That night, in the Deshmukh house, no matter how much Nikhil tried to convince Baba of the truth, Vijay didn't seem to care.
"Nikhil, if Pallavi hadn't been so careless with the store for so long, you would never have had to take that job, and then you would have never been arrested. I don't give a damn why Raghav wanted to marry Pallavi. I don't care—"
"But you're letting her work in the store." Nikhil started.
"Only because that thug of her husband threatened me, god knows why he cares." Baba retorted.
After the fight, Vijay was even more sure of his decision. Even it meant his shop had to be shuttered, he would tell Pallavi tomorrow that she wasn't welcome anywhere near the Deshmukhs anymore.
The next morning, Pallavi was in good spirits again. Vikram had messaged her that he might be able to drop by the shop today to see her work. She was making breakfast when Keerthi walked in the kitchen.
"Pallavi Di, kya baath hai? You look cheerful today? Did Raghav fall down or hurt himself shaving this morning? Keerthi giggled.
Pallavi smiled, "No, nothing like that. One of the guests last night, Vikram Singh something— he was the guy who came to the shop yesterday— he wants to take a look at my designs today. If he comes today, I might be able to convince Baba to forgive me."
"Wow, that's great, I think I know that name, Farhad's mentioned him before. Isn't he the guy who owns the magazines that Raghav is desperate to get Jayathi Jewels into? Did you snake a business deal from The Raghav Rao already?" Keerthi knew she shouldn't be happy at he brother's misfortune, but she didn't have the blind trust in Raghav that Amma had.
"No, nothing like that, he wants to meet with Raghav too."
Raghav, in the dining room, overheard this whole conversation. This Saree ka Dukaan was exceptionally happy today, but it didn't matter. The key was meeting with Rathore and convincing him that Jayathi Jewels was a good investment
When Pallavi walked into Deshmukh Saree Emporium later that morning, she almost dropped her bag. In front of her was Baba.
"Baba, how are you, did the doctor—"
Baba raised his hand and Pallavi stopped speaking, "I don't care that your thug of a husband threatened his way into keeping you working here. I don't care if it means closing the store. You no longer are needed here."
Pallavi's eyes filled with tears, she started to explain, "Baba, Nikhil was in trouble and I—"
"I know the whole story, Pallavi, but it doesn't matter. Because the root of all our troubles are Raghav Rao, and now, you. I spent my whole life gaining respect and respecting others in this town, and in the span of a couple weeks, you destroyed everything. I can't trust you to—"
Right then there was a knock on the wall behind them, "Knock knock, can I come in?"
It was Vikram. Pallavi smiled weakly, hoping that he hadn't heard any of what Baba had said. Pallavi needed Vikram's interest in her designs, in Baba's work, to convince Baba to forgive her, to help Baba see that he could trust her.
Vikram had heard everything, and the mystery of Pallavi's and Raghav's wedding became a little less foggy.
"You must be Mr. Deshmukh, pleasure to meet you, I'm Vikram Singh Rathore."
Baba didn't react to the name, mainly because, unlike his children, he didn't pay attention to business or fashion news outside of Hyderabad. "Nice to meet you, can we— I mean can I help you with anything?"
