Lakshmi stood in front of the mirror in the washroom . She wiped water down her face with a towel .

She entered the kitchen and took a handful of dry fruits .
She popped them in her mouth as she walked into the kids room .
The kids were sprawled in their room , either reading or writing in their books / tabs .

" breakfast is ready" Lakshmi said and she continued popping dry fruits in her mouth as she went entered the hall room .

.In the kitchen.
Arjun flipped the dosa again and then folded it before placing the 40th one in the hotbox .
He took the hot box in one hand and a bowl of chutney in another hand while Ibbu held onto the plates and spoons in his both hands .

Lakshmi sat leisurely on the floor while leaning on to the pillar and all the kids sat around her while either talking or looking through their phones which were bought by their father .
" breakfast ready" Arjun said while placing the plates served with dosa and chutney .

After all the kids were served , Arjun placed a masala dosa for lakshmi in her plate and gave it to her . Lakshmi raised a brow at her husband before eating it .
Their only daughter with super dog's senses has already smelled out the masala dosa in her mother's plate .

" pops ! Where is my mawsala dosa ?" Neelu asked pointing her little finger at her father while placing her other hand on her waist with her glaring eyes . As if an injustice has happened with her .

" get yourself a husband and make him cook for you" Lakshmi said .
This was happening with Arjun since past 9 days .
Less of a father and more of a cook .

One could see his tanned skin while Lakshmi was faring better .
" papa but I'm your cute lil precious daughter" Neelu wanted to say more but was cut short by her mother .

" she hasn't gone for morning jog . Remove a dosa from her plate" Lakshmi instructed her husband and ofc Arjun wouldn't take away his lil daughter's food .

Red light buzzed around Neelu's head and she instantly hid her plate and ate quietly with a fear that her mum would surely make her father do it . She started chewing while planning how to pull her father to her side .

'One word from my mother and my father turns into a pug' Neelu mumbled while stuffing dosa into her mouth .

Lakshmi looked worriedly at her daughter before she reverted her eyes back into her plate.
She is the only one who is aware of her daughter's health....

In the study ~

" Mr.Mohan , get the files ready" Lakshmi said before disconnecting the call as she pushed the specs up the bridge of her nose while reading the documents.

After 2hours~

She looked outside the window from her study .

' Was life worth the struggle ?
What was she living for ? '

She asked herself and then went back to her table and continued reading the files on the table .

She looked at the newly constructed building sites and then asked her PA aka Mr.Mohan , to complete the legal procedures before going on with purchase .

After another 2 hours , she came out of the study room . She sat on the couch and Neelu swung her body into her mother's lap while inhaling her mother's jasmine scent .

" mumma , there is a small mountain behind house...
Shall we go and take a look ?" Neelu asked while raising her little head at her mom .

" what do you want to look there for?" Lakshmi asked while looking at her lil daughter's t-shirt with 'whatever' print on it .

" well , I wanna see if there are mushrooms there...
It drizzled in the morning right ?
I also want to see how big are those trees on the top...." Neelu kept on blabbering as Lakshmi silently listened to her daughter .

" not to the top , but I know a place where there are mushrooms" Lakshmi said and Neelu nodded immediately.

" go call your brothers" Lakshmi said and was about to get up when Neelu quickly interjected saying " they are all sleeping , afternoon nappy" .

" hmm" Lakshmi responded absent mindedly and took plastic covers from the window creek .

She came out of the house and was about to lock it after Neelu came out , but saw her youngest daughter sprinting on her feet towards the door .
"Mumma" Noor screamed and Neelu face palmed herself .

" let's make it a girl's day out on the mountain" Lakshmi said looking at neelu's dejected expression .
" okay !" Neelu too accepted it . Well , it's better than bringing all of her brothers....

They walked towards the backyard and opened a small gate . After the kids passed through the gate , lakshmi closed it and then walked with them , following a small trail filled with dry leaves and twigs .

The sounds of twigs breaking under her feet mingled with the sounds of the beetles humming....

" mumma , how about buying a puppy ?" Neelu asked remembering one of the movies in which a little boy lost his way and his dog helped him out .

" well , you have many of them at home and also a rabbit for time pass" Lakshmi said ruthlessly . Only if those sons heard their mother......

Neelu kept quite as she walked in front of her mother . She was planning to ask her father to bring back jerms from mansion . All she wanted was a lil bro for jerms.

{ Jerms at mansion.....

" bow bow bow bow"
' when will you let me get married !'
He sneezed suddenly . }

Lakshmi sat down on the soil and let her daughters sit on a fallen trunk. Both noor and neelu swung their legs as they looked everywhere .

Noor was feeling the rough surface of the trunk underneath her palm when Lakshmi caught her little hand.
" don't be scared okay? " Lakshmi said softly before placing a green caterpillar on her daughter's palm.

Noor was about to shake off that thing from her hand but was caught tight by her mother.

