But her words baffled Sharmishtha. She had never expected Swara's inner turmoil.
"I didn't know, me and Shekhar burdened you all these years. We are sorry to burden you with our relationship." Sharmishtha voiced out her inner thoughts agonisingly. Her eyes filled with tears, she wiped. She picked up Ayush from Swara's lap and left without any single word, leaving her daughter alone.
"Ma, you are taking it wrong." Swara called from back but her words fell on Sharmishtha's deaf ears.
Swara kept on staring at her mother's back. 'Why can't you understand me, Ma?'
It was afternoon when Ragini was talking with her grandmother, Parvati over a call when she saw Laksh returning from office. He threw his jacket in annoyance and laptop bag on the couch before slumping down on bed.
"Dadi, I will talk to you later." Ragini interrupted her Dadi over call looking at her husband's irritated face.
"Laddoo what happened?" Parvati asked from the other side.
"Dadi, Laksh came back just now. He looks upset. I will talk to you later." Saying this Ragini cut call before even waiting for her grandmother to come up with another question.
"Laksh what happened?" Ragini massaged his forehead.
"Nothing."
"I know something has happened in the office. Tell me." Ragini stressed.
"Papa is upset with me as he feels, I messed up things with Mehta's deal." Laksh was peeved off.
"But I trust, you will figure a way out." she did not find courage to extend their conversation looking at his sore mood.
But during dinner time Durgaprasad Maheshwari voiced out his concerns. "Laksh, you should have consulted with me or Ram before cancelling Mehta's deal." 
His statement earned every bit of attention from Sanskar. 'Laksh and his impulsive decisions.' He shook his head lamentably.
"He is our old supplier." Ram seconded his elder brother.
"I know Chachaji but he was charging us way more than market rate. We can get any other suppliers at a much lower rate and it will give us profits. I had talked with him once about the new proposed rate but he declined my proposal." Laksh tried to put his point on the table.
"But Laksh, Sanskar had already finalised the deal's terms and conditions. What was the need to cancel it at the last moment when we had a go ahead from all stakeholders?" Durgaprasad was not the one who would take any nonsense reasoning.
"As per those terms we would be getting the price rate fixed for one year but when we can benefit as per market fluctuation why can't we take advantage of it?" Laksh passed a quick look to his elder brother who was engrossed in his food. "Bhai, what do you think?" he asked carefully.
"You have a point, Laksh." Swara observed her husband was least interested in further discussion. He nodded without a thought, much unlike the Sanskar she knew over the last two years. 
'I seriously don't want to get dragged into this. I don't want to make Swara upset by contradicting Laksh.' He shook his head passing a quick glance at his wife from the corner eye who was staring at him without a blink.
"What are you saying Sanskar? We have already got the go ahead from the board of directors. What are we going to answer if we cancel it?" Durgaprasad felt disappointed with his nephew's aloofness. 
He continued in a little louder voice turning his attention towards his son, " It is senseless to go ahead with fluctuating market rates at the current situation. Do you even know how the market is volatile? It is expected that market prices will go up due to the upcoming recession. Sanskar had done proper market study before locking the rate and you...? Plus, Mehta's are our trusted suppliers. They had stood with us in our difficult time. Also, no one can match their raw material's quality." Durgaprasad raised his voice.