‘That’s it. The money in the bank and the house will be transferred,’ he replied.
‘Are you able to furnish my client with information about her father’s knowledge of her marriage?’ asked Sen.
‘Mr Archary was not obliged to inform me of such, however we did discuss it. He hired a private investigator to track Mrs Naran down six months ago.’
Definitely a reality show about a dysfunctional family, Neel mused.
‘For what purposes?’ Sen asked.
‘He wanted to make amends.’
Kaavi’s ‘I’m a bad bitch’ attitude was back.
‘Is there anything else we need to know?’ she asked.
‘Not formally. But I can say that Jay wanted to make amends.’
‘Then why didn’t he?’ Kaavi’s uncle asked.
‘Because the private investigator reported back that she was happy,’ the lawyer responded.
‘And she should be, especially after what he did,’ her mother suddenly said.
Neel felt Kaavi’s body stiffen next to him.
‘I think we’re done here. I’ll await documents for the transfer of the capital and property,’ Sen said.
Kaavi stood before anyone else. The others followed, but Neel didn’t rise. He looked around the room. There was something more to this. It was more than just her father being a controlling bastard.
‘Neel?’
He stood. ‘Let’s get out of here,’ he said.
Kaavi was not having any of it.
‘I DO NOT want this house. He wanted me to know that he’d won. That’s why he sneaked my married surname into his will. He wanted to say: “Look Kaavi, I won”.’
She paced the room. Neel was still trying to figure out how her father had acquired five million rand.
‘You could accept it and sell it,’ her aunt offered.
‘If I accept it, it’s me accepting defeat,’ Kaavi replied.
Her grandfather sighed.
‘Kaavi, don’t you see how this is eating you up? Don’t you see what it’s doing to you … what it’s done to you? Your marriage. Think about that. Think about all the other things it’s going to steal from you. It’s stealing joy and you’re letting it,’ her grandfather said.
Neel sat up straighter. He replayed her grandfather’s words in his head. What did this have to do with the marriage?
He hadn’t uttered a word since they arrived at her parents’ house. Everyone had an opinion. He and Shona were the only two sitting silently, observing.
‘I’m letting it, Granddad? Do you think I don’t want to forget it happened?’
Neel had had enough. He stood.
‘Kaavi, we need to go,’ he said.
‘Go?’
