In front of Aganahai, Kapilan held out a yellow thread.

"Tie the thaali onto this and give me the chain. I need money for the business. I have to pawn the jewelry," he asked.

Aganahai’s eyes looked toward her mother-in-law, who was sitting in the hall. On her mother-in-law’s neck were a double-strand chain, two twisted chains, an attigai, a thick thaali chain; on her ears were heavy mango-design studs; her arms were full of heavy bangles, and there were rings on six fingers.

Sitting next to her and watching TV was her sister-in-law, who had gold anklets on her feet, a gold watch on one wrist, and a gold bangle on the other. In her cupboard, there would be four sets of earrings, five types of haarams, three kinds of necklaces, and two dozen bangles.

At Aganahai's parental home, they had sent her off with forty sovereigns of gold jewelry. Kapilan took all of it and pawned it at the bank. In the end, all that remained on her neck was this three-sovereign chain and half-sovereign thaali that her husband’s family had given.

After looking at them, Aganahai turned to her husband and snatched the yellow thread from his hand.

A few minutes ago She was standing by the bedroom window. If he had just directly asked for the jewelry, perhaps it wouldn’t have hurt so much? He had embraced her from behind, given her kisses, pressed his lips to hers, written poetry poetically with his lips alone, and only then asked for the jewelry.

Did he think she would only give the jewelry if he seduced her?

As soon as she took the thread, Kapilan went out.

There was a piece of turmeric near the window. Aganahai picked it up and tied it to the yellow thread.

Anicham, the sister-in-law who was in the hall, said, "Anna, can you send a thousand rupees to my account? There's an urgent expense."

Kapilan sent the money without even asking why or what for, and said, "Sent it."

"Thank you, bro," she said, pinching his cheek, and ran off from there.

Kapilan’s mother, Semmalar, switched off the TV and got up. "Your aunt is coming to town tomorrow. Book her a train ticket. And tomorrow when you’re coming back from work, buy three kilos of vanjaram fish," she said.

"Okay, Ma," Kapilan said.

"I’m going to the temple with the aunty next door. Be safe," she said, speaking to him like she would to a child, and left.

He went to the bedroom, having already calculated how long it would take to remove the thaali from the chain and string it onto the thread.

As soon as he came in, Aganahai held out the thaali chain along with the thaali to him.

He looked at her face in shock.

"What is this?" he asked angrily.

"Does it only count as a thaali if it’s made of gold? This is enough for me," she said, showing him the thaali thread that was now swinging against her chest along with the turmeric bulb.

He looked at her with the same anger. "You don’t have to give me the jewelry out of hatred," he said.

"It’s not hatred. It’s torture. Even if I tell you, you won’t understand," she said. She took his hand, placed the jewelry in it, and started to leave.

He caught her by the shoulder and stopped her. "Why are you angry now? I’m only asking for the business, right?" he tried to speak in a placating voice.

She slapped his hand away, stood up straight, and looked him in the face.

"Why don’t you ever ask your mother for anything? Why don’t you ask your sister or brother or sister-in-law for anything?" she asked.

He rubbed his forehead. "You’re the one who’s my wife.." he said.

"Only for this am I your wife. When your mother or the others ask for money, you give it to them without asking for accounts? But for me, even for ten rupees you ask for the accounts four times," she said, her eyes welling up.

"I’m a young girl too, right? Wouldn’t I also want to wear jewelry? You took all the jewelry. When I went to your cousin’s baby shower, everyone else was wearing jewelry. They look at me with contempt. Everything I have is imitation, they ask if your house didn’t give you any jewelry. You’re the one pawning it. Then why should my parents get the bad name for it?" she asked.

He cupped her face. "Look here, this is for us. After the business grows tomorrow, who am I going to spend it for? It’s for you only, right?" he said.

She turned her gaze away with a bitter smile.

