CHAPTER 33
SIYA
Mumbai
Two days later, we land in Mumbai.
The drive from the airport to Shergill Mansion passes in silence. Mom sits beside me while Raghav occupies the seat across from us, his attention buried in his phone as usual.
Mumbai isn’t new to me. I’ve been here before.
But for the first time, I’m not entering this city as a mafia princess.
I’m arriving as Raghav’s wife. As a daughter-in-law of the Shergill family.
That thought sends a strange flutter through my chest. I don’t know what role I’m supposed to play once I walk through those doors.
Given the circumstances of our marriage, I have no idea what his family expects from me when they introduce me to the rest of their relatives and friends.
The car slows before finally turning through a set of large iron gates, and Shergill Mansion comes into view.
Moments later, the car comes to a stop and the three of us step out.
Before I can properly take in the sprawling mansion, the front door bursts opens and Kailash Uncle walks out excitedly as though he has been desperately waiting for us.
“There you are!” His face lights up the moment he sees us.
Raghav immediately walks forward and touches his feet. The sight still surprises me every single time. Uncle places a hand over his head in blessing before pulling him into a hug.
“I’ve been waiting for you all,” he says warmly. “You have no idea how happy I am that you’re finally here.”
Then he turns towards Mom. “How are you, Rukmini ji?”
Mom smiles back. “I’m doing well. It’s good to see you again.”
“No formalities,” he says at once. “Welcome home.”
Then his gaze shifts to me. For a second, neither of us says anything. Maybe because he already knows that I haven’t exactly had an easy journey to reach here. I instinctively bend down to touch his feet, but before I can, he gently stops me.
“God bless you. I’m so glad to have you here, Siya beta,” he says softly. “Meher has been waiting for you. Let’s go inside.”
He leads us towards the mansion. Mom walks beside him as they continue talking. Raghav and I follow behind. I can feel his gaze on me, but I deliberately keep my eyes fixed ahead. Because right now, all of this feels strangely intimidating.
As soon as we cross the entrance, I hear Meher’s excited voice.
“Siya!”
She’s already walking towards me. Or at least trying to. Her twins have made it difficult for her to move quickly, so I head towards her instead. The next thing I know, she wraps her arms around me in a tight hug.
“Oh, thank God you came. I was losing my mind,” she says dramatically.
I laugh despite myself.
“You have your full family helping you,” I reply. “Why would you lose your mind?”
“Because tomorrow is my baby shower, and apparently, I don’t know what to expect.”
I glance at her belly before smiling again. “You have experienced sisters-in-law. Your entire family is here. Why do you need me? I have zero experience with any of this. In fact, this is the first baby shower I’ll be attending.”
Meher’s smile softens as she reaches for my hand.
“I know I have people to guide me,” she says quietly, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. “My bhabhis (sisters-in-law) are experts at this. They’ve been through all of this before me. But they belong to the Walia side of the family.”
She pauses, her eyes locking with mine. “Tomorrow, when everyone gathers around me, I wanted someone from my Shergill family, my sasural, to stand beside me as well. Raghav is older to Ayaan ten minutes, which technically makes you my jethani (elder sister-in-law). So who better than you to take that place from this side of the family tomorrow?”
I blink, momentarily caught off guard, not only by the fact that Raghav is older than Ayaan but also by how effortlessly Meher makes me feel as if I already belong here.
And here I was, spending the entire journey wondering what to expect from this place and this family.
The truth is, I’ve never known a family like this before.
My entire world has been limited to Mom, Dad, and a brother whose favourite hobby seemed to be bullying me at every opportunity.
There were no cousins running around the house.
No relatives dropping by unannounced. No large family gatherings to teach me what those bonds truly looked like.
I never had friends close enough to trust with my secrets either.
The world I grew up in was too dangerous for that.
People were either allies, enemies, or risks. Nothing in between.
And yet, standing here now, surrounded by people who have known me for barely any time at all, seeing them welcome me with so much warmth feels overwhelming.
My eyes sting unexpectedly. Instead of saying something foolish, I simply step forward and hug her again, and the nervousness inside me eases a little.
As I pull back, my gaze shifts past Meher and lands on Mom, who’s standing a few feet away, watching us with relief in her eyes.
