Velamma slammed her palm on the table. The silver spoons clattered.
Before Velamma could speak, Riya’s face hardened. “He is a child, not a servant. You have no right to speak to him that way.” Velamma Ep 44 1
The source of her turmoil was seated at the dining table: her younger son, Sunil. He was not alone. Beside him, picking at a plate of upma with a practiced air of disinterest, sat his new wife, Riya. And clinging to Riya’s saree pallu was a small, wide-eyed boy—Riya’s son from a previous marriage, whom Sunil had conveniently forgotten to mention during the hurried courtship. Velamma slammed her palm on the table
The morning sun cast long shadows across the sprawling Patel household, but no amount of light could brighten the storm brewing within its walls. Velamma, the formidable matriarch, stood in the kitchen, her silver pallu tucked firmly at her waist as she oversaw the preparation of breakfast. Her face, usually a mask of controlled authority, was etched with deep lines of worry and simmering anger. “He is a child, not a servant
“Clumsy brat!” Subbulakshmi shrieked, jumping up.
Riya offered a tight, rehearsed smile. “I know this is difficult, Velamma-ji. But I will adjust. I will follow all the traditions.”
Ramesh nodded. But as he glanced at Riya, a flicker of something unspoken passed between them—a shared grief, a mutual understanding. And Velamma, sharp as a viper, caught it.