Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Not Proofread yet.
Please ignore the mistakes and typos.
──── ◉ ────
GUPTA HOUSE
SLAPPP
The air in the Gupta household was thick with tension, the kind that clung to the walls and seeped into every breath. The small, cluttered living room, with its faded curtains and worn-out sofa, felt like a battlefield. Madhumati Mishra, known to all as Buaji, stood in the center, her broad frame trembling with rage.
Her eyes, usually warm with affection for her niece Khushi, burned with a fire that could scorch anyone in her path. Across from her, Garima Gupta clutched her cheek, the sting of Buaji's slap still fresh. The sharp crack of that blow still echoed in the room, a sound that had silenced everyone for a fleeting moment.
"Did you hear yourself, Garima?" Buaji's voice was a low growl, barely containing her fury.
"You'd marry off my Titaliya to that good-for-nothing Shyam? That playboy who'd ruin her life? Who gave you the right to decide her fate?"
Garima's lips curled into a sneer, her eyes glinting with defiance. "And why not? Shyam's ready to take her without a dowry. It's one less burden on me. You think I want to keep feeding that girl forever?"
The word "burden" hit like a dagger. Buaji's face twisted in disgust, her hands balling into fists.
"Burden? You call Khushi a burden? That child who lights up this house? You're her mother, Garima! How can you be so heartless?"
Before Garima could spit back a reply, a cold, steady voice cut through the chaos.
"There's no marriage happening here. Not now, not ever." Shashi Gupta stood at the doorway, his lean frame rigid with barely controlled anger. His eyes, usually soft with kindness, were hard as steel as they fixed on his wife.
Garima whirled to face him, her voice sharp with indignation.
"Oh, so now you're back to play the hero, Shashi ji? You walk in and start barking at me, but say nothing to your jiji who just hit me?" She gestured at Buaji, her hand trembling with rage.
"This is how you treat your wife?"
Shashi's gaze flickered to his sister. Buaji's face softened with guilt-she knew she'd crossed a line by raising her hand.
