the world. He was wearing a green suit and eating peanuts out of his hand, smirking at her.
"You! You did this? What is wrong with you? Were you dropped on your head as a child? Did your parents not hug you when you had a nightmare? Why are you hellbent on making everyone around you as miserable as possible?" Pallavi screamed at him, she didn't give a damn who heard her.
Raghav walked swiftly to her, his smirk gone, replaced with an anger that Pallavi was all too familiar with. "Shut up, Saree ka Dukaan, you have no right to say one word about my family, we're here because of your family. Now if you want I can—"
Pallavi interrupted him, "I don't need you to do anything except leave me alone, just leave!" her voice was still raised.
Raghav raised his hand and clasped it over her mouth, "stop creating a scene and listen carefully. You, like the horrible businesswoman you are, rejected my sweet carrot cake of a proposal yesterday, now today I have brought a stick instead of a carrot. There is not a single lawyer in this city that will take your brother's case, because when I play a game, I don't make a single move without thinking ten steps ahead. So, if you want your brother out of jail by tomorrow, you will come to my house, by seven tonight. There will be a pandit, I have already gotten someone at the courthouse to give us an emergency marriage registration, and you will quietly marry me. If you don't, you can let your brother rot in jail—"
Pallavi made to interrupt him again, trying to pull his hand from her mouth.
"Now i wonder what's going on in your poor Saanki Appa's head, his daughter defamed across the city and his son now in jail, I bet he's not doing too well in the hospital is he?"
Raghav noticed Pallavi's eyes widen and then look down.
"Ah, I see, you've decided to lie about this to him as well, just like you lied about your stupid saree shop's accounts. Well, I wonder how long you can keep this a secret from him? And it's not like he'll trust you to get your poor brother out of jail, seeing as he threw you out of his house."
Pallavi's eyes started to tear up, Raghav removed his hand and asked again, deliberately checking his nails and trying to avoid letting her know that he could see her crying. "So, will I see you at the wedding tonight, or shall we go to the hospital together and tell your Appa that you need bail money?"
Pallavi got a handle of herself, "Raghav Rao, I used to hate you, in fact, you were the only human on the planet I hated. But now, I just feel pity. What must it be liked to be so unloved, to be so disgusting, that you have to form relationships with anger, power, and blackmail? Do you even think about what your mother will think if she found out —"
Raghav stepped closer to her, and his anger was pure wrath now, "If you say one more word about my family, I will not only forget that we are in a public place, I will also forget that you are a woman. Now, I don't have time to waste arguing with you, I will wait for you at my house tonight. If you're not there, the next time you will see me is in court, when I am dictating Harish's testimony against your brother." Raghav turned and walked back to his car, he slammed the door and drove off.
Pallavi was shaking with rage, everything went red. But when she turned back around to the courthouse, she thought of Nikhil, of Aai, and of Baba. She collapsed onto her knees and she couldn't control her tears anymore. After what seemed like hours of crying, Pallavi stood up, weak and tired, but determined.
When she reached Deshmukh house, Aai rushed outside. "Did you find a lawyer for Nikhil's case?" she asked.
Pallavi looked at her, and Aai understood.
"God, what are we going to do? Your Baba keeps calling me and asking me to bring Nikhil to the hospital, and I don't know how much longer I can lie to him, Pallavi. If we tell him the truth...what if he can't handle—" Aai trailed off, and started silently crying.
Milind Kaka came up to them, "Pallavi, Vahini, I'm trying as many lawyers as I can outside of Hyderabad, but I haven't had any luck so far, but I think we'll be able to find a lawyer by tomorrow, don't worry. Pallavi, come inside, eat something, you look like you haven't eaten all day."
Pallavi was still silent. Aai took her hand and stopped crying, "Milind is right, come inside and eat something, Pallu, we'll find a solution for this. Bappa will handle everything, He doesn't give us more than we can handle."
Pallavi stopped Aai from bringing her inside the house, "No Aai, I know what I have to do, and I can't eat now. I have to go, I can't explain, but...Aai, listen to me, whatever you hear, whatever anyone tells you, know that what I am about to do is only for Nikhil and this family."
She touched her mother's feet and Sharda, confused, tried to ask her what she was talking about.
"Thank you for your blessing Aai, I have to go...and I don't think after today, I'll be able to live with you anymore. You have to know—" Pallavi's voice started to break, but quickly calmed herself down. "You have to know that I never wanted to leave this house, to leave you or Baba. But—"
Pallavi turned and started to leave, she got on her scooter and started the engine. Sharda and Milind tried to stop her, to get an explanation, but Pallavi didn't stop. It was almost seven.
When she reached Raghav's house, she remembered all the times she had been here before. When Abhijeet, Lion, or Ved, whatever his name was, had held a gun to her head. When she woke up alone in a guest bedroom after Raghav had kept her away from her family for a whole night. That night she helped Raghav after Ved hit him with the car. Every memory, every word said between her and Raghav came rushing back to her. Even the moments when she thought maybe Raghav Rao wasn't the horrible man that she now knew he was. She took a deep breath, it was 6:50 PM, she put every thought out of her mind except Nikhil and Baba, and walked into the house.
