Amuthan: "Who is this, Akka? Is he your college boyfriend? Does Uncle (Brother in Law) know about him?"
Janani: "He does, dear. Look at his face and eyes—they don't bear any resemblance to that girl's face and eyes."
Amuthan: "You're right, Akka," he said. Just then, Parvathi walked in with coffee.
Parvathi: "Please have some coffee," she offered.
Janani: "Place it on the table. Now, answer what I’m about to ask you without hiding anything. Is the girl staying with you someone you know personally? Where is she from? How do you know her?"
Parvathi: (Looking at the three of them fearfully) "Amma... I will tell you the truth. But please, don't mention this to your mother, Krishnavathi Amma; otherwise, I’ll lose my job."
Ajay: "Don't worry. No one else but the three of us will know about this. Go ahead and tell us the truth boldly."
Parvathi: "It was your mother, Krishnavathi Amma herself, who brought that girl here three months ago and told me to keep her on as domestic help."
Amuthan: "But why does her face look so terrified—as if she’s frightened by something?"
Parvathi: "She was exactly like that when your mother first brought her here. She gets terrified whenever she sees a man. She always wears loose shirts to keep her body covered. She goes through the motions of eating and working completely devoid of emotion—just like a wind-up doll."
Janani: "Alright. Now, bring her here."
Parvathi: (She went and brought the girl in.)
Janani: (Lifting the girl's shirt to check her waist) "There was a large birthmark there." (She then embraced the girl and began to weep.)
Ajay and Amuthan: (Together, they comforted Janani and helped her sit down.)
Ajay: "Janani, who is this girl? Why have you become so emotional upon seeing her?" [Scene]
Janani: Ajay, remember how I told you that I fell in love with someone back when I was in college? Well, this is him—his name is Ram.
Amuthan: Is that so? But tell me, why has he ended up like this? And why did you two break up?
Janani: I don't know why he turned out this way, but I can certainly tell you the story of why we broke up. Ram and I fell in love while we were still studying in college.
Janani: One day, my father—Sivaram—and my mother—Krishnavathi—called me in. They told me that I had to marry their business partner, Moorthy’s, son.
Janani: When I asked them, "Why?"...
Sivaram: "We’ve suffered significant losses in our business shares. Moorthy has offered to take over the business entirely—and settle our debts—if we agree to marry you off to his son."
Janani: "Dad, I’m in love with someone else. I’m going to marry *him*—and no one else."
Sivaram: "Janani, I’m getting old, and the business is failing. If I marry you off to Moorthy’s son and then sell the business, my duties will be fulfilled. After that, once your younger brother finishes his studies and returns from abroad, he can take care of us."
Janani: "Dad, your only problem is with the business, right? You don't have to sell it. Just hand the business over to Ram and me for one month. We’ll restore it to its former glory and make it profitable again."
Sivaram: [Hesitantly] He agreed, though he did so half-heartedly and without much confidence.
Janani: I went to Ram and explained the situation to him; he readily agreed to help. Together, we went through all the business accounts and identified the specific areas where our company's products weren't selling well. We fixed those issues, and soon, our sales returned to their previous, profitable levels. Seeing this, my father was overjoyed; he abandoned his decision to sell the business and gave his full consent for me to marry Ram.
To Be continued.....
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