I don't know if it's because of her turbulent childhood or not, but it's always about her feelings, her pain, her wants. She doesn't care about anyone else. She just pretends to.
Malini is a people pleaser. She wants to be liked by everyone. Nor does she have a mind of her own, she acts according to what others say. We witnessed this when she completely flipped when she saw Aparna crying in the kitchen for Adi.
Malini puts up a grand act for caring for everyone. Maybe because in her childhood, she saw her parents fight and thought that fights should be avoided at all costs. So she buries her real feelings and acts way too kind. She's frustrated but doesn't express it which often results in passive agressiveness like we saw today.
Her love for Imlie too is fake upto an extent. We saw today when she didn't even greet her properly. We could see the disappointed in Imlie's face. When Imlie tried to make up and aplly color, it was SO rude of Malini to refuse her like that. It was like she was jataoing her mahanta to the entire family.
Malini is still that child which yearns for love, that's why she makes a scene. Koi badi baat nahi hai if someone else ate your choclate cake or sindoor nahi laga. But she taunts Adi in front of everyone and then says koi baat nahi, I forgive you. It's like baat bhi suna di aur mahaan bhi ban gayi.
She needs to learn how to voice out her feelings and stop being so codependent. Her temper tantrums in front of the entire family is just so immature. Her unhealed issues make her selfish, concsiously or unconsciously.