Rajesh and Priyanka
With heavy heart Rajesh and Priyanka entered Shaina's house. They knew they were in trouble. Rajesh had committed the most foolish crime of trying to embezzle some money from his office by trying some forgery. Shaina, his boss, had caught him red handed and wanted to hand him over to police immediately. But somehow, after much pleading and begging, Rajesh had convinced Shaina to wait for a couple of days as he promised to pay all the money back to her in a month.
A month had passed and Rajesh was nowhere near to making good on his promise. In the meantime Shaina had met Rajesh's wife Priyanka too. Priyanka had also gone to Shaina to plead her husband's case. She had told Shaina that if Rajesh goes to jail there was nobody else to take care of her, so she would also be in deep trouble. Shaina felt bad for Priyanka. She didn't want to punish Priyanka for Rajesh's mistake but at the same time she could not let Rajesh's mistake go unpunished.
That's when a thought crossed Shaina's mind. She decided that the best way to punish Rajesh, and not hurt Priyanka, was to break their marriage. She wanted Priyanka to walk away from Rajesh willingly and she wanted Rajesh to suffer the humiliation of seeing his wife get involved with another man.
So that rainy day when Shaina called Rajesh and Priyanka to her home she told them that she was ready to consider dropping police case against Rajesh, if and only if, both of them agreed to do everything that she would ask them to do. Shaina also dropped them some hints that if they agree to her proposal then they may not be able to live apart from each other for a few days.
As they both walk into Shaina's house they are ushered into his living room.
Shaina turns to Rajesh and says, "You know you are in deep trouble, don't you!"
Rajesh, in an extremely apologetic manner says, "I am extremely sorry ma'am. I will do anything that you want if you withdraw the case against me."
"What were you thinking you idiot. You thought nobody will be able to catch you!" thundered Shaina.
"I have all the evidence against you. If I want, I can send you to jail for 10 years."
Both Rajesh and Priyanka were in tears by now. They knew Shaina was not bluffing, and she really could send Rajesh to jail, if she wanted.
"Ma'am, we are extremely sorry. We will do anything that you want," Priyanka said while pleading with folded hands.
Shaina's tone immediately became soft and she said, "It's not your fault Priyanka. You have done nothing wrong. But this idiot husband of yours has got you also in lot of trouble."
"Please ma'am, do not send him to jail. Our life will be ruined if Rajesh goes to jail."
Shaina gets up and paces slowly to the window and looks out at the beautiful view of the city. Rajesh and Priyanka wait for her to say something. She finally turns to them and says, "As I told you earlier that I have a proposal for you." She stops for a while and then says, "It involves both of you and your marriage."
"I will tell you the full details if both of you agree to suspend your marriage for at least a year."
Priyanka and Rajesh were both looking at him, not quite able to comprehend what she was suggesting.
"What does suspension of marriage involve, ma'am," Priyanka finally spoke.
"Well, it involves you not living together, it involves punishing this foolish husband of yours - but without sending him to jail, and it involves giving you a good life that a beautiful girl like you deserve."
"Ma'am, I am not sure I understand fully," Priyanka said with a trembling voice, though she was getting some inkling about the direction this was headed.
"I will tell you more if both of you tell me that you agree with the proposal so far."
Both of them remained silently staring at each other now knowing what to say.
Priyanka finally spoke, "Ma'am we agree to your proposal. Now can you tell us what exactly does it involve?"
"Excellent decision! Now to make sure you are not bluffing, I want both of you to remove your wedding rings, and hand them over to me."
Again there was silence for few moments, as Rajesh and Priyanka looked at each other. Both of them didn't know how to react to what Shaina was asking them to do. Finally it was Priyanka who broke out of the trance, and slowly started removing her wedding ring but Rajesh just sat there motionless.
"Thank you dear for making the right choice," Shaina addressed Priyanka. "There is something more I need you to do while I convince your idiot husband of yours to remove his ring. Please remove your mangalsutra also, and then go to the washroom and wash away the sindoor from you hair. You are not going to need it for a long time now."
Priyanka removed her mangalsutra and quietly walked away to the washroom.
Rajesh was just dumbfounded by what was going on. He simply could not believe Priyanka had dumped him so easily.
After Priyanka had gone to the washroom Shaina spoke to Rajesh in a stern tone, "If you are finding it difficult to decide, then let me help you make the decision. You have only two choices - first is that you agree to my proposal, and second is that you go to jail for 10 years."
Rajesh was shocked to hear about his options in such stark terms but he knew it was a reality. If Rajesh did not want to go to jail then he had to agree to Shaina's proposal. He quietly removed his wedding ring and handed it over to Shaina.
Priyanka came back from the wash room after having washed away her sindoor. Shaina got up and held Priyanka's hand and led her to a sofa closer to herself. She and Priyanka were now sitting on one side of the room and Rajesh was sitting on the other side.
So now that both of you have agreed to my proposal, I will tell you exactly what you need to do," Shaina said as he settled in his chair.
"Both of you need to file for a trial separation in court. That means you will be giving a signed affidavit in court saying that your marriage is not working out therefore you want to live away from each for a while. For the duration of separation each one of you will be able to pursue his/her life as he/she chooses. Your spouse will not have any say during the period of your separation."