Arranged marriage was an age-old story that Khushi, the youngest of the infamous Gupta family, who revolutionized and dominated the trading market for generations, knew well.
For it was the only thing she heard growing up.
But that neither prepared...
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Khushi woke up stiff and sore the next day. She had fallen asleep on the sofa, dressed fully in all of her wedding finery, too tired to change. The untouched bed told her all she needed to know: her supposed husband never came to the room last night.
Shrugging to herself, she stood up and headed to the bathroom. A hot shower later, she was descending the stairs, ready for her first day as the Raizada bahu.
"Good morning Khushi," wished Anjali, who was busy laying out the table for breakfast. "Did you sleep comfortably last night?"
Khushi stared at her, wondering if Anjali really was oblivious to her brother's absence last night. Surely in a house crawling