For years, she has worried about the kind of mafia family I would eventually be married into.
Today, for the first time, I see some of that fear loosen its grip.
Mom finally steps forward and hugs Meher.
“Enough talking now,” she says with that familiar motherly firmness in her voice. “You need proper rest. Look at yourself. You shouldn’t be standing for so long.”
Meher immediately makes a face. “Rest is all I’ve been doing for months now, Aunty,” she complains. “Ayaan and Papa have practically banned me from doing anything except eating, sleeping, resting, eating again, and then resting some more.”
Mom laughs.
“But honestly,” Meher continues, rubbing her stomach affectionately, “I can’t wait for these two troublemakers to arrive. At least then I’ll finally have some real work to do.”
This time, we all laugh… except Raghav, of course. He keeps glancing at me every now and then. He’s standing a little away from us, looking around as if searching for someone. Meher notices it too, and a grin immediately spreads across her face.
“Ayaan isn’t home,” she informs him.
“I wasn’t looking for him,” he replies as if unbothered and turns his attention to the phone in his hand.
“These brothers are impossible,” she continues with a smile. “They fight, argue, and annoy each other endlessly. But the second they can’t find each other, they start looking around like lost children.”
“I said I wasn’t looking for him,” he grumbles.
“Sure.” Meher nods mischievously, then gives him a hug and pats his arm. “Ayaan had to step out for some last-minute work, but he’ll be back soon. Anyway,” she says, clapping her hands lightly, “you all need rest. You’ve had a long journey.”
She looks at Mom. “You can freshen up and relax for a while, Aunty. We’ll all meet downstairs for dinner.”
Then she turns towards me. “Come, I’ll show you your room.”
I nod. But before we can move, Meher suddenly turns back towards Raghav.
“Oh, by the way, Raghav, why did you ask the staff to remove the couch from your bedroom here?”
He did?
Everyone falls silent. I slowly turn towards Raghav, who is now looking at me.
Back at RK Estate, I had spent days demanding one for his room, but he had blatantly refused, convinced that the moment a couch appeared, I would throw him onto it.
Apparently, the man had prepared for that possibility even before arriving in Mumbai.
A laugh threatens to escape me, but I manage to hold it back. Unfortunately, everyone else now looks thoroughly confused by his decision. Only I know exactly why the couch disappeared from his bedroom here. I look away before my smile becomes too obvious.
“So?” Meher presses. “What was wrong with the couch?”
His jaw tightens. “Do I need permission to rearrange my own room?”
Meher blinks.
“And anyway,” he continues, completely unfazed, “I never liked that couch. So I got rid of it.”
Meher still looks unconvinced. “That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
The very next second, his phone rings. The timing is so perfect that I almost laugh. Raghav glances at the screen in relief.
“I need to take this.”
Without waiting for a response, he answers the call and steps aside.
Coward.
Meher watches him leave and comments, “He’s definitely acting strange.”
I lower my gaze before anyone can notice my expression. If only she knew.
Baba chuckles and adds, “I’ll leave you ladies to settle in.” Then he looks at Mom and me warmly. “Please get some rest, Rukmini ji. Dinner will be ready in an hour.”
With that, he heads towards the kitchen, already discussing something with the staff.
Meher slips her arm through mine. “Come on.”
Together, Mom and I follow her towards the grand staircase. For the first time in years, walking into a house doesn’t feel like enemy territory. It feels a little too much like coming home.
****************
A few minutes later, I stand in the middle of Raghav’s room and slowly look around. This is the room he uses whenever he comes to Mumbai and spends time with the Shergill family. For some reason, that thought alone makes me study every corner more carefully.
The room is surprisingly spacious. Floor-to-ceiling windows open towards the mansion gardens, filling the space with natural light.
A king-sized bed occupies the centre, while one entire wall is lined with bookshelves filled with a variety of books, from business and history to crime thrillers and biographies.
My gaze falls on a framed photograph resting neatly on a side table.
It’s a picture of Raghav and Ayaan with Kailash Uncle in the middle.
“That one was taken on my brother Vishnu’s birthday last year,” Meher says, noticing me looking at the photo. “You won’t find many photographs of him with the family. He rarely lets us take his picture. But that day, for once, he didn’t object.”