It was a joyous occasion as Diana had accepted a marriage proposal from her at the time boyfriend Rahil. The grand wedding took place without a hitch and went greater than expected as it was thought that Diana was never one to "settle down". Maybe she accepted because Rahil and his family came from money.
After a few short months Chandani decided that enough was enough and sought refuge at her sister, Mintra's home. Mintra was a married woman who lived a successful life with her husband Barry and her at the time eleven year old daughter Ameeka. No relationship is perfect however because it was rumored that she frequently cheated on her husband and had two abortions for the men she secretly saw. Chandani never got along perfectly with this particular sister but it was her only option being caught between a rock and a hard place. She spoke to Barry who willing tried to help her get away from her torture as he always had soft spot for her but Chandani never had a chance to speak to her sister as Mintra whom, at the time, was away on vacation visiting family abroad with her daughter. Barry lived a bachelor life even though he was married to Mintra. She never made time for him or even acted as his wife as she was always too busy with her fast lane life to ever include him. He frequently made advances to Chandani when they were alone but she was not determined to break up a marriage. Especially her sister's marriage. So she refused all his gifts. Even a proposal of a new home which would have been all that she needed to recover.
Mintra returned and discovered her sister Chandani at her home which immediately enraged her. The thought of her husband making decisions as hasty as this earned him a punch to his face but she eventually accepted and offered a helping hand while watching Barry nurse his bloodied nose. After all family is family. There was no difference at this residence as Chandani would soon learn to realise. She was nothing more than a maid as opposed to being a guest. She did the laundry, the cooking and the cleaning for everyone at the house and still tried her best to take care her of her two sons and maintain her new 9 to 5 job as a sales girl in a trendy clothing store. She was after-all grateful for whatever little help she had. No matter how bad the situation was. She kept telling herself, "things coould be worse" and indeed things could be worse as we will come to find ...
Raphael couldn't bare to lose her and loved the idea of stringing her along like a puppet along with his new prize Herah. He frequented Mintra's house and abused his power as an officer of the law and every time Chandani refused his advances he would threaten to have her thrown in jail and take the one thing that mattered to her the most, Me.
The time came when he no longer got through to her with his threats. This was when he became most enraged and resorted to kidnapping me from my mother. It was only two weeks before my first birthday. Chandani had no idea what to do. She was used to the abuse by now but never had she faced these problems. Especially battling to keep her child. She visited the police station where they advised her to make a report and immediately the officers responded and a warrant for Raphael's arrest was issued.
The day before my big day I was reunited with my mother and Raphael once again had bent the law to suit him so he was let off with nothing more than a mere pat on the back. Chandani could care less. She was happy to be reunited with her son and upon closer inspection of him saw what looked like a cigarette burn on his leg.
The following day I celebrated my first birthday. No cake. No ice cream. Just an ordinary day. Raphael returned to taunt my mother but this time he had something he was brandishing for me. A ripe Julie mango. It wasn't much. He probably didn't even buy it. Just plucked it off someone's tree and expected everything to be ok.
I really can't remember much from here. Maybe there wasn't much to remember except how Raphael tried to string Herah on one hand and my mother on the other. There is one important fact I should mention however. The fact that Herah was now a few months along and expecting her first child with Raphael. I would soon have one more brother or sister to add to the bunch of kids my father already had.
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