" Maa...aaaa " noor's voice broke and it seemed that she was about to cry.

" baby
Never be scared of living creatures
Let it be people in front of you or animals that you see around.

Now see this little one
Observe it
Do you feel that it is going to harm you? " Lakshmi asked and noor denied slowly.

" see
It's soo small
You can squash it as soon as you feel threatened or pained .
Observe it dear " Lakshmi started guiding both of her daughters slowly.

What she was teaching her daughters was how to discern instincts. How to observe and analyse anything that is in and around you.....

They started walking again and this time they found a small trail of 🍄 mushrooms leading to a big tree under which there were a bunch of colorful mushrooms.

Lakshmi started looking at the pattern and colors , after making sure that they were edible , she allowed the little ones to fill their plastic covers.

They found oyster mushrooms and put them in a seperate cover.

They ventured near by and collected wild berries. They started going down the trail and Lakshmi's eyes spotted footprints . She ignored them and moved ahead.

As soon as they reached home, Arjun took a detour and entered from the main gate. Pretending as if he had arrived just now.

" don't soil the floor " Lakshmi said startling Arjun. He smirked before removing his shoes and coming inside with bare foot.

"mother misses our children " Arjun said while he saw Lakshmi washing her feet and hands followed by face.

" hmm " Lakshmi hummed and went inside the kids room.

"the kids ought to go back school tomorrow " Arjun said and Lakshmi replied " okay " .

In the noon, Arjun took the kids with guards following them. As soon as they left, Lakshmi too left the house without wasting a second.

She went through the same trail leading to the back of the mountain and took a left in the midway. She removed the green cover over the car and drove it through a small trail which was newly made and hidden.

After 1 hour~

She reached a dark alley in between high rise buildings.

She walked through the location following the leads on the GPS on her watch.

The smell of fumes followed by burst of heat waves pushed her body back, followed by a loud sound of another blast.

Lakshmi ran through the almost burnt alley , searching for the trace of those two people.
Sweat trickled down her body as her skin started turning red.

She heard sounds of stones rumble and turned around. She started running towards the sound.

As soon she reached there, she was Antonio's half burnt body and Xiao's legs beneath her thighs were scattered near by.....

Too gruesome to see.

Lakshmi stood in front of them calmly as both of them held each other in their arms, still breathing.

" let us stay b..by...
In our last moments
Together " Antonio said as he tried to open his other burnt eye and lakshmi stood quietly.

" sorry " was the only word Xiao said while looking at her husband and then at Lakshmi from the corner of her eyes.

' Sorry for not being loyal enough to you my dear ' Xiao spoke out those unspoken words through her eyes....

' sorry that I couldn't be truthful to you too little one ' Xiao said out in her heart as she felt the pain....

Her life as been nothing but a lie
A lie wooven with lies....

" sorry " Antonio said out in his horse voice as his vocal cords pained to even breath down the air....

He didn't even know that she was struggling till now
Fighting in her own....
Now that he knew

He still could do nothing.....

Xiao's eyes slowly closed and Antonio stared at her .

The night they first met,
the quarrels they had,
those passionate moments.
Having their lil one in their arms.
Staying by together.....
' and always together ' he whispered as his eyes closed.

Lakshmi looked at them silently from aside. A lone tear trickled down it's way on to her cheek and fell on the hot sand beneath.

The one and only person who was her only family in her hardest times had left her too.....
Her world became too dark...
Too alone....

She turned around and left as the flames brushed by from behind....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following day
The sky was gloomy.
As if they were mourning....

The bodies laid cold in the coffin . Dressed up , but still couldn't hide the burnt marks.
Broken parts have been stitched together.
To see them as whole....
For one last time before they depart this world...

Fei'er stood alone in his white suit while seeing the two large boxes ahead of him. His nany told him that his mother and father were resting in it peacefully....

The whole night, he slept beside the casket. Though he wanted to peep, his short legs didn't help him.... So all he could do was to knock on the ice cold caskets before getting tired and sleeping in between them with tears in his eyes.

" Aunty
Where? " Fei'er asked as he saw his parents boxes being taken away.

" some where
Where they can sleep peacefully " lakshmi said as she lifted the little one in her arms and entered the helicopter.

" ma'am " greeted the chopper to which lakshmi nodded. A mourning hall filled with only 12 people....

They lived too silently.
They died too silently...

Soon the helicopter landed and lakshmi helped Fei'er down , followed by Ibbu.
Soon, the piece of land turned quiet on top of the hill.

The area was filled with mist .

It was a land nearer to the gods...
Embodiment of a way to heaven.

Two newly carved stones were placed on a newly made graves beside the two old ones which had vines creeping over them.

Lakshmi looked at lil Fei'er as he burned the paper money before his parents graves. Then she turned her gaze to her son who was praying at the other two graves...
The graves of his parents....

