On the drive to the hospital, neither Pallavi nor Raghav spoke a word. Raghav, who knew what it was like to live without a father, wanted to reassure Pallavi that Saanki Baba would be fine, but then he thought better of it. Even if he sympathized with her situation, he didn't think it a good idea to make a habit of talking to Pallavi as if she were a friend. Raghav's thoughts drifted to the name he heard last night, Mandaar, Pallavi's first husband. He wondered if Pallavi also had to visit him in the hospital, if she had had a chance to say goodbye to him before he passed.
Pallavi's mind was racing with thoughts of how Baba would react to her being married, she was sure that Aai would have told her. She wondered if she should tell them the true reason she married Raghav. But even if she did, what was the chance that they believed her? And if she did tell the truth, there was no guarantee Raghav would work to keep Nikhil out of jail. He could break his promise at any time. In trying to figure out how to explain herself to her parents Pallavi didn't notice Raghav's glances her way every so often on the drive to the hospital.
At the hospital, Pallavi made it outside of Baba's room without saying a word to Raghav, she didn't seem to care whether he was following her or not.
Inside the room, Vijay Deshmukh had just finished his breakfast and was trying to process all the information his wife had given him last night. First, Nikhil had been in jail, for smuggling diamonds! Second, he had been released, but neither Aai nor Nikhil could tell him how or why. Finally, someone he had considered family for over two years, had not only gotten married without consulting him, but Pallavi had gotten married to someone she swore up and down was a liar and a criminal. The anger he felt against his "so-called" daughter was all-consuming. He knew he was right to kick her out of the house. She had not only lied to him about the store, his store; but she had disrespected the family and his son's, Mandaar, memory with her behavior. Vijay had never agreed with Sharda when she had brought up marrying off Pallavi, not just because he loved Pallavi like a daughter but mainly because he had loved his son that much.
Sharda cleared Vijay's breakfast plate and sat down, "Maybe she had a good reason, we should—"
"Sharda, Pallavi is no longer a member of this family, and she is no longer our concern."
At that moment, Pallavi opened the door, slowly. Raghav decided against coming in the room, there was nothing to be gained from talking to Saanki Baba.
"Baba, how are you feeling? Did you get a chance to talk to Nikhil?" Pallavi's voice was quiet and full of trepidation.
Vijay glared at Pallavi, "Why are you here, shouldn't you be on a five-star honeymoon with your rich and glamorous husband by now?"
Pallavi looked at the ground, ashamed and unable to speak, how she had wished she had decided against wearing the sindoor and mangal sutra out today.
"Baba, I—"
"I have told you, you have lost the right to call me Baba. I don't want your explanations or excuses. In fact, I don't even want you here. You have proven that you were never really my daughter or a member of this family."
Sharda was crying, unable to find any words to defend her daughter, even if she knew deep in her heart that Pallavi hadn't done anything wrong.
Pallavi tried to speak again, "What I did..." she hoped that Raghav wasn't listening, "I did what I did for you, for Nikhil—"
"I am sick of your nonsense, I don't want to hear it Pallavi. Either you married that criminal to take revenge against me by stealing the saree shop, or you did it because your greed overcame you finally. After today, this family doesn't need your help nor do we want to see you."
Pallavi tried to give the rehearsed explanation she had made up in the car, but neither Aai nor Baba were looking at her anymore. She swung open the door and ran down out of the hospital. She felt suffocated, and needed to figure out how to breathe again.
Raghav, meanwhile, had heard every word. His apathy towards the situation dissipated and it was replaced, oddly, with righteous anger.
He swung open the door and walked inside. "Mr. and Mrs. Deshmukh, good morning."
"You, get the hell out." Vijay responded through gritted teeth.
Sharda stood up, concerned about her husband's health. "Vijay ji, calm down."
"I won't take up too much of your time, but I just heard your Rambo like speech right now, and truly, hats off to your dialogue writer Mr. Deshmukh. I hope you pay him enough. Now, while I only recently found out that Pallavi is your daughter-in-law, and not your daughter, I'm still a little confused as to your behavior. As you've gathered, everything I said about Pallavi and my relationship that night at your house was a lie, while I concede that she did lie about your shop's accounts, my sister informs me that was just to prevent you from collapsing of another heart attack. Seeing as you already are in hospital, let me just clear up some things. I am still the owner of your shop's building, and while Pallavi made me promise that nothing would happen to the store after she married me, your conversation with her has me in two minds in what to do."
Raghav stepped closer to the bed and started rearranging a bouquet of flowers on a table, "I could break my promise and bulldoze that stupid shop right now, or I could double your rent and watch you go out of business slowly. But, because I am my mother's son and a businessman after all, I have decided to cut my losses. The deal that Pallavi made with me last week will go into effect, if you want to pay off the store in installments, go for it. But on one condition, the daughter that you just disowned will continue to work there if she wants. I'm not asking this because I care at all about your shop, but because without Saree ka Dukaan working there, your store will definitely go under in a matter of weeks. Also, if she's working there she'll have less time to bother me. Now, obviously your whole family hates me and doesn't have a single reason to trust me, but as a devotee of Shiva, I understand the value and importance of marriage. So, Pallavi...Rao, will receive all the rights and privileges she deserves as my wife, and more importantly, she will no longer be taken for granted by the likes of you."
Raghav snapped a stem off one of the dying roses in the bouquet and tossed it in the trashcan across the room, he turned on his heel, and left, slamming the door shut behind him.
