5 The Price of Pride

The dim light of the evening sun streamed through the windows of Piyush's family home. Both families sat on opposite sides of the room, the tension so thick it felt as though even the air held its breath. The silence dragged on until Piyush's mother, whose subtlety rivaled a bull in a china shop, finally broke it.

"Well!" she exclaimed, tugging her shawl with exaggerated flair. "If this is how it's going to be, we'll need everything back—down to the last grain of what we gave you! Let's start with the earrings we gifted you for the wedding."

Bani raised an eyebrow, her tone sweet but her smile razor-sharp. "The earrings? Ah, you mean the ones you 'safeguarded' after the wedding? Perhaps we should check your safe to see if they're still there." Without waiting for a reply, she opened her bag and placed a small box on the table.

Inside the box lay the gold bracelet. She unfastened her mangalsutra, calmly removing the beads one by one. Holding them out, she said with a sharp edge in her voice, "Here, take your precious beads. The chain, however, was a gift from my mother, so I'll be keeping that.

Piyush's mother narrowed her eyes, her indignation practically radiating off her. "Gold beads? So now you're weighing your in-laws' love like a vegetable vendor with a scale? Have you no shame?" She clutched her chest, as if her heart couldn't bear the insult.