Treacherous Souls

XVII. "What brings you here?"

Third Person

The heavy silence looming around the palace was frowned upon by Rashmika and Akhilesh Rajput, who were finally back from their trip to New Zealand.

The ruinous atmosphere made them uncomfortable, and they wondered what had gone so wrong these days that the palace which was always so luminous before was now so unlit and catastrophic. Their happy grins were wiped off their faces when they saw the dead silent living room. There was not a single sound in the huge palace, which made them wonder if anyone was even residing here.

"Don't you think something is wrong here?" Akhilesh commented, glancing at his wife who was standing beside him with a frown marring her face.

"I do! Call Dhruv and tell him that we are here." She demanded, and her husband obliged with a sigh.

"Dhruv, where are you, son?" He asked when Dhruv picked up the phone.

"In the courtroom."

"Court? What are you doing there? What happened?" He fired questions, but received answers of none.

"I will call you later, Papa." This was all he said before abruptly hanging up.

"What do I do with your son?" Akhilesh sighed, exasperated at his oldest son's vague response.

"Excuse me? Is he only my son? He has your genes too, don't forget that." She huffed, and plumped down on the plush couch to rest her tired figure.

"But, he takes after you. So, he is only your son." He teased.

"Then I am taking my sons with me to my house. You rot in your palace alone."

"What home, priye? This is your home." He smiled sweetly and kissed her cheek to calm her anger, before sitting beside her on the couch, waiting for someone to notice their presence.

It wasn't a long wait, for Manasvi descended the stairs after a few minutes, wearing a beautiful kurti and carrying her white coat in her hand.

"Papa, Mummy, when did you come back?" She asked, surprised at her in-laws sudden appearance.

"Just now, beta. Are you going to work?" Akhilesh asked, not unmindful of the dark circles coating under her gorgeous eyes. Her slumped figure did not go unnoticed by his sharp eyes, and he frowned in confusion when he noticed that she had lost a lot of weight as well.

"Was my stupid son not feeding you well?" It seemed that Rashmika had noticed her pitiful figure as well, and so she asked with a scowl.

"No, why do you ask?" She stopped in front of her in-laws and touched their feet for blessings which were immediately granted by them.

"You look a bit thin since the last time we saw you." Akhilesh voiced out his wife's thoughts.

"It's just work pressure. You know how it goes for a chemical engineer." She smiled nervously, hoping not to get caught red handed by the sharp-eyed couple.

"Okay! We won't hold you back much longer. Can you just tell me where Mishka is?" Rashmika asked, scrutinizing her daughter-in-law's face more closely, making her squirm under pressure.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her around since I woke up. She might be in her office." She uttered.

"Okay!" Rashmika nodded, and then smiled a little before allowing Manasvi to scurry off to her safe haven, her office.

***

"I don't want bhabhi to leave us." Aastha sobbed, clutching her husband's shirt in her fist and resting her head on his chest.