They stood in front of a familiar sprawling majestic house.

The Naidu Estate. Now, completely under Sia’s control.

Ajay’s arm was wrapped around Sia’s shoulders protectively as she carried their child.

They were standing outside, surrounded by the media who thankfully stood at a distance. There were also dozens of people from the village, watching Sia with a hostile look.

Ajay knew that the people from Ghadhwal considered Jagadish Naidu and his son to be demi-gods as well as the rightful heirs to the Naidu Estate. But fortunately, most of those people were relatively harmless. Besides, it wasn’t other people or their opinion, Ajay was worried about. He was worried about one man—the one who held the power to break Sia.

He subtly squeezed Sia’s arm in reassurance, and turned towards her, expecting her to be overwhelmed. He wanted to let her know that he was with her. But he needn’t have bothered.

Because Sia was taking in everything with a steady gaze.

Once again, he felt extremely proud of the woman he loved. He had married a true boss. He had married a woman who was not only a survivor, but also a fighter.

Sia walked towards a small group of people that were her blood relatives, and greeted them calmly and politely. As though everything was completely normal. She sounded clear and confident, making eye contact with each and every person. Including her uncle.

“Dharini,” her uncle greeted her with a guarded look.

“Hello Uncle,” she said. “Sorry, I wasn’t able to greet you better when we met a few months ago.”

The words, ‘Where you also left me bleeding on the stairs to die,’ were unspoken, but quite loud between them.

Her uncle didn’t reply. Ajay knew that Sia’s uncle was still smarting from the blackmail. The camera footage had captured the struggle between Sia and him, and her uncle ultimately leaving her bleeding and hurt on the stairway.

That very video was solely responsible to gain Jagadish Naidu’s cooperation, and in determining Sia as the rightful heir.

 

* * *

 

Sia continued to look at the man that had once been a father figure to her. He was able to earn her love and complete trust quite easily. Then, he had betrayed her in the cruelest and devastating way that no child ever deserved.

“Dharini... I mean Sia, I’m sorry, I wasn’t able to reach out to you earlier. My lawyers had advised me against it. They told me that until we could be sure it was really you, I shouldn’t take any chances. Although I knew it in my heart that it was you.” He smiled. “Now that we know it’s you, I have been telling everyone how glad I am to have you back. I thought I had lost you.” His eyes appeared warm and inviting on the outside. But Sia could see the blackness deep within their depths. Even his smile held coldness. As a child, she had missed those signs completely. Maybe that’s how he was able to lure his young and innocent prey. His disguise easily instilled trust, not betraying that he was a perverted monster who destroyed innocence.

To the public, he was a logical and dynamic leader. Even at his age, he was physically fit. He also looked youthful with thick dark hair, glowing skin, and barely any wrinkles. But she knew he didn’t have any genuine compassion or empathy. The only softer emotion he had was the love for his son. 

During the investigation, she had found enough evidence to know that he genuinely loved his son. It took her a while, but she was finally convinced that her cousin didn’t know that his father was a serial pedophile.

“Mrs. Manthena!” a few reporters shouted. “Please tell us why you are here,” they asked.

“I’m here to claim all this,” said Sia—stretching her hands and indicating to the huge mansion and vast expanse of the lands outside— “My birthright.”

It wasn’t the truth. She gave a damn about the birthright or anything that came with it. She was there to take away her uncle’s wealth. His connections. His reputation that he had built over the years. And the respect he commanded from the people around him.

She wanted to ruin him.

So that when he is completely broken, he will not be able to hurt anyone again.

There was a flurry of activity and noise, while the reporters scrambled to take pictures. They also began to shout out more questions.

“Mr. Naidu. You have been running the estate until now, and the people around these districts have always treated you like their leader. How do you feel about your niece taking over?”

Jagadish Naidu smiled at the cameras. “I’m happy to have her back.” Then turning towards her, “Please come in,” he invited.

Soon, they were seated at an elegant dining table that Sia remembered from her childhood. Her uncle sat at the head of the table—with Ajay and her on either side of him.

While the food was being served, polite conversation ensued around her. Her heart thumped painfully against her ribs. Every piece of furniture and the surrounding rooms reminded her of the painful agony she suffered at his hands.

At his close proximity, her hands trembled slightly in anticipation. She wanted revenge so badly at that moment that it became physically exhausting to stop herself from attacking him.

Her uncle was less than three feet away from her. Her eyes fell on the fruit knife placed in a bowl in front of her. It looked sharp and lethal enough for her purpose.

She badly wanted to blot out her pain and memories with his blood. She wanted to know the feeling of sinking the knife deep into his heart, and watching the life, drain out of him. However, she couldn’t do any of those things. Anika was sleeping peacefully in her arms. Also there were several servants around, ready to save him if needed. Stopping herself from such an easy kill did take a great effort from her end.

The lunch was a quiet affair. Soon, they were directed to another room where dessert was served. Only her uncle, aunt and her cousin, along with Ajay and she were present in that room. “Your aunt and I remembered that you enjoyed sweets a lot. Remember, how I used to help you sneak out some from the kitchen when no one was looking?” her uncle asked. He looked at Ajay, “Your wife and I used to be co-conspirators in a lot of adventures. She loved playing tricks on people around her. Except for me, because she doted on me,” he said.

