BREAKFAST

NIDHI POV

I wake up and sit up on my side of the bed. I look at my relaxed, handsome husband, then at the pillow wall between us on the bed, and start to think: Will there ever be a chance that I can sleep in his arms while he holds me, like he wants to be next to me?

I snap out of my thoughts when I hear, "Can you stop staring at me?" in a mildly harsh voice.

"I... I was just..." I don’t know what to say, and before I can even say something, he says, "If you keep acting like this, then I think I’ll have to sleep on the sofa," and walks into the washroom. I look down, thinking, "Why, God, why? Why does he hate me? And why did he like a girl like her, who has no idea that she’s nothing but a gold digger who even planned to kill..." I snap out of my thoughts again as I see him coming out of the washroom and put a smile on my face, hiding the fact that his words hurt me.

I get down from the bed and stand exactly in front of him. I say, "Good morning. So, do you want to grab a coffee with me in the evening? I know you love coffee."

He answers while looking at his phone, "No thanks, I’ve got no time." I repeat what he said while mimicking his voice as he walks out of the room, probably for his morning workout with his brothers. I look at the time—7:45. I have to get ready. I run toward the washroom to get ready.

It’s now 8:30, and I’m instructing everyone to get things ready for today’s breakfast. Today is Sunday, so everyone will probably have breakfast around 9:00, and I see her coming—the wife of Abhi. I give her a smile, and she smiles back. Usually, I don’t talk to her, even though I would love to talk with her and spend time with her. But the thing is, I’m scared that Vivaan doesn’t like me, and I don’t want Abhi Bhai to not like me either. But then again, that’s not the only reason I don’t spend time with her. I’m free only on Sundays and Saturdays because I’m a doctor, more precisely a surgeon, so I can’t talk to her or spend time with her on other days.

So today, I’ve built up the courage to speak with her. Vivaan barely speaks to me, and I feel bad. But for Bhabi, Abhi Bhai doesn’t even look at her, and Papa doesn’t talk to her the way he talks to me—he treats me like his own daughter. Mom talks with her but just the bare minimum because she doesn’t want her son to get angry at his wife, thinking she’s plotting to get close to him. I mean, he married her as part of a deal with his grandpa, and later Grandpa set a condition he didn’t know about until their marriage was done.

I snap out of my thoughts when I hear the sound of the cooker whistle going off. I see Bhabi taking the cooker off the stove. Every Sunday, since the last 10 months after I got married into this house, Bhabi makes poori as an item for breakfast, which is served with 10 different items made by other chefs with the help of servants. But the first thing on the table to get over is the poori Bhabi makes. Even Abhi Bhai, who doesn’t really like oily food, eats 4 or 5 of her pooris. Of course, they don’t know who makes it—only Mummy and I know.

"Bhabi, good morning," I say. She looks at me, and for the first time, I see a big smile on her face, and she says, "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, Bhabi," I say. Then there’s a moment of silence. I want her to talk with me, so I say, "Thanks, Bhabi, for preparing such a tasty dish every Sunday for breakfast. When they thought I prepared it, you didn’t say anything," I say, laughing.

She looks at me with an expression I didn’t initially understand but understood later when she says with a sad smile on her face, "I should be the one thanking you for not saying I’ve prepared it. If they knew, they wouldn’t have touched my food—especially Abhimanyu Sir." I didn’t know what to say. It felt like she was filled with sorrow but didn’t want to burden anyone with it. Looking at her, I notice that she dresses in a simple way, which is way too simple for the Bahu of Rajshekawat, and she only wears the mangalsutra, which is always hidden. She even hides her vermilion under her hair. Of course, she does that because she works in Abhi Bhai’s company, and he didn’t want anyone to know about the marriage, which he loathes and is destined to break in less than a year. Though they’ve been married for two years, Abhi Bhai has never once called her his wife, and she started calling everyone "Ma’am" or "Sir" after what happened during her Griha Pravesh as the new bride of the family, or so I heard. At that time, I wasn’t married to my husband, who surely has called me his wife many times in front of others, but never considered me as one.

