The smile once always seen on her face was rarely seen anymore. The jubilant and happy Bani had died, and a melancholy person had taken over her. She was no longer the Bani everyone knew and loved. Time and circumstances had changed her. All the pain and suffering she had went through, all the happiness stolen away from her, all made her a stone. The only reason she was alive was for her daughter Ganga. Even if her father didn't know about his child, she would always be there for her, as both a mother and father. 5 years ago, when Bani had left the Walia Mansion and Mumbai, she thought that that would be the last time she would meet her husband, but fate had other things planned. Not had she only met her husband once again, she also started working for him, the only person ready to hire her. Although she knew that the only reason he had hired her was to torment her, she readily accepted the job, knowing that it was her only means of obtaining money.
The next morning, Jai Walia immediately called for Bani into his cabin. Once he heard a knock on the door, he told her to come in. "Come in Bani. Why, I've been waiting for you," he said with a malicious smile on his face. "Now, can you please explain to me why you left work yesterday, when I explicitly told you that under no circumstances are you to leave early, and on top of that, I told you that you were going to work overtime this week," he continued with anger in his voice. Although he had loved Bani at one point in his life, he despised her at this point. He wanted to hurt her so bad, that she would feel the pain every time she heard his name. "S-s-sir, my daughter was sick, and I had to take her to the doctor," replied Bani in a trembling voice.
With rage infiltrating him, he shot straight up and held onto Bani by her shoulders, holding her so tightly that he bruised both her shoulders. "Why, couldn't your beloved lover Daksh take her? He is, after all, the father of that wretched soul you call your daughter." Bani was taken aback. Although she knew that Jai thought that Daksh was the father of Ganga, it hurt so much more when she actually heard it from his mouth, in his spiteful tone. With anger, she just couldn't take it anymore. "God Damn it, Mr. Walia, that's your child."
For a moment it seemed like Jai was speechless, but then he continued. "Don't even try that one on me Bani. Why should I trust you, after you've betrayed my trust so many times. Who knows who the father of that girl is? Why, how can you even be sure that Daksh is the father? With your reputation, why, our driver could be the father of that child," he said through his teeth. And with that, he threw Bani against the wall, entrapping her with his arms. "If you want my money so bad, couldn't you even think of something better than that. What were you going to try and do, get a monthly check from me for the welfare of 'my' daughter?" With that said, he held her by her wrists from the exact place where he had hurt her with her churiyaan last week. Bani winced in pain, but didn't say a word. She would never give him the satisfaction that his plan was working and that she was in pain. She pushed him back with all her might, and ran out of the room, with Jai screaming in the back, "and for that, I'm going to take off a week's salary from your paycheck."
Bani ran into the bathroom and broke down crying. She cradled herself back and forth until she got a hold of herself. What he said just broke her apart. How could he just say that about her character? She knew that if she didn't get to work, she might not even get a salary this month, so, she got up, fixed herself up a bit, and left. Outside, she met her coworker, Priya. "Oh, hi Bani. How's your daughter now? I hope she's fine," said Priya with concern. Bani, still a bit dazzled from what had occurred, wasn't in her senses, and just replied, "okay, I'll go do that" thinking Priya was asking her to do something.
Priya, noticing the red, puffy eyes, and disheveled hair knew that Bani had been crying, and was trying to hide it, not all that well. "Bani, what happened? Why do you look so lost? Is everything all right?" Bani, finally getting back to her senses, put on a fake smile, and instinctively said, "yeah, everything's fine. Don't worry. Sorry, Priya, I have to get back to work. I'll talk to you later," and ran away from there.
Priya had known Bani only from the time she had started working and had instinctively had a liking towards her. They had bonded and were now really good friends, but Priya knew that Bani was hiding something from her; something from her past, that's still affecting her today. She also noticed that Mr. Walia had a disliking for her. He was always so rude to her, and never gave her even a day off, although he did that with most of his workers, there was just something different about their relationship. She knew that Bani didn't want to tell her anything at the moment, and she was ready to wait until Bani wanted to talk, but it was just frustrating to see her in so much pain and not know the reason.
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