Her uncle was attempting to instill some kind of nostalgia. She found it insulting that he thought she would be dumb enough to fall for such bullshit.

She watched him with a steady gaze. “I remember everything quite clearly. Especially the parts where you conspired with me to keep my own abuse a secret from everyone,” she said.

There was absolute silence.

Her uncle struggled to keep his expression neutral. His hands shook visibly. “Sia, I’m very sorry about what happened in your life,” he said. “I know you were troubled with your parents passing. I tried very hard to take my sister’s place so you wouldn’t miss them too much. But you were just a child, who was easily manipulated and confused. I’m sorry if some people made you misunderstand my affection to be something else.”

“Misunderstood your affection?” He was trying to manipulate Ajay into thinking that she was a disturbed child who had imagined abuse, where there was only love and affection. “I didn’t know affection required nine year old girls to give blow jobs and have sex with their uncles.” She tilted her head with a cold smile. “Sure, you even made sound like it was fun to do some things at first, until it began to hurt. Until, I was hospitalized enough times.”

Her uncle looked liked he had been shot. He gasped, but no other sound came out while he attempted to formulate any reply. Not surprisingly, he got up and rushed out of the room.

Dr. Kranthi, her cousin, threw her a glance with an odd look on his face and followed his father. Rita Naidu held out.  “Jay?” she said.

“Yes, Mrs. Naidu,” said Ajay’s, his voice sounding strained.

“Can I please have a few minutes alone with Sia?”

He hesitated, until Sia said, “It’s okay, Ajay. Give us ten minutes.”

He nodded reluctantly and left.

Sia and the woman seated in front of her looked at each other quietly.

 

“Dharini, wash your hands and come quickly, my child. There’s fruit custard waiting for you.”

Eight-year-old Dharini ran towards the washbasin excitedly, and cleaned up before rushing back to the dining table where her uncle’s wife was seated. Her aunt had a smile on her face as she put a large portion of fruit custard in a silver bowl that was reserved particularly for Dharini. Right from the time Dharini began to live at her uncle’s house, her aunt always made sure Dharini didn’t miss her parents. Whatever she asked, her uncle and aunt would get for her or do for her.

“Ow!” said Dharini, as she tried to sit on one of the dining chairs.

“What happened?” her aunt asked in concern.

“Uncle was showing me a new game last night. He said it won’t hurt after a while. But it still hurts,” she said, trying to get comfortable while waiting to devour her treat.

Her aunt seemed to have frozen. Even her smile had disappeared completely from her face.

“Aunty! Custard!” Dharini whined.

Her aunt didn’t make any eye contact with her. She simply pushed the bowl towards Dharini and got up to walk away.

After that day, rarely did her aunt ever speak to her in an open or friendly way.

 

“You were the enabler of my abuse,” Sia told the woman in front of her. “You might not have abused me yourself. But the fact that knowingly you chose to ignore my pain, and decided to not stop your husband—makes you equally guilty.”

“I know,” the woman whispered, looking guilty. “I knew right after I gave birth to my son that the man I married had a sickness,” she said. “I didn’t want to deal with it, because he was kind to me, loved his son, and looked after the people around him. So I rationalized to myself that maybe it wasn’t that bad.”

There were tears in her eyes. “As long as I couldn’t see the children he had been abusing, I didn’t have to think about it. But once it began to happen with you... I... I went into pieces. I’m not proud to admit, but I was busy feeling sorry for myself rather than try to save you.”

Sia didn’t say anything.

“I chose my son’s well being over a little girl’s. I didn’t want him to be shunned or affected in any way because his father was a... a...”

Sia did not want to forgive the woman in front of her. She didn’t deserve it. But somewhere deep in her conscious, she understood how her aunt’s actions or rather lack of actions were driven by the society around her and the love for her son.

“Was it you who decided to get me out of there eventually?” Sia asked, giving voice to a long held suspicion.

Her aunt didn’t pretend to not understand. “Yes. Sita was more than ready to help,” she replied.

“If you were willing to fake my death in a drowning accident to get me away from him, why didn’t you also save Mrs. Sita Chandra who was being shunned by everyone?” asked Sia.

Her aunt had no answer. “I’m sorry,” she said instead. “I know I’m selfish and a coward. Please, forgive me.”

“I might have had a barest possibility of forgiving you when it came to me. But for what you didn’t do for Ajay’s mother, I’ll never forgive you for it.”

Her aunt’s face fell.

Sia got up from the chair and adjusted Anika in her arms, before striding out. Ajay was waiting for her with a somber look on his face. “Let’s go,” he said.

As soon as they stepped out, the reporters lying in wait began questioning them.

“Mrs. Manthena, are you going to live in the house from now or in the future?”

“In the future, yes,” she lied. “Once my uncle and his family are ready to move out to a different place, and settle comfortably.”

Not bothering to answer any more questions, they continued towards their car. Just after they began to drive away from the mansion, Sia turned towards Ajay.

“Ajay?” she said.

“Yes,” he replied, keeping his eyes on the road. She saw that his fingers were clenched on the steering.

She knew why. “Would you like to stop by your childhood home?” she asked softly.

“No,” he replied. He didn’t elaborate or speak much during the rest of the journey.

The village held bad memories for both of them. She wondered when—if at all—they would be rid of those memories.