"Please stop saying these deceptive words. You took forty-three and a half sovereigns from me, but you couldn’t even get me a pair of imitation earrings. When you say you’ll do something for me tomorrow, my heart refuses to believe it. If I call and ask you to buy flowers worth ten rupees, you come home and say you forgot. But whatever your mother says, you remember it correctly and do it even after a month," she said. Then, hearing the child’s whimper, she moved away from him.

"Go do whatever you want. Just don’t talk to me like this. That’s enough," she said.

She picked up her whimpering son from the cradle. The child was one year old.

"So you’re with me only for the money?" Kapilan asked.

Holding the child close to her chest, she turned and looked at him. "So did you marry me only for the jewelry?" she asked back.

"Don’t keep fighting all the time. I came to take the jewelry with trust," he said, then threw the thaali chain onto the bed and walked off.

'It feels like I could handle even a thousand people coming at me with knives in this world. But I can’t bear his anger. His anger might be more powerful than even the punishments of hell..'

"Kapila!" she shouted.

He was about to step over the threshold of the room and turned to look back. His nostrils were flared with anger.

"The fault is mine. Come and take the thaali chain," she said.

"Are you giving me alms?" he asked.

Tears filled her eyes. "I already said sorry, didn’t I!"

His gaze remained unchanged.

She got angry at herself. 'We’ve given him everything. This is all that’s left. Why should we fight here and make ourselves look like the bad one?' she regretted.

Lowering her head, she said, "I’m a fool. That’s why I spoke without thinking. Sorry."

He came up to the bed and picked up the thaali chain. Glaring at her the whole time, he left from there.

Aganahai fed the child and sat him down on the floor. She picked up a toy and placed it in front of him. Her son, Udaykrish. The one who had become her entire world.

Two years ago, she and Kapilan got married. Arranged marriage. She liked him. At that time he was working at a private company. She married him willingly too. The first two months were love, love, love...

In the third month she got pregnant. In that same month he opened his business. From then on, he would often take her jewelry and pawn it at the bank. In the beginning, she gave it to him with trust. But it was only later that it started to bother her that he never took jewelry from his mother or his sister.

In this second year, it had come down to her last piece of jewelry.

She felt anguish and sadness. "If I had started some work like this, wouldn’t he have helped me?" she kept thinking this and consoling herself.

While she was playing with the child, she heard the cook’s voice calling, "mam..."

She came to the hall. "Come in, akka," she called.

When the woman asked, "What should I cook today?"

Aganahai called her mother-in-law.

She told the cook what her mother-in-law had said.

"Okay, ma," the woman said and went off to cook.

Even that woman had a thin gold chain around her neck. Thinking of her own neck, Aganahai’s eyes welled up.

People at her mother's home keep asking questions too — 'When will your husband return the jewelry?'

Mother-in-law, sister-in-law, co-sister — none of them have any affection for me. They never think, 'She’s here with a bare neck, at least when she goes out we could lend her our jewelry.'

She came back her room sadly and continued playing with the child.

At night, mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law, and husband all returned home. The elder brother and co-sister had gone on a tour abroad.

Kapilan didn’t look at her directly. He was still angry.

The child stumbled up saying "Ppa..." and Kapilan picked him up and went to the terrace.

Dinner time came. The two of them were nowhere to be seen.

"Bring Kapilan for dinner," mother-in-law assigned her the task.

She went up to the terrace.

Kapilan was sitting leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. The child was lying asleep in his lap.

She went near him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

He opened his eyes from his half-sleep. Seeing her, he hissed, "What?"

She picked up the child and said, "Come eat."

He got up and came along reluctantly.

That night he sleep with his back to her.

She had no words to describe her fate. She held his shoulder and turned him toward her.

"I’m sleepy," he said.

If she had said the same thing, he would have stayed angry for a whole week just for that.

Not wanting to trouble him, she turned over and trying to sleep.

The next morning, after finishing her work in the kitchen and coming back to her room, she found her sister-in-law pulling out her sarees from the wardrobe and holding them up against herself one after another, admiring how they looked.

