Sneha was seated in the waiting area of their gynaecologist's private clinic, awaiting her turn for ultrasound scan. A lone tear trickled down the corner of her eyes while her fingers absent mindedly rubbed her belly, somewhat prominent now at nearly five months. Paarth who sat beside her on the couch, gently wiped off her tears and rubbed her baby bump fondly. A pang of bitter sweetness filled the hearts of the young couple, who both heaved a sigh.

"It's almost a month now Paarth, no information right?"
Twenty eight days to be precise, since Padmini had gone missing. Private detective Siddhant and his team was putting their best efforts with no avail.

"Mmm..hhmm..." the future CEO of Jagannath Goup of Industries, was tongue-tied and emotional. He rested his head on the shoulders of his wife trying to find some solace, intertwining their hands.

"Last check up, we both sat here Paarth, you were in investors meeting; I was bombarding Mumma with questions. Ever since my pregnancy was confirmed, she was sharing so many stories, about your childhood and her own experiences during pregnancy. She was pampering me so much that, I confessed that I'd rather be here for delivery. She explained that I should not deprive my parents of that joy." She kept reminiscing her time with Padmini.

Paarth and Sneha had met in an unusual way and fell in love, at the Pet clinic. The Malhotras were animal lovers, it was in their blood. The ancestral home in their village, boasted of cattles, horses and many other domestic animals that they could possibly have. Jagannath who dearly missed the animals after moving to the city, promptly set up a farm house outside the city limits, which housed few animals and also served as the getaway for the family once in a while.

Jagannath and Paarth shared a love for equestrian and also for dogs of Indian breeds. Chandrakanth had bought four Indian Mastiff pups for his kids, two of them were at the mansion and two at the farm house. Sneha a veterinarian by profession, was working in her mentor's pet clinic and Paarth, was looking for a doctor who could regularly visit and check their animals at the farmhouse. After a few consultations, it turned out that he needed the young doctor's attention more than the animals.

Sneha chuckled which drew the attention of her husband, "Paarth remember the first meeting between me and mumma?" He gave her an annoyed 'oh not that shit' look.

"How your plan for bullying me using mumma failed miserably? You wanted her to be the scary, intimidating millionaire, but we both hit it off instantly and pulled a prank on you, instead?" She teased him for the umpteenth time and earned her favourite crooked, sheepish smile from him. Their sweet moment was paused when her name was called by the nurse.

-----

Aparna had to leave for Dubai, since the Khuranas' restaurant inauguration was pre planned event; a month after the wedding. Her presence was required by Samar's side, she couldn't let him down. Paarth and Chandrakanth attended the inauguration where the latter earned a cold treatment from his daughter.

"Babe! please speak to him for a few minutes, for my sake. Please! Just once, after that you could be angry as much as you want". Samar held Aparna in his arms, kissed her forehead and was trying to coax her, after Chandra had approached him for help.

He was perplexed, "i know how you are feeling right now; you have actually become the shadow of what you were Pari, it hurts me to see you like this. I'm sure aunty wouldn't like it either." After much thought Aparna decided to speak to her father but agreed it would not involve her mother.

She met him after the party in the privacy of her bedroom. An elated Chandrakanth wished his daughter and son in law well.

"Aparna this is my gift for you both child" he handed a beautifully wrapped box in her hand and urged her to open it. Aparna found a set of car keys, she gave her father a confused glance.

"It's for you, Range Rover latest model.."

She shoved it in his hand. "What is the cost of this?" She sounded haughty.

Chandrakanth went blank, "Don't you like the car Appu? Maybe another brand, better model..."

"Consider this my payment to you
Mr. Malhotra, get me back my mother. Can you?" She crossed her arms and addressed him in a formal tone.

Chandrakanth was stunned at her words. While Paarth and Samar had anticipated a tirade from Aparna, sadly the father never knew this side of her.

"Can your money get me back my mother? Were you able to use your power to find her in the past month?"

She turned to her husband, "Samar, you asked me to give him a chance and I did. All he could do was bribe me with an expensive gift to make me forget the fact that my mother is missing, that too because of him."

She glanced towards Paarth, "Bhai what did he gift you? A Bugatti? Or maybe a new company or some property? After all he is Chandrakanth Malhotra".

"Appu please listen to me.." Chandrakanth was trying desperately to win his children back, but without the gentle prompts from Padmini, about the right things to say, he was clueless. It was Kayla's idea to gift a car to the newly married couple.

"I will." Her voice sounded calm and firm, reminding him of Padmini. "We all are willing to listen to you provided, you tell us the truth. Where were you after my wedding? How come your number was not reachable? Even Mr. Das was not aware of your whereabouts? What are you hiding from us? Is she even alive?"

"Stop it!" He bellowed. "It's none of your business. I need not answer any of you. How does it matter where I was? Is she a saint now? She left the house without informing any of us, without my knowldege. God knows if she had any affair..."

"Dad! ".. Aparna and Paarth yelled in unison.

Chandrakanth realised that he shouldn't have let his composure slip after witnessing the look of anger and disgust on the faces of his children. Aparna walked out of the room tears streaming down her face and visibly shaking, Samar followed her.

Paarth narrowed his eyes at his father, "You are not welcome here, hope you got the wind Dad. If you wish for her to live in peace, leave. Thank God!" he let out a dry chuckle. "Samar's family is not pretentious and truly love and respect Appu for the woman she is and not for her family." He walked towards the door, "Also, I'm not bringing Sneha inside that house until Mumma comes back, there's no guarantee for her safety. Neither will I step inside that house".

"Paarth what nonsense? What do you mean not safe?" Chandrakanth was livid, the control of his household slowly began slipping from his hand.

"My mother, the daughter-in-law of this family, who lived under that roof for nearly thirty years has gone missing overnight without a trace. She is willing to divorce you, on mutual consent; which states that you are free to lead your life as per your wishes and denounced any claims or relationship with you whatsover. Wasn't that the contents of the envelope she left at the mandir? Why do you look surprised? Our attorney had received a copy too of that petition at his office and called me to speak about it." He left for the airport without his father.

----

A frustrated Chandrakanth massaged his temples, Das had just informed him that shareholders and Board of Directors were contemplating and planning a meeting, after the news of 'Padmini's alleged disappearance' floated around.

'I'm unable to answer my son and daughter, felt uncomfortable facing Samar's family and Sneha's family, after this woman created a scandal. The ungrateful mutt, just sensationalized herself!' He emptied the glass of wine in one go.

'I have to convince the Board that all is well and cook up a story that her parent was diagnosed with some terminal illness and is being treated in US or UK and she is taking care of them there. And continue the search here, also need to come up with something, so that my family believes me and sounds convincing.'

Kayla stepped out of her walk-in closet, clad in bare minimum of clothing which revealed her assets and left Chandrakanth grinning like a cheshire cat. He let himself indulge in her, wary of the impending storm.

Anonymous envelopes were delivered to Chandrakanth and Paarth individually; while one each bearing Parul's name and Aparna's name had reached them both at their in-law's residences in Delhi.

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

Date Published: August 22, 2021

Author's note: Hello dear friends and readers! Love and gratitude to all the wonderful people reading my work, voting and commenting ❤❤❤🙏🙏🙏

To the silent readers, I thank you all too! Being silent here is fine, not in valid situations in real life where it counts. Take care, stay safe!

What do you think will be Padmini's plan or course of action?

Is she going to hide away from everyone like she always has?