The next morning, when Anika went down to the kitchen, she saw a couple of smiling faces. Tentatively, she smiled back.

“Dr. Singham, where would you like to have your breakfast?”

Anika looked at the girl and recalled seeing her last evening. She had been standing close to the other girl who had the allergic reaction.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to join some of you. That is if you haven’t had breakfast already.”

The girl’s smile widened. “Sure. I’m Sonu by the way. I usually have my breakfast at eight in the garden.”

“That sounds great, Sonu. Let me know what I need to carry from here.” Anika saw several large dishes laid out on the humungous kitchen island. She hadn’t had a chance to explore the mansion yet, but she was looking forward to it.

“Oh no! You don’t have to carry it. I can bring them, and we have several helpers who can do it as well.”

“I insist.” She smiled at the visibly surprised girl.

She wondered why the girl looked so surprised when she insisted on helping. The people in the house addressed the man she was married to, by his name. The people here were considered part of the household rather than help. It was a complete contrast to what she had noticed at the Prajapati household. There was a clear expectation of deference when it came to Neelambari and Sabitha. In fact, she couldn’t imagine her aunt or cousin asking their maids and other help to call them by their first names.

Did that mean, the man was not as much of a monster as she expected him to be?

How bad could he be if his people addressed him by his name?

With that thought, her mind eased a little. Picking up the tray with a few dishes placed on top, she followed behind Sonu.

They sat near a part of the garden that offered a spectacular view of a fountain with a large lotus pond. There were other vivid colored flowering plants around it. Combined with the sounds of birds singing, it was very peaceful.

Anika frowned as a thought struck her. “I thought there was a drought. Why is the water being wasted this way?”

“Recycled water… ” Sonu answered in between bites. “Water used from the mansion is collected and filtered.”

“I see.”

Anika didn’t know what to think of this place. On the one hand, they believed in curses and superstitions, while on the other hand, they made use of modern technology.

Just as they continued with their breakfast, an old woman appeared next to them.

“I have an indigestion problem,” she said.

“Excuse me?” Anika asked.

“I’m not able to move freely or do any work because of it. Can you check me and give me medications for it?”

Anika shook her head. “Sorry. I don’t have the equipment or the medications to treat you. You should check with Dr. Rao? He…”

The woman frowned. “No. Dr. Rao is always busy seeing other patients who have life-threatening injuries. I’m sure you can help. You helped Meena last night.”

“Yes, but that was…”

“Please. I’m an old woman. I am feeling useless with this stomach irritation. I’m not able to work properly.”

“I understand. But…”

“Please.”

Anika sighed. “Okay. I might have something in my medical kit. I’ll check and give it to you.”

“God bless you!”

After the woman left, Sonu and Anika finished their breakfast and took the dishes back to the kitchen.

“Thank you for keeping me company for the breakfast, Sonu. Do you have time to accompany me around the mansion grounds?”

“No problem,” said Sonu with a smile. “I’ll be off to school now and will be back in the evening. If you wish, I can show you around the mansion grounds during that time. It’s beautiful around sunset time.”

Anika smiled. “Deal.”

After waving goodbye to Sonu, Anika went up to the bedroom to bring the medications to the old woman. She knew the man would be gone by then.

Grabbing the medications, she searched and found the woman waiting near the kitchen. She gave the tablets to her along with the instructions.

She then returned back to the suite. The next couple of hours she spent in frustration trying to guess the password of the computer. Then an idea struck her.

She waited until Lakshmi came up to the suite with her lunch.

“Do you know Dev’s number? I need to ask him something.”

Lakshmi didn’t hesitate and wrote down his number on a piece of paper.

“I don’t have a phone. Can I borrow your mobile phone?” Anika asked.

Lakshmi looked surprised. “We don’t have mobile towers, just a few satellite phones. I don’t have one.”

Anika’s face fell.

“Malini has one. Let me bring it up to you,” said Lakshmi before leaving the room.

Ten minutes later, Anika tapped her foot nervously as the phone began to ring. Dev answered after several rings.

“Dev?”

There was silence on the other end.

“Dev, this is Anika.”

“Anika! Sorry I didn’t realize you were calling me. How are you?”

Anika took a deep breath, mentally crossing her fingers. “I’m good. I called because I wanted to know if there is a computer I could use. There’s one in the room, but I forgot to ask…Abhay…the password.” The man’s name felt strange on her tongue, and it caused a small shiver to pass through her body.

“No problem,” said Dev. “The password is Arundhati. A-r-u-n-d-h-a-t-i. Ask Abhay to get you a phone—”

Dev broke off to speak to someone on his end. Anika could hear him get angry and upset about something. She was about to hang up, thinking he had forgotten about her, but he returned. “Sorry about that. Can I call you back, Anika?”

“That’s okay, Dev. I just needed the password. Thanks.”

After ending the call, she smiled and handed the phone back to Lakshmi. As soon as the other woman left, Anika locked the room and tried to log into the laptop.

She almost shouted in sheer relief when she was finally able to log in successfully.

Heart pounding, she spent the next two hours in front of the laptop, and then wiped away all the traces of her browsing history.