“Yes mom, Thulasi’s father’s friend who absconded with the bank money…”
“What?” Thulasi was shocked.
“Yes Thulasi! I know this link long time back… I just didn’t want to make things complex for you… Let us talk about this later… And now I can’t let him escape without breaking atleast couple of his bones…”
Both Seetha and Thulasi were shocked and hence remained quiet. Ranjan started pleading…
“I am sorry sir… I accept my mistake, I will not do anything like this again…”
“I gave you too many chances Ranjan…” said Dinakaran tightening his hold around his neck.
“Please sir… I will go abroad and will never come back… I will never again come back in your way…”
All his pleadings didn’t pacify Dinakaran.
“Karan, let him go… Why do you want to have dirt in your hand? Let him run away…”
Dinakaran looked at Thulasi. She smiled at him.
“Yes Dinu, Thulasi is correct… He is a dead snake and he can’t bite… Let him go…” said Seetha.
Dinakaran stared at him…
“Ranjan, I am giving you the last chance… I will ask Kamal to give you the abroad opportunity you are longing for… If you want you can take your family with you… But I should never again hear you talking about the old engagement arrangement and I should never see you near Thulasi…”
“Yes sir, sure…I will not even think about Thulasi…”
“If you think you can cheat me, remember that I have the written confession from Kumar and I will take legal action against you…”
“No sir… Please let me go, I will never come in your way again…”
“Good run away from my sight…”
Dinakaran took his hands off Ranjan who ran away from the place without even looking back.
“Thulasi, I know about you… I just wanted to see how you handle the situation and you gave the perfect reply…” said Seetha appreciating her daughter-in-law.
Thulasi smiled…
Seetha turned to Dinakaran to say something but saw him gazing at Thulasi. Her smile widened…
“I have some urgent work in the hall… Let me go and take care of that…” said Seetha and left the place.
Dinakaran kept looking at Thulasi…
“Dinu, are you angry with me?”
“…”
“He was telling me that he will be going abroad after his marriage…”
“mmmm... But why did you even touch his hand”
“Hmmm… What is in your eyes Dinu, is it jealousy?” asked Thulasi with a grin.
Dinakaran replied with a cold stare.
“Good, atlast my Dinu has got a practical experience of jealousy…”
Dinakaran stood quiet with an irritated look. Thulasi came near him and touched his chin
“Cool down sir! Whether he is good or bad is not our concern… Let us forget about him… Always remember I am for you and for you alone…”
“I know that Thulasi…” said Dinakaran in a low husky voice and added,
“And I adore you so much… I know you are priceless treasure and that’s why I am worried…”
“Oho…”
“You know Thulasi, Ranjan knows everything about Kumar… He was aware of Kumar’s whereabouts all these years… I wouldn’t be surprised if he or his family helped Kumar to abscond… “
“Oh!”
“Yes… They came to your father’s funeral just to see the condition in your home and make alterations to their plan…”
“…”
“And that’s why this Ranjan automatically showed up when Kumar confessed everything and accepted to handover the money back to your family… I didn’t pressurize Kumar to share entire details because I didn’t want to bring back all the rubbish back into your life… and that’s why I decided against pursuing the case too…”
“I understand… Thanks a lot Dinu… I don’t know how to express my thanks…”
“You really don’t know? There are so many ways Thulasi… Like for example, you can hug me… kiss me…”
“Come on Dinu, please don’t start it again… It’s only few hours now…”
“Pch… Why can’t you be little bit lenient? Please darling… One kiss…”
Thulasi looked at the pleading Dinakaran with smiling eyes…
“Come on Dinu… Stop behaving like a small kid… You are a good boy right? Now go to your room…”
Kavya and Uma entered the room with plates.
“Oops, did we disturb the romantic scene?”
Thulasi gave a shy smile and looked at Dinakaran who was continuing to gaze at her… Thulasi’s face again changed color in shyness…
Uma and Kavya kept looking at them for a few seconds.
“Enough Dinakaran sir, we will take care of your Thulasi and make sure that no one comes near her…” said Uma with a smile.
“Yes DK, we will handover Thulasi to you tomorrow morning and till then she is under our custody…” added Kavya.
Dinakaran smiled at them and again gave a quick glance at Thulasi and left the room…
The next morning dawned swiftly and as planned, Dinakaran tied the holy knot in Thulasi’s neck in the auspicious time in front their family, friends and relatives… While Thulasi’s face was showing mixture of shyness and happiness, Dinkaran’s face was glowing with pride… He has managed to win over Thulasi and have married her… His heart rejoiced!
Dinakran was impatiently waiting in his room for Thulasi… Though they got married in the morning, he didn’t get a chance to spend time alone with Thulasi…