The scattered sarees were piled on the floor. Kapilan came out of the bathroom and saw his sister. He didn’t say anything.

Picking up a silk saree, Anicham said, "There's Culturals at college, anni. I’m taking this," and left with the saree. On her way out, her foot touched a saree lying on the floor. But she left as if she hadn’t noticed.

To be continued..

Aganahai gathered the sarees lying on the floor and stuffed them into the wardrobe just like that.

Kapilan came near, picked up his clothes, and said, "She knocked them down in a rush to go to college. Don't make a scene over it."

"Does it look to you like I'm making a scene?" Aganahai asked in a low voice.

"Don't start a fight," he said, putting on his pants. He took off the towel. He put on his shirt.

"Something is wrong between the two of us. My tears look like acting to you. My sorrow looks like anger. Even now, what I feel inside is pain. And to you, this looks like a scene," she said.

"I'm getting late for office. I've got a thousand and eight things to do. You sit at home and don't know any hardship. That's why you talk like this," he said.

He buttoned the last button of his shirt and looked in the mirror to comb his hair.

"One day you'll have everything. But I won't be there," she said.

his hand froze.

He turned around.

Gritting his teeth, he slapped her hard on the cheek. "So now the problem is that jewelry, isn't it? Damn it, I shouldn't have taken it from you. I should hit myself with a slipper," he yelled.

His mother, father, and younger sister came to his room.

"What happened, son?" his mother asked.

With her eyes, she begged him, 'Please don't say it' No matter what kind of fight arose between the two of them, she was ready to handle it. But in her heart she pleaded, 'Don't dump me in front of others'

"She's fighting because I took the jewelry," he said.

Aganahai's heart shattered in two and cracked apart.

"Did he sell the jewelry he took? Or did he eat it up? He pledged it for the business, didn't he?" asked his mother-in-law, Semmalar.

"People came offering a girl with five hundred sovereigns of jewelry for him. He said no to that alliance because he saw you and liked you. Be grateful, girl," said his father-in-law.

"Do you have to stress him out right in the morning? How will he go and work at the office? If you, his own wife, don't understand him, who else will?" his sister-in-law, younger than her, gave advice.

"Redeem the jewelry quickly and throw it in her face," said Semmalar.

Tears poured down Aganahai's eyes like a waterfall. This life and these moments hurt like death. In fact, it seemed to her that even death wouldn't hurt this much.

He glared at his wife and picked up his laptop bag.

"Come eat, kabi," his mother called.

"No," he said and left from there.

For Aganahai, it felt as if she had been stripped of her clothes and made to stand before a thousand people.

'What sin did I commit? The fault is mine. I should have stayed silent when my sister-in-law stepped on my saree. But is every mistake mine alone?' she asked herself.

"In this day and age, girls have no love for their husbands. Money is their only need," Semmalar muttered.

When talent is doubted, a person grows that talent even more. But when love is doubted, that love begins to lose its life.

For her too, love was losing its life inside. On top of that, it tormented her, telling her to destroy his life as well.

With tears streaming from her eyes, she stood staring at the floor.

"These women won't help their own husbands in any way. But once the husband becomes successful tomorrow, they'll separate that husband from his parents," said her father-in-law.

"It's all because of my brother. If he had kept his wife in her place, why would she act like this?" asked her sister-in-law, and left from there.

His father-in-law and mother-in-law also left.

She sat down on the floor. She wondered if she should get a divorce and leave. That was the easiest thing to do. But if she left like that, wouldn't even more bad names be pinned on her?

She liked neither the world nor life.

***

Kapilan had reached the office.

He felt angry at his wife. She says she won't be there when everything else is there. How arrogant must she be to say that? Am I wasting money unnecessarily? Isn't it for her that I'm working? Why doesn't she understand that, he scolded her in his mind.

***

Kantha had come to a big company. A few days earlier, he had explained his project to the key officials of that company.

They had also said they would give their decision today.

