Everyone present—Prafulla, Aditya, and Prabhasa—now understood with absolute clarity why Snigdha had received that slap at her mother's hands just moments ago! For uttering such hideous and vile words, Snigdha thoroughly deserved every bit of that slap!
Yet Snigdha did not back down in the slightest! Clutching both her cheeks, she gnashed her teeth and hissed like a venomous beast!
Cursing at the top of her lungs, she screamed, "Are you two old folks going to get out of here, or should I tie both of you up tightly with ropes and dump you into the rotten palace pond?"
Hearing such inauspicious, hideous, and utterly senseless threats from Snigdha, King Aditya and Queen Arohi were left instantly speechless! For shame! In what accursed moment had they given birth to such a disgraced child?
Screaming like a lunatic, Snigdha carried on, "You people are crossing all limits, Mother! By what courage did you land slaps across both my cheeks? Have you lost your mind? Why do you keep raising your hand against me? If you overstep like a whip, I will directly murder your beloved star Prabhasa! I'll kill her and make her corpse vanish! She is Father's beloved star, and Prafulla is yours! I will kill both of them and finish you all off! Get out of my sight, every last one of you!"
The moment those words left her lips, the floodgates of Arohi's endurance burst completely! Charging forward forcefully, she grabbed one of Snigdha's ears tightly, twisting and yanking it upward with sheer power!
Arohi roared, "You dare threaten me, you shameless girl? Did you give birth to me, or did I carry you in my womb, you disgraced creature? You threaten to murder your own birth mother? Someone ought to grab you by the hair, whip you till you bleed, and kick you out of this royal palace forever! It is only because I gave birth to you myself that my hands are stayed today; otherwise, I would have strangled a toxic, hideous, alien sapling like you to death the very day you were born!"
Screaming in agony while clutching her ear, Snigdha yelled, "When I am a toxic, alien sapling, why do you come in front of my face? Go... get out of here!"—saying this, Snigdha summoned all her strength and delivered a violent shove to Queen Arohi!
Caught completely off guard, Arohi lost her balance from the hard thrust of Snigdha's elbow and crashed heavily onto the floor!
"MOTHER!"—Prafulla and Prabhasa screamed in unison and rushed forward to catch Arohi. King Aditya hurriedly supported Arohi in his arms and helped her stand up from the floor.
With a deeply embarrassed and pained face, Aditya said to Arohi, "Arohi... don't go picking fights with that lunatic unnecessarily! You are getting on in years... pay a little attention to your own health!"
However, in deep humiliation, Arohi snapped at Aditya as well!
Yanking her hand away from Aditya with a jerk, she panted and said, "Agh! Stop it, you old man! Don't come preaching wisdom to me! You too are getting on in years... it is because of you that this poison is spreading in our family today! Why on earth did you go and marry a second time in the past? Don't you see how she refuses to even acknowledge her own mother and father today? No... why should I blame you either? Perhaps you made a mistake by marrying a second time, but despite being the child of that second wife, look how pure, simple, and virtuous a girl Prabhasa is! God is my witness, if a peaceful girl like Prabha had been born from my womb instead of Snigdha, I would bow at the Lord's feet a thousand times every day! I wanted a girl of character just like Prabha, but a disgraced creature like this was written in my destiny!"
Hearing those words, Snigdha flew into a complete rage out of jealousy!
Making a mock face, she screamed, "Oh! Prabhasa is the precious star of your eyes, while I'm just sitting here in the royal palace putting on a show?"
Saying this, Snigdha began jumping up and down violently on the floor like an animal! Jumping repeatedly, she yelled, "Get out of my sight right now! Otherwise, I will cause a massive bloodbath here today! Where is he... where did that Jishnu go? Call that Jishnu here!"
Screaming at the top of her lungs, Snigdha hollered—"Hey Jishnu! Hey Jishnu, listen! What a spineless groom I've gotten stuck with, good lord!"
Prompted by Snigdha's manic screams, the cunning zamindar's son Jishnu came rushing out from the back garden of the palace, completely out of breath!
Exhausted, Jishnu asked, "What happened, Snigdha? Why are you calling me with such loud screams?"
Grabbing Jishnu by his shirt collar, Snigdha yelled, "What happened, you ask? I'll hit you with a stick today and crush both your legs to powder! Where were you all this time, you shameless fool? Weren't you jumping around so eager to marry me? What nerve you have that all these people are standing in the full royal palace insulting me, beating me... and you were sitting hidden outside like a coward? Don't you have the courage to stand proudly by my side and fight? Will you protect me from getting kicked after our marriage, you child of a Jishnu?"
Utterly flabbergasted, Jishnu stammered, "Ah, Snigdha! How can I say anything without knowing what happened inside? At least let me speak first..."
Right at that moment, Prafulla yanked Snigdha's hand forcefully with a single jerk and dragged her into a secluded corner of the balcony.
Prafulla spoke in a low, firm voice, "Have you truly gone mad, Snigdha? Why do you keep bringing this outsider Jishnu into all these personal and internal family quarrels of ours? Tell him to leave right now!"
But Snigdha spewed venom straight into Prafulla's face, shouting, "You shut up, Prafulla! I will bring in private family matters as much as I want! I'll bring them in a thousand times!"
Holding his forehead, Prafulla muttered under his breath, "Ugh! The girl has truly gone completely insane! I pulled her aside secretly to make her understand, and she went ahead and publicized the whole thing to everyone at the top of her voice!"
Standing nearby, Prabhasa placed her hand on Prafulla's shoulder and said in a calm voice, "Leave it, Dada! She is an utterly foolish girl! What answer will you even give her? Ignore her words!"
The moment the word 'foolish' hit Snigdha's ears from Prabha's mouth, she charged toward Prabha like a ferocious tigress!
Raising her hand, she roared, "What did you say, you stepmother's daughter? I am a foolish girl? I'll grab you right now and land a stinging slap on your face! Then all your pride and shamelessness will come pouring out, you uncouth girl! A shameless girl like you deserves to be beaten with shoes, made to wear bangles, and set out on the streets to beg!"
Prabhasa was not afraid in the least bit anymore! Standing firm in her self-respect, a resolute, subtle smile bloomed across her face as she said, "Yes... I am a woman! I will certainly abide by the rules and sit wearing bangles on my wrists! But am I as shameless as you and your groom to sit with folded hands? Why bring up my bangles for no reason, Didi? Or should I sit helpless like your groom... like that Jishnu over there? Good lord! Everyone here is insulting you together, yet your beloved groom didn't rush to save you! He only came when you called him with abuses! Wow! What a splendid love you two share! Compared to this ugly love of yours, our love—Rupanjan's and mine—is a thousand times more sacred and a thousand times superior!"