Intertwined Fates -- An IPKKND FanFic

The Wretched Pallavi

"I want you to ruin him."

Khushi blinked a few times. "Okay," she said slowly, uncertainly, taken aback at the pain and anger in the old woman's voice. "May I know why?"

The young man pulled out a picture of his pocket and handed it to her. As she studied the photo of the twelve or thirteen year old girl squinting at the camera, the man said, "My name is Parth. This is my mother and that picture is of my niece, Pallavi."

"He ruined her," the mother moaned. "He ruined my Pallavi."

Even as anger and dread rose in Khushi's chest, she forced herself to be pragmatic. "Would you like to start a case against him? You should come see me in my office--"

"No." Parth shook his head. "We don't want to do anything."

Khushi was confused but said firmly, "Look, case or not, this isn't something that should be discussed like this. Come meet me in my office tomorrow."

"We can't do that. We barely managed to come see you now."

"Alright. Do you need privacy for this discussion?"

Parth looked at Buaji and Payal, who were quietly listening. "If you trust them not to go running to Vikrant Amit, then so do we."

Khushi didn't think it was a good idea but Payal leaned in and whispered, "Let us stay, Khushi. You can't tell us about your clients but these aren't your clients. Let them show us what you can't say."

"Fine," Khushi said. "Alright then, let's start from the beginning. How do you know Amit?"

"Our family has worked for the Amits for several generations. My father was a driver, my mother was a maid. After my father's death, I took over his position.

"I had an older brother, too. He lived in a different part of the city with his wife and children and worked as a bus conductor. One night three years ago, their house caught on fire. The only survivor was Pallavi. My mother and I took her in and we brought her to live with us in the Amit's servant quarters.

"Pallavi started helping my mother out with her chores and this was how Vikrant Saab noticed her."

The mother sighed heavily. "My poor Pallavi. She loved the rain. She was playing in the rain one day and I said to her, 'Pallavi, come inside. You'll catch a cold.' And that man, that beast, said to me, 'Let her play.' I saw the greed in his eyes as he watched her.

"I called Pallavi to me angrily and took her inside. I told her, 'You stay away from Vikrant Saab.' I didn't let her alone for a minute." Her eyes filled with tears. "Not a single minute."

Parth continued the story as his mother sobbed softly, "One day, I'd driven Nagendra Saab out of the city."

"Nagendra is Vikrant Amit's father, correct?"

He nodded. "We stayed there for a night and meanwhile back home..." he choked up.

"That beast came into our quarters," his mother wept. "Came and attacked my Pallavi. I tried to fight him off, but what could I do? His guards dragged me outside and I could do nothing as Pallavi screamed for me to save her." She wailed. "My Pallavi, my wretched Pallavi. If only I could have done something for you. If only you'd died with your parents."

Parth continued, "We tried to complain to Nagendra Saab. He tried to pay us off but I refused. We were looking for work elsewhere but he found out and told us that we had to stay with him. He wanted to keep us close so that we wouldn't tell anyone about what his son did to Pallavi. Wherever I tried to go, he stepped in and told them not to hire me.