As soon as he arrived, Karthikeyan, the CEO of that company, took a document and placed it before him.

"We are funding your business," he said.

He felt like jumping with joy.

"Your company and our company will work together for the next ten years. Sign the document," he said.

He signed the document with joy.

He left the place, Happy by the thought that both his life and his path were about to change.

As he stepped into the elevator, his cell phone rang. It was his sister calling.

"Hello?" he answered, his voice brimming with excitement. He was thrilled at the prospect of being the first to share this good news with his sister.

But on the other end of the line, she sounded sadness. "Hello, Kantha..."-the sheer despair in her voice was enough to make him crumble.

"What happened nagai?" he asked anxiously.

"I am going to commit suicide...." she sobbed; hearing those words, his legs began to tremble.

"What are you saying, you fool?" he roared.

"I don't want to live anymore. I've told you about my in-laws' house before, haven't I? My husband took all my jewelry. I handed it over willingly, with complete trust and happiness. But today, they're calling me a 'gold digger.' My dignity is gone. I have no desire to go on living..." she wailed uncontrollably.

"Don't cry, nagai... please," he pleaded.

"I'm ending my life because I trusted you. Just promise me you'll take good care of my child..." she said through her tears. "Stop it! Give me one day-just give me a chance," he urged.

"Do you think you can change my mind? It wouldn't make any difference anyway. I'm already dead inside. Whatever you say to a mere corpse is utterly useless..."

At that moment, he clutched his head in misery.

"Come to your father's house. I'll be there too. Just for half an hour. After that, you can make whatever decision you wish," he said.

"My elder mother-in-law is visiting today. I have to stay here. Otherwise, I'll get an earful."

He gritted his teeth. "I asked you for just half an hour of your time. Come along-without worrying about the future at all," he urged, as he walked toward the entrance of the office building.

Getting into his car, which was parked in the lot, he set off for his sister's birth home.

When he arrived, his father wasn't at home. Thinking 'very good', he entered the house.

As soon as his stepmother saw him, she said "Come, thambi," out of formality.

Kantha and Aganahai are twins. His mother and father got divorced in the second month after the children were born. Kantha went with his mother. Aganahai stayed with her father.

Aganahai's father remarried soon. Her father raised her by lying to her that she was the child born to him and his second wife.

Only a few years ago did Aganahai learn the truth. But because she hadn't spoken or interacted with her biological mother for many years, she couldn't bond with her. However, she did grow close to her twin brother.

Afraid that her in-laws would look down on her if they found out she had such a past, the people in this house hid the fact that she had a brother like this and that she was the daughter of the first wife.

Half an hour after Akanagai reached the place.

Upon seeing the child Krish, aganahai's step-mother took him into her arms with great affection.

"Why does your face look like this? Why have you been crying?" her step mother asked.

She could not bring herself to say, "I have decided to commit suicide!"

"It's just a headache. This boy didn't let me sleep at all last night. That's why my face looks this way!" she lied.

"Kantha is here. He's in your room," her step mother said.

"I'm going to go talk to him. Please put the baby down for a nap," she said, and then headed toward her bedroom.

Kantha, who was inside the room, turned to look as she entered.

Stepping close, he pulled her inside and closed the door.

"What happened?" he asked, and she recounted the entire incident to him in detail.

"In that case, your in-laws need to be taught a lesson. And I'm going to be the one to teach it to them," he said; she looked at him, confused.

"They don't even know that I have a brother like you. What exactly do you intend to do?" she asked.

"They don't know. That is precisely why I will do it," he replied, and picking up a dupatta lying nearby, he wrapped it around his head.

"I'm going to your in-laws' house disguised as you. You take care of my business," he said.

She slapped her forehead.

"Get lost, you crazy fool! For this, I'll handle my problem myself," she said, putting an end to his plan.

After seeing her brother in person, her mind cleared a little. She stayed there talking with him for half an hour and then left.

When she got home, her elder mother-in-law was waiting to give her a ritual with words. She walked in innocently and got caught.

