Leela stared flabbergasted at the picture on the floor. Her reputation, that she'd valued so much would be in tatters in less than five hours. And it wasn't because of illiterate and good for nothing Anupama. It was because of her educated and beautiful new daughter in law Kavya.

She looked at the photo in the newspaper and then lifted her head to look at Vanraj, her eyes filled with unshed tears, silently accusing him of falling in love with a tramp who had gone ahead and ruined the family's reputation forever.

Vanraj stood there stunned, vacillating between anger, guilt, and frustration. The picture looked oddly familiar, almost as if he'd seen it before. But how?

Toshu, his wife, Samar, and Pakhi stood there, muted, awaiting the thunderous reaction that they'd often seen Vanraj dish out to their mother on her smallest of errors.

Hasmukh, as always, stayed silent.

"How.. How.. how did you...??" Kavya stammered, perspiring. Her palms had suddenly turned clammy. Her eyes kept darting towards Vanraj whose refused to leave the newspaper.

"There are some perks to being Anuj Kapadia's fiancé, won't you agree?" Anupama retorted.

"But..but.." Kavya couldn't coherently string a sentence together anymore. She was certain she'd have a panic attack at any time. She almost prayed that she did.

Unaware of Kavya's frantic wishes, Anupama took a step towards her. "You're wondering how come I have a copy of tomorrow's newspaper? Like I just said, there are some perks to being THE ANUJ KAPADIA's fiancé."

Vanraj who was silently watching the entire debacle began to walk threateningly towards Anuj.

"How dare you, Anuj Kapadia. How dare you do this with my wife?"

Before he could walk three steps Anu placed herself between Vanraj and Anuj, her blood-red eyes warning him of dire consequences should he take another step forward in Anuj's direction. She lifted her hand and held her palm out straight. 

STOP.

Vanraj took a step back, for the first time afraid of what Anupama might do.

"Anu, you're supporting this cheater, this womanizer?" Vanraj asked pointing to Anuj.

She cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. Unable to understand her body language, Vanraj walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Anu, listen to me. I know I've wronged you but I never maligned your reputation publicly. This article, this picture," he said pointing to the newspaper on the floor, "everyone knows you're Anuj Kapadia's fiancé. Tomorrow morning you'll be a laughing stock."

When Anupama didn't respond, Vanraj shook her by the shoulders. "Anu are you listening to me. Anu..."

"ANUPAMA. My name is Anupama, Mr. Shah. Only my near and dear ones are allowed to call me Anu. And you're neither near nor dear."

He looked at her as if she'd slapped him.

"Anuj is not a cheater, far from it. But it's not your fault. A thief feels the entire world is filled with thieves. Similarly, a cheater thinks that everyone else is a cheater too. That's human nature.

"And as far as my reputation is concerned..." She pulled out another picture from her purse and threw it on the floor as well. The picture was an exact replica of the one published in the newspaper except that in place of Anuj stood Vanraj. There was a date stamp at the bottom right of the picture - 01/01/2017. Suddenly it all made sense to Vanraj, why that picture looked so familiar.

"This is the original picture."

When Vanraj looked up at Anupama shocked, she chuckled. "You thought I didn't know?"

Kavya, who'd managed to come out of her shock somewhat, asked: "How did you.."

"How did I find this photo? You'll be surprised what a little bit of money can buy."

"What do you plan to do now?" Kavya asked defeated. Her plan had gone completely awry. She now wanted to know what was the price she would have to pay.

"Since Mr. Shah is the father of my children and I have spent 26 years of my existence within these four walls, I'm feeling rather magnanimous. I'm calling a press conference tomorrow to provide the media with a statement on this "fantastic" piece of news that has been published. I will also be sharing the original photo with them."

Turning to Vanraj, she asked: "What you need to tell me is whether I blame just Kavya for this defamation or both you and Kavya, Mr. Shah."

"Me..?? Me..?? Why would I be involved in this??"

Anupama shrugged. "I really don't have the heart to care anymore, Mr. Shah. One way or the other, this family is paying for this. The question is who all will be paying. And you have precisely 15 minutes to give me a response."

"15 minutes..??"

"That's much more than what you gave me to get out of the house."

Leela, who'd been silently watching this entire drama unfold decided to intervene on Vanraj's behalf.

"I know Anupama, that we haven't been the nicest to you, or treated you the best, but you were always the bigger person, the better person. Can't you let it go?"

Anupama looked at Leela, hoping to find anger in her heart for that woman. But all she was able to find was pity. Leela Shah's pride had been reduced to tatters because of her son. Karma had served its dessert.

"I would've Baa," she told Leela, "I would've if it had been about me. But Mr. Shah and Kavya dared to malign Anuj. And I can NEVER forgive that."

"Why? Who is he? Vanraj is the father of your children, the man you spent 26 years with..."

"And Anuj is the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. I wish he'd been the father of my children. I would've been a proud mother."

Hot tears started streaming down her face, that she furiously brushed off.

"You, Mr. Shah, Toshu, Pakhi, all you ever saw were my weaknesses. And all you ever did was make fun of them. As far as all of you were concerned, I was good for nothing - your uneducated, illiterate, tacky daughter-in-law. All of you were ashamed of me.

"But for one moment, did you ever stop to look at yourselves? At the way you treated me? None of you thought I was a human being. None of you cared if I was sick, sad, upset, or lonely. My feelings didn't matter, as long as the food was on the table, clothes were washed, the house was cleaned..."

Anu took a deep breath. There was so much she wanted to say. So much anger pent up inside her, that she could go on and on and time would have to stand still until she finished. But she'd left all that behind. There was no point in reminding herself about any of it.

"It was Anuj and Kaka who helped me get reacquainted with myself. They showed me care and concern that you would to another human being, they taught me to smile again, laugh again, restored my faith in mankind, accepted me for who I was, made me feel like a queen."

Walking up to Anuj, she placed her palm against his and intertwined their fingers. "So to answer your question Baa, Anuj Kapadia is the man I am truly, madly, deeply in love with. I worship the ground he walks on, even though he doesn't ask for it. I don't have the ability to change the past, but if there is another life, I'll pray to Kanhaji that I get Anuj as my husband even then, because I need to make up for 26 wasted years."

Leela had the decency to look ashamed.

Anupama turned her attention to Vanraj. "I'm still waiting for an answer, Mr. Shah."

Stoic in his appearance, without any emotion, Vanraj responded: "I had no part to play in this. Kavya Gandhi can face the consequences of her actions alone."

Anupama smiled. Just as the situation hit turbulent waters, Vanraj had abandoned Kavya. She expected nothing better. She didn't feel sorry for any of them.

Having done what she came to do, Anupama and Anuj turned to make their way out, when Toshu interrupted. "Ma, where did you learn such impeccable English?"

Turning to look at her son, she said: "Anybody can learn anything if someone is willing to teach. Ridiculing others is sadistic. We often tend to forget that there are many things we don't know as well.

"I know Toshu, you hold your father in the highest esteem, as any son should. But don't repeat his mistakes. Otherwise, you will be standing exactly where he is."

As she turned to leave, she gently rested her head on Anuj's shoulder, a contented smile on her lips.

Anuj had truly behaved as her partner today. He could have easily interfered and handled it for her. Yet he let her fight her battle, cheering from the sidelines, assuring her of his help, if she ever needed it. He'd let her own this battle. And he'd celebrated her victory, as he would his own.

She didn't know how she could love him anymore. But right at that moment, she just did.