Both the kids were done with their rituals. They sat there quietly without speaking a word.
It was as if their silent mourns could be heard through the clouds....

Lakshmi lifted Fei'er in her arms as she looked at the grave .

'you should have known well that eagles and serpents were born enemies' she said as she turned around, disappearing into the mist....

Arjun was left behind to send the kids away after the funeral. He looked at the kids whom they used to call uncle had been carried away but still didn't even let a drop of tear roll down their eyes.

After he sent the kids to school , he carried noor in his arms as he went back to his mansion.

As soon as Lakshmi arrived at the mansion, she was stopped near the entrance. An old lady held something in her hands and started circling it around lakshmi and then chanted something before leaving the mansion.

Lakshmi entered the mansion let Ibbu take Fei'er to his room. She went straight to the guest room where Mahika had been staying .

Mahika, who was getting ready in front of the mirror was shocked by the sudden intrusion of lakshmi. Even before she could open her mouth, she felt immense pain in her abdomen as she hit her back to a corner wall.

" who was it? " lakshmi asked as she held on to Mahika's hair and yanked it back.

" who the hell do you think you are!
For what you have done to me is alone enough to throw you out of here! " Mahika screamed as she tried to get out of Lakshmi's grip. She was too scared looking into Lakshmi's eyes.

Lakshmi forcefully yanked her back and mahika's back hit to the wall while sliding down with immense pain all over her body.

Lakshmi kicked the side of her abdomen making her groan.

The noises in the guest room had been reported to Veer and Anita . Veer remained in his study as his wife Anita quickly paced out of the room.

As soon as she reached the guest room, she saw Lakshmi mercilessly kicking Mahika , while the later growled in pain .

" stop it Lakshmi !" Anita ordered lakshmi while the later just continued doing what she was doing.

Anita stopped Lakshmi's hand that was about to hit mahika but Lakshmi immediately jerked her hand off causing Anita to move back. A maid held on to Anita's hand for support.

" do not interfere " lakshmi raised her voice at Anita, daring to not even spare the later even if she is her mother in law....

" lakshmi! " Arjun shouted as soon as he saw his mother being pushed away and warned by his wife.

" shut up! " Lakshmi yelled back at Arjun ferociously before turning towards mahika and stepping towards her.

Seeing how Arjun and Anita couldn't dare to control Lakshmi, Mahika was scared but thrilled. Thrilled that she could make lakshmi scared and angry....

" HEHE
Hahahahaha
What did you think?
That I will tell you the name of the person behind all of this?
I will never ever tell you even if I die!
Why should you all beggars enjoy the fortune ? What rights do you have?
That brainless saraswathi and then you.
Never ever will I let you both be happy! " before Mahika could speak more, her fingers were crushed under Lakshmi's feet and snapping sounds of her bones could be heard.

" ahhhhhhh....leave....leave " Mahika yelled but Lakshmi twisted it more making her scream in pain.

" what did you think?
That I will let you off if you lay a finger on my children? " she said slowly while her face showed extreme maniacness .

Lakshmi held onto her hair and dragged her down the hall. Anita stood still, scared of seeing her daughter in law's face right now.

Lakshmi had always had a face of sleepiness since the time she has arrived, or either her eyes were droopy most of the time.
Inactive and impassive to everything and everyone around her.

This was the first time they had seen her like this. Very much different and scary at the same time.

Arjun followed lakshmi down the stairs and then he walked in front of her, almost as if guiding her to the basement which lakshmi did follow without even asking a word. As if there was a mutual understanding between them.

As soon as the basement door opened, Vardhan ( one of Arjun's men) came at the same time and looked at his boss and mistress.

He greeted them and then quietly grabbed Mahika's hair and made her stand up. He stuffed a cloth in her mouth and dragged her into the dimly lit base , while Arjun and lakshmi followed behind them.

.The door shut.

Saraswathi was laying down on a recliner chair in a lawn , unaware of the things happening in the mansion. Sanjay was seated beside Saraswathi and was soaking apples in a bowl of water, while gently rubbing on it's surface . He then placed those apples on a plate and cut them into small pieces.

" here " he said as he looked at his wife's closed eyes.

" hmm " she hummed but stayed still in a trance, feeling the warm rays tickling her skin and inhaling the scent of freshly watered garden....

Sanjay looked at his wife calmly. He didn't know what it was that made him ignore her.... It was as if her presence itself made him detest her....
Or maybe it was after 'her'......
( Meera )

He couldn't get over her.
Nor could he get over her betrayal. Even though she is gone, she sowed something that couldn't be destroyed between the brothers.....

He stopped hisbtrain of thoughts and looked at his wife. Even though he is tired of this life and tired of these fights.....
He couldn't stop them.
He had to continue this....

He looked at her belly and then gently covered her with a thin shawl .

" here " said Anu as she handed Rahul his tie. He took the tie and rumbled her hair which