Everyone starts coming down while Bhabi goes and stands in her usual spot next to the pillar, where a few other people, mostly servants, are standing. Today, after what she said, I understood why she used to stand in a corner and watch everyone eat—sometimes in silence, while other times when everyone used to talk while they eat. But Bhabi just stands there with a small smile, watching us eat. I think this was her only way to show us her love and enjoy seeing us eat her food. She used to make a single dish every day without anyone noticing, except for mine and Mummy Ji’s, and stood watching us while we ate.

Bhabi leaves the kitchen once she’s done with her dish for me to serve the pooris she made.

I was about to call a servant for something when I hear, "Nidhi Bhabi." I turn around to find Anvi in a pink saree. She looks really sweet and hot at the same time. She says, "Good morning," and I smile back.

I bend closer to her and ask, "Did you sleep well last night? The little puppy didn’t bite you, right?"

"I didn’t sleep that well. I would like to get up a bit later in these situations, and my whole body is tired. And what... I didn’t know you guys had a puppy... Even I want to see the cute thing," she says while looking for something in the fridge.

When she turns back to face me, she asks, "What?" as she sees my smug face.

So I ask her, "So, were you really exhausted after last night?"

"Yeah, I am exhausted after the marriage, then the niiii...g..." She suddenly stops saying whatever she was going to say and realizes what I meant. As she turns red by the second, I try to control my laughter.

"Anvi! Anvi!" I hear Raayan calling her, and I say to her, "See, here comes your puppy. Don’t let it bite in front of us, okay?" I walk out of the kitchen and hear Anvi trying to explain, "Bhabi, it’s not what it sounds like, Bhabi..." but I just ran away, wanting to give the couple some privacy. Hehehe...

We all sit down at the dining table, and Vivaan sits next to me in his usual spot. This is the only time during the day, aside from when we sleep, that we sit this close. Everyone starts eating, but I can’t help but notice bhabhi standing in her usual spot by the pillar, a faint smile on her lips. It’s as if she’s watching over us, a silent observer in the midst of all the noise and chatter. I can’t shake the feeling that she’s holding back something, trying to conceal the pain behind that fragile smile.

As I sit lost in my thoughts about bhabhi, I’m jolted back to reality when I hear Anvi’s voice. "Bade bhai, when are you going to get married? I want to play with my nieces and nephews," she says, her voice light, but it hangs in the air like a question nobody wants to answer. She chuckles, but the moment is instantly shattered by the heavy silence that follows. The room grows cold, and all eyes turn to Abhi.

"Did I say something wrong, bade bhai?" Anvi’s voice falters, her playful tone replaced by nervousness. "I’m so sorry..."

Before she can even finish her apology, Abhi’s face hardens, and his voice is colder than I’ve ever heard. "Anvi, you didn’t say anything wrong," he says, but there’s a bitterness in his words, like a wound he’s been carrying for far too long. "But unfortunately, I can’t remarry anytime soon. If I could, I would find someone trustworthy, someone from a similar background, and not someone with ulterior motives."

The words hits bhabhi like a slap, and I watch as Abhi bhai stands up abruptly, leaving his food unfinished. Without a second glance, but he pats Anvi’s head dismissively, like a gesture that means nothing to him anymore. The room is still, the tension suffocating.

I look across the table and see bhabhi standing there, her smile faltering. She tries to keep her composure, but I can see the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She holds them back, blinking rapidly, her hand trembling as she clutches the edge of the pillar for support. I can feel the weight of her sorrow pressing down on me, as if her heart is breaking quietly, piece by piece, while the world continues around her.

It hits me then, like a wave crashing into the shore. She loves him. She loves Abhi so deeply, so desperately, but he… he doesn’t even see her. He doesn’t know her pain, doesn’t understand the loneliness she hides behind that sad smile. I wish I could say something, do something to make it better for her, but all I can do is sit there, powerless, watching her endure this silent torment.

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