Mihir and Maira pushed through the panicked crowd toward the mandap. Sahir's shoulders relaxed slightly. "Mihir—you're here."
"Luckily," Mihir said, brushing dust from his torn sherwani. "Came to save your scholarly hide, *Mr. Professor*."
Maira immediately pulled Teju into a tight embrace. "Are you hurt?"
Teju shook her head, her voice barely above a whisper. "Just... tired."
"ENOUGH!" Sarkar's roar cut through the courtyard. He shoved past guests to loom over them. "You bring more outsiders to shame me? First you ruin this alliance, now—"
Maira stepped between them, her borrowed lehenga flaring. "The only shame is your blindness." Her voice turned lethal. "You've spent years crushing her spirit—"
Raj moved to intervene. "You can't—"
"**SILENCE!**" Maira's command cracked like a whip. "Don't you dare interfere."
Teju's hands trembled at her sides. "Your *reputation*?" Her voice shook. "You'd sacrifice my entire life for *village gossip*?"
Sarkar suddenly yanked Ojas forward by her torn sleeve. "This is your doing!" He shook her violently. "That night at the river—I said taking in that baby would destroy us!"
A deafening silence fell.
Teju went very still. "*River?*"
Ojas crumpled to her knees, her choked sob more damning than words.
Sarkar's laugh was vicious. "Did you truly never wonder? The morning we found you wailing in the reeds—your fancy books never explained that, did they?" He kicked a shattered garland. "We should have left you to the current."
Teju's knees buckled. The world tilted sideways as Sarkar's words echoed in her skull: *Riverbank...not our blood...should have left you...*
Maira's arms locked around her before she could collapse. "I've got you," came the fierce whisper against her temple.
Sarkar loomed over them, his shadow swallowing the shattered mandap decorations. "I curse the day I allowed this weakness!" Spittle flew from his lips as he pointed at Ojas. "That wretched child has brought nothing but shame! Her own parents knew she was cursed—why else dump their bastard in the river?"
Ojas crawled forward on bleeding knees. "Sarkar-ji, *please*—" Her voice shattered into sobs, hands clutching at his feet.
Teju's tears fell hot and silent onto Maira's shoulder. The screams building in her chest couldn't push past the numbness.
The last thing she registered was Sarkar kicking Ojas aside with a snarl. "Twenty two years of pretending. Today, the truth washes you away like the river should have."
The air turned to ice as Sarkar straightened his kurta with deliberate cruelty. "Listen carefully, girl," he spat, his voice carrying across the silent courtyard. "Right here, in front of everyone - I sever all ties with you. From this moment, you are no daughter of mine."
Teju's breath hitched, her fingers digging into Maira's arms for support. The words hit like physical blows.
Sarkar continued, cold and precise: "You have no claim to the Kakkar name, no rights to this family. You're just Tejaswini now - the bastard child left by the river."
Before the echo of his words faded, Sahir stepped forward, slipping his hand into Teju's shaking one. "Tejaswini Sahir Kashyap," he declared, his voice steady as steel. "My wife. The daughter-in-law of the Kashyap family."
Mihir moved to flank them, his usual smirk replaced by deadly seriousness. "And my sister-in-law," he added, throwing an arm around Maira's shoulders. "Welcome to the family that actually wants you."
The courtyard erupted in murmurs. Sarkar's face twisted in fury, while Ojas wept silently in the ruins of the mandap. Teju stood trembling between her old life crumbling behind her and her new family standing firm before her.
Ojas rushed forward, her tear-streaked face crumbling. "Sarkar-ji, I beg you—" She clutched at his sleeve. "She's been our daughter for twenty-two years! How can you—"
Sarkar wrenched his arm away, his voice cold as steel. "Choose now, Ojas. Either you end this foolish attachment..." He leaned closer, his whisper carrying across the silent courtyard. "Or you pack your bags and follow her out of the Kakkar family forever."
The air left Ojas' lungs. Her hands trembled as she turned to Teju, fresh tears spilling over. "Beti, I'm so sorry..." She pulled Teju into a crushing embrace, their shared sobs muffled in each other's shoulders. "Forgive me...forgive me..."
After a heartbeat that lasted a lifetime, Ojas tore herself away, nearly stumbling as she fled toward the mansion.
"Enough drama!" Sarkar barked. "Get out of my house. All of you."
Maira stepped forward, slipping a steadying arm around Teju's waist. "Let's go," she murmured. "Somewhere you'll be valued. Somewhere you belong."
As they turned toward the gates, Raj lurked in the shadows, his eyes burning with possessive fury. "This isn't over, Tejaswini," he whispered to himself, fingers curling into fists. "You'll be mine."
The car doors slammed shut—Sahir in the driver's seat, Mihir up front, the two women in back. As the engine roared to life, Teju looks back at the only home she'd ever known.
The moment Sahir's car crossed the village boundary, the ancient cave at Bandhap's forest**split open** with a sound like cracking bones. Black smoke poured from its hollow trunk as Mohana emerged - her white hair now streaked with crimson, the wrinkles on her face smoothing with renewed power.
"They're gone, Mataji," whispered one of the Daayans, prostrating at Mohana's newly rejuvenated feet. "The Kashyap twins have taken the brides beyond our reach."
Mohana's laughter sent bats fleeing from the trees. "Foolish girl." She flexed fingers that now crackled with dark energy. "No one takes what belongs to the Daayan Committee."
The thirteen witches formed a circle as Mohana raised her arms:
**"Hear me, dark lords! I birthed those half-demons in blood and fire!"**
Thunder boomed as her power surged.
"Their demon blood is MINE to command!"
The sacred river turned black. Every mangalsutra in Bandhap shattered simultaneously.
In the backseat of the fleeing car, Teju suddenly gasped - her hidden star-mark burning like a brand.
Mohana's voice echoed across the miles:
"Bring me my davansh sons... and their brides will be the sacrifice that makes us immortal!"
TO BE CONTINUED...