To be continued..

Aganagai's mother-in-law told her elder sister, who had come to her house, about the fight that happened between her younger son and daughter-in-law.

"If you don't choose a bride by looking at status, this is what happens," said Semmalar's elder sister.

"We got trapped without knowing any of this. What can we say now?" lamented Semmalar. "Look, even now. She knew you were coming. Still, she's gone out," she said.

At that same time, an auto stopped at the gate. Aganagai got down carrying her son.

Her son threw a tantrum again, insisting he wanted to go back in the auto.

"Be quiet, Krish," she scolded him. When she entered the house, the elder mother-in-law, who was sitting in the hall, stood up.

"Where did you go and come back from?" she asked.

If her own mother-in-law asked, there would at least be some sense to it. Who are they to question me, she thought, and anger naturally rose in her.

"I went to my mother's house. Why, is even that wrong?" she snapped back.

"What is this? I just asked one word. For that itself, she's hissing like a cobra? How do you keep her in the house? She won't stop until she ruins this family," said the elder mother-in-law to her sister.

Aganagai's anger swelled beyond control. But thinking it was useless to show her anger, she went to her room.

"Look at her and her flashy airs and graces," the elder mother-in-law mocked, swaying her hips as she imitated her walk.

Semmalar laughed as if her elder sister had cracked some big joke.

From inside her room, Aganagai was watching what the two of them were doing. Every single one of their actions only made her angrier.

She slammed the door shut, laid the child on the bed, and tried to sleep next to him.

As soon as the door was shut, anger burst out of the two mothers-in-law outside.

"It's all because you give her too much freedom," her elder sister scolded Semmalar.

They were talking about Aganagai. Aganagai cried silently. It felt like her mother-in-law had suddenly turned extremely cruel.

She even wondered, confused, whether they had only scolded her mildly all this time for the sake of the jewelry, and now their true colors were coming out.

She covered both her ears and closed her eyes. But sleep refused to come.

She cried silently. In the evening, her sister-in-law returned from college. Her father-in-law came home after work.

Her sister-in-law came straight over and knocked on her room door. Aganagai got up and opened the door.

Without speaking to her Anicham took the child and left.

Just as Aganagai thought of going back into the room, her mother-in-law said, "The cook is working alone. Go cut a couple of onions for her. You're just eating free food at home.."

She could no longer control her rage. She pushed down the alarm clock that was placed on the nearby shelf. At the sound of it falling, the maid came running. Her sister-in-law came too.

Her mother-in-law and elder mother-in-law stood up from their seats. They looked at her as if they were seeing a ghost.

"What happened?" Hearing that voice, Aganagai looked toward the entrance.

Her husband had entered the house. He must have just arrived.

He handed the seer fish he had bought to the cook who was there. She took it and went to the kitchen.

"Your mother says I'm eating here for free," she said, her eyes filled with tears.

"Why are all of you ganging up and torturing me like this? Should I leave my nursing baby and go look for a job? If you had considered me a part of this family, would you have called me a freeloader?" she asked, overcome with sobs.

"Now what did I even say that you're shedding these crocodile tears?" her mother-in-law asked, and she shoved a book off the table.

"I'm not shedding crocodile tears," she screamed.

Kabilan slapped her hard across the cheek. "Why are you wandering around with such arrogance? In a house, there will be all sorts of things. You have to adjust. What else does it mean to be a woman?" he asked.

Her tension shot to her head. Her heart kept asking over and over, "Is there not even one person who understands me?"

"I just told her to cut some onions. For that she's putting on this drama. God, from now on I won't say a single word to your wife," said Semmalar. "I'm coming to your house akka. If I stay here, she will definitely frame me for something and kill me. As punishment for not being able to join an orphanage, I'm coming to your house. Just pour me some gruel three times a day," she said.

Kabilan glared at his wife. "Why can't you just stay quiet for a few days? I already said I'll get the jewelry back!" he said.

She wiped her face hard with both hands. "I'm not asking for jewelry. You're the ones showing your true colors because there's no more jewelry left to take from me," she shouted back.

"Shut your mouth about the jewelry," Kabilan scolded.

"I can't take this anymore. Keep that jewelry as equal compensation for the free food I ate. Give me a divorce. I'm going to my house," she said.

Kabilan and his mother were stunned.

"How dare she ask for a divorce right off the bat!? Couldn't you find a good family girl? You bring this street woman," Semmalar's elder sister asked her younger sister.

Kabilan's father peered down from upstairs. "What's the problem?" he asked.

"Nothing, Dad," he said, and pulled his wife by the arm into his room.

He shoved her inside, locked the door, and tossed his bag aside.

Standing in front of his wife, he said, "Look, this is all just a misunderstanding. Why are you talking about unnecessary things? A husband-wife relationship won't break over a small fight."

She looked at him with eyes filled with tears. "I'm not a child. Your mother calls me a freeloader. You can't even say one word in my support. You can't get me a simple pair of covering earrings. You can't bring me flowers worth ten rupees. You can't even speak a single word to support me. What's the point of this relationship? I can't stay with you anymore. I'm leaving for my house. Final decision," she said, and went to the wardrobe, took out a bag, and started packing her clothes.

Kabilan came up beside her. "This is how a family is!" he said, grabbing her shoulder and turning her around.

"A family doesn't have to be like this. If this is how a family is supposed to be, then there's no need for such a family to exist at all..." As she said that, he cupped her face.

He kissed her face. When he tried to press his lips to hers, she angrily pushed him away.

"Do you think four kisses will fix all of this?" she asked, touching her tears to show him.

"This isn't just salt water. It's the blood of my inner heart. Why should I even tell you? Whatever I say, it just looks like acting to you. Enough, I have a limit too. I'm not destined to die here anymore," she said.

"Don't make a mistake. If you want, I'll take leave this week. We can go somewhere outside..."

She tossed the dress in her hand into the bag. "Is this a bribe? I see a lot of fakery in you, Kabila. You can wake someone who's sleeping. You can't wake someone who's pretending to sleep. The fight is between you and me. But you go and spill everything in front of your mother. A husband is someone who understands what's in his wife's heart without her even saying it. But you, even when I open my mouth and say it, you take it some other way," she said.

Kabilan ran his hand through his hair. "It's not like that, Ammu..."

She shook her head with a faint smile. "Don't act. I won't be fooled anymore. I have self-respect too. If I want to protect it, I have to leave this house," she said.

He knelt down in front of her. He fell at her feet.

As she stood frozen, he said, "I am sorry. Really, no mistake will happen again. I'll try to understand you."

After all, she had an innocent, naive heart! The moment a man set aside his pride and fell at her feet, she softened immediately.

With tears streaming from her eyes, she looked at him.

"Give me just one chance. Please..." he said.

She sat down on the floor. He too got up and pulled her into his embrace.

"I am sorry, Ammu! I work only for you, right? Why don't you understand that? I love you," he said.

"I don't need you to earn crores of rupees for me. Just don't fight with me. Don't misunderstand me. Don't let me down in front of others. Stand by me," she said.

He kissed her on the forehead. "I promise, from now on I'll do right," he said.

Two weeks later...

Aganagai was undergoing treatment in the Intensive Care Unit. Kantha rushed to the hospital.

Only his father and stepmother were present at the hospital.

"What happened?" he asked.

His father clutched his head. "I feel like I'm losing my mind! Who knows what they said to her at that house? She came straight home and swallowed poison. I gave her hand in marriage believing it was a good family. But now, it looks like they're going to return her to us as a corpse..." he lamented.

He wondered anxiously why his sister had done such a thing. Inside, doctors were inserting a tube down her throat.

"Let me go! Let me die! I don't want to live anymore..." Aganagai scream in distress.

What exactly had happened there? Why had she reached such a decision?

To be continued..