Fateful Contract

The Family Drama

"You are good for nothing, you idiot. I wasted my money on you."

The accomplice of Rashmi yelled at a guy furiously.

"Ma'am, I did as you said. The guys replied fawningly.

"What did you do? I informed you about Tejasswi and Rohan's secret meeting in the basement, and you even got late." The caller yelled again.

"I got late because I was at work, but I still clicked Tejasswi Sharma's intimate pictures with Rohan Kapoor and immediately sent them to Karan Kundrra." The guy retorted. He got annoyed.

"Was that worth it?" Tejasswi and Karan walked out of the hospital together and drove off together to their meeting over lunch." The caller clenched her fist.

"Karan trusts his wife; it is not my fault. That was my last assignment, and I am not going to work for you anymore."

That was a despicable job, which the guy didn't want to do, and he cleared himself.

"You can't get rid of it. You still have many things to do for me and..."

The guy didn't listen further and disconnected the call.
She was made more furious by a subordinate talking back, but hanging up on her was her taboo.

"You lowly, odious dog, do you dare to avoid me? You need to learn a lesson, but later." She said this while looking at the phone furiously.

"First I have to plan something gargantuan for Tejasswi, haha."

She blabbered to herself and laughed evilly.

In the evening, gradually everyone walked into the Kundrra clan mansion, built by Sanjay for the entire family to live together a few times a year.

"So everybody is already here except Karan and his wife." Karan's grandmother, Anjana Kundrra, the old lady of the family, said

"Yes, mom, we are punctual, but I don't know if Karan and his wife are going to make it or not."

Rajesh couldn't help but spew venom again for the same reason.

"Why not? Didn't he promise Sanjay to have dinner together?" Anjana asked in confusion, oblivious to the chaos back in the hospital.

"He didn't, but his wife did." Sudha answered immediately. "He was too against the idea of moving in and had a cutthroat argument, slandering us for his wife."

She did her best to instigate Anjana against Tejasswi in her sweetest way. The old man was already siding with Tejasswi; she can't let the old lady follow his footprint.

"That sounds like relief, if Karan's wife ensured on his behalf. Now a days, guys listen to their wives." Anjana said this and took a seat next to her husband.

"Mom, it's foolish for you to count on that actress, who always acts. She began to sow discord between me and my son." Rajesh meddled again.

Anjana looked at Rajesh and Sudha's grumpy faces, then at Sanjay's calm face, scrolling his phone.

"That wasn't the case, dad." Shamita said immediately that she understood Anjana's confusion.

"Huh, whatever. By the way, dad, when is he going to make it? I usually have dinner early." Rajesh said this while taking a glance at his wrist watch.

"Oh, come on, dad, how would grandpa know? He is not Karan bro's assistant." Kunal said this and shook hands with Sanjay secretly.

"Why not? He was siding with that obnoxious wench, wasn't he?" Rajesh retorted.

"Your dad is never going to change, behaving like a typical mother whose precious son was stolen by his daughter-in-law." Sanjay whispered near Kunal's ear, and both giggled."

Anjana was fed up with the unnecessary commotion on the first day itself and looked at Rajesh. "What are you laughing for? Why were Rajesh and Sudha so curt for Karan's wife?"

"It's nothing, Anju; they got a misunderstanding that Tejasswi provoked Karan against his family." Sanjay spoke calmly and took Anjana's hand between his warm hands.

"What? For real? Did she do this?" Anjana panicked for a moment.

She tried to pull out her hand, but Sanjay held it firmly. "Of course not. It was Shamita who told Karan about their harsh behavior with his wife."

Sanjay politely coaxed Anjana and patted the back of her palm. He knew she loved her family the most and dreamed of reuniting them.

"Still, dad, she is the actress, which is why..." Sudha was still up to something, but Sanjay cut her off.

"Enough, Sudha; don't restart." Sanjay pinched between his eyes and said. He turned to Anjana. "Anju, if we want to reunite the family, this is the only chance. I have done my part; now the ball is in your court."

Anjana got up slowly and brought her hands together twice to grab everybody's attention.

"Guys, you all have your separate lives, habits, likes, and dislikes, but watch your tongue under my roof. After a very long time, Karan is going to be a part of the family with his wife, so I will not put up with any fuss for no reason. Did you all get it?"

Anjana's aura and tone were much more powerful than Sanjay's, and when she warned everybody, they all zipped their mouths. The entire family used to say Karan took after his grandmother.

"Hey everybody......" A few minutes later, Karan walked in and was immediately taken into a bone-crushing hug by Anjana. He was closest to her after her mother's demise.

"Grandma, you put off too much; you must eat well." Karan said, pecking her cheek.

"I was missing my companion and competitor in sea food." Anjana replied playfully and patted his cheek. Only to see Karan lift her mood.

Karan was greeting everyone formally when the phone beep heard in the living hall.

"Where is your wife?" Rajesh couldn't help but get sour again, seeing him alone.

"Her name is Tejasswi. She is running late as she has so much on her plate." Karan retorted immediately, having been prepared for this question when he walked in.

"What made her so busy that she couldn't make her first dinner with her in-laws on time? Couldn't actors plan their schedule beforehand?" Are we all foolish, jobless jerks to wait for her?"

Obviously, Rajesh got a silver platter to curse Tejasswi's heart out.

"I am sorry to say this, Karan, but Rajesh is right. She should be here on time when she made a promise to grandpa." Anjana said it with a bit of remorse.

She doesn't want clashes in the family, but she couldn't be biased for one.

"Even she didn't want it, grandma, but I said it's ok to wrap up the important task first, as we are all going to wait for Shivangi for dinner, aren't we?" Karan said this and looked at everybody with raised eyebrows.
Everybody zipped their mouths, as they had nothing to say anymore.

"Hmm, bro is right. Even Shivi is running a bit late because her flight from South Africa is going to be a bit late because of bad weather." Kunal said.

"Fine, let's......" Anjana was talking, but the loud beep of everybody's phone tumult in the living hall again.

"Why are all the phones ringing together?"

Karan checked, but he didn't receive any notification.

"Oh, so this is where your awesome wife is busy." Sudha said, but flinched to see Karan's sharp gaze. "I mean Tejasswi." She corrected herself.

Karan looked at her phone and saw a text from an unknown number.

'You must know what made the daughter-in-law of the family busy.'

After a text from anonymous number, it was Tejasswi's pictures with Rohan, the one Karan received back in the morning.

Karan squinted his eyes and looked at everybody's shocked faces, proving the entire family received the same text.

'Who has so much dare to provoke my inner devil?' He clenched his fist in anger.