Dheeran shouted again, annoyed at seeing Bhadran and Mullai staring at each other without blinking. Coming back to her senses, Mullai tried to remove the thali (wedding necklace) that was caught in his shirt. It was impossible. Bhadran also tried, but to no avail. It was firmly stuck.
The thali had tightly bound the two of them together. They couldn't free themselves from it. Mullai looked at Dheeran with a pained expression, and he came closer and tried to remove it. When he couldn't, he got up, took the scissors from the table, and cut the fabric around the area where the thali was caught in Bhadran's shirt button.
The thali came loose. Happy, Mullai lifted Dheeran onto her lap and began to praise him, "Dheera, how intelligent you are! I couldn't remove it, but you easily took it off! My darling!"
Bhadran, annoyed, said, "He didn't remove it, he cut it off," and got up and sat down, lifting Vaishnavi onto his lap like Mullai had done with Dheeran. Vaishnavi settled comfortably on his lap and said, "Yes! Yes!" "Anna cut it with scissors," she too chimed in, supporting Bhadran.
Mullai, who turned around at this, said, "He at least cut it that way, but you were just standing there with your mouth wide open?" She spoke without giving up on Theeran, which angered Vaishnavi. "It wasn't just me, even Dad was standing there with his mouth wide open," she said, implicating Bhadran in the process.
Bhadran, who had been enjoying listening to her talk, was stumped for words when she implicated him. Ignoring his mother and son, who were looking at him questioningly, he got up with Vaishnavi and said, "Kuttima, come, let's go take a bath," and went into the bathroom with her.
Only after he left did Mullai start to feel more embarrassed. "I don't know when he came and lay down here. And we were lying on top of him. That too, in front of the child... Ugh," she thought, feeling awkward.
Just then, Vaishnavi's laughter was heard from inside. Coming out of her thoughts, she looked at Theeran and said, "Theera, you go and take a bath too," and gave him a towel.
Theeran reluctantly took it and went inside, where the father and daughter were playing in the bathtub. Bhadran playing with the child? If his employees or business partners saw this, they would faint from shock.
Theeran started bathing separately without going near them. Seeing this, Vaishnavi said, "Anna, come here, let's bathe together." "It will be fun," she said, splashing water on Bhadran. Theeran, however, said, "No, I'm not coming," and started bathing alone.
Bhadran glanced at him once, then finished his bath, bathed Vaishnavi, and wrapped a towel around her before they both came out.
Theeran followed them, also wrapped in a towel. Mullai put out the clothes she had prepared for them, but as always, Theeran dressed himself and combed his hair.
Since Bhadran also had to go to the office, he got ready in a hurry. Dressed in his suit and looking as imposing as ever, he turned around to see Mullai applying kohl on Vaishnavi and Theeran's foreheads. She was also putting some on their heads to ward off the evil eye. Bhadran stood before her, watching.
Mullai looked at him questioningly, and he gestured with his eyes towards the kohl in her hand. Understanding, she applied some kohl on his forehead and then, taking some holy ash from nearby, she applied it beautifully on his forehead, just like she did for the children. Theeran watched this enviously and said, "Mom, I'm hungry," turning her attention to him.
Mullai said, "Come on, let's go downstairs and eat," and led them out. As she was about to go towards the staircase, Bhadran said, "Not that way, this way," and went into the elevator. Mullai looked at him in surprise and followed him inside. As they reached the ground floor in a second, Vaishnavi exclaimed, "Now I don't need to walk anymore!" "I'm going to float over," she said, laughing.
But Theeran, like his father, kept his face stern. Narayanan, who had already arrived for the meal, had already joined the children, saying, "Hi darlings, come on in!"
Mullai, as usual, served everyone, but instead of serving Bhadran, she served herself and started eating. He glared at her, but her gaze was fixed on Janvi, who was approaching them. Seeing Janvi, she remembered the kiss she had given Bhadran the previous day, and the idli she had put in her mouth refused to go down.
Bhadran also looked in the direction she was looking, and when he saw Janvi, his face flushed with anger because of what she had done the day before. However, he controlled himself and continued eating.
Having served himself the idlis, he started eating quickly.
Meanwhile, Hari also got ready and joined them for breakfast. Janvi sat and ate quietly. The reason for this was the beating he had given her yesterday.
After eating three idlis, Bhadran got up, washed his hands, and left for the office. Hari also left with Bhadran, leaving only Mullai and Narayanan's children there.
Mullai, wondering who to leave the children with before going to the office, looked up at Narayanan and hesitantly asked, "Dad, could you please look after them just for today? I need to go to the office."
Narayanan replied, "Why are you asking like that, dear? Who else will look after my grandchildren if not me? Go ahead, don't worry. I'll take care of them." This made her very happy.
"Thank you so much, Dad..." she said, and then looking at Theeran, she said, "Theeran, take care of the baby. Don't trouble Grandpa too much. I'm leaving," and after kissing him and Vaishnavi on the cheek, she left.
She hailed an auto-rickshaw, got in, and went to the office. The office was bustling with activity, just as it had been when she first arrived.
She slowly went inside and approached the woman at the reception. "Hi, I'm Mullai, the employee who came from abroad," she said. The woman replied with a smile, "Oh, you're Mullai? The other five who came with you just went inside. Go straight and turn left. The conference hall is there. Everyone is there."
She said, "Thanks," and left. Seeing her arrive at the conference hall, Prakash quickly ran to her and asked anxiously, "How are you, Mullai? Where did you go? When I went to your house, it was locked. What happened? Is there any problem?"
Mullai, hesitating about what to say, thought for a moment, "Well... Mr. Prakash, I..." Then she said, "That house wasn't suitable. So we moved to a different house. My phone was on silent, so I didn't notice your calls." She managed to cover it up with a lie for the time being.
Prakash, believing her, said, "Okay, Mullai. Come on, it's almost time for the MD to arrive," and led her away. Her colleagues were already seated there, and she smiled briefly at them before sitting down in her place.
They smiled back in return and remained silent, deciding to talk to her during the break time. Since it was a new place, everyone felt a little nervous. Mullai, more than anyone else, felt the most nervous.
"I have to make sure they don't find out anything that happened there. And I have to do this job properly," she thought for a few moments.
Prakash was running around, making the necessary arrangements for the meeting. Mullai looked at him in surprise. The reason was that he was the CEO of the company located abroad.
She had never seen him work so much. But here he was working like an employee. While she was watching him, Bhadran opened the door of the room and walked in with quick steps. Hari followed him, and everyone stood up and greeted Bhadran. He acknowledged their greetings with a wave of his hand and sat down majestically in his chair.
Mullai looked at him in shock, thinking to herself, "What is this? Is he the CEO?" After everyone sat down, she also sat down. Prakash went to Bhadran and said, "Brother, as you instructed, I've brought six people from there." Bhadran merely nodded his head, then extended his hand towards Hari, who handed him a document. Bhadran took it, read it once, looked up, and began to speak.
"Well, I think you all already know why you're here. There are six important positions vacant here. You're here to work in those positions. That's why I've sought out and appointed talented people like you. You need to work correctly for me. You must complete the projects assigned to you without any mistakes. That's all you need to do. If you do that, everything you need will come to you," he said with a stern expression.
Looking at each person seated there, he continued in a threatening tone, "No one should even dream of betraying me. If anyone even thinks of doing so, you will completely disappear. You will go to a place where no one can ever find you."
Everyone understood that he meant he would eliminate them completely, and they held their breath. It was at the moment Bhadran uttered those words that he noticed Mullai sitting there. He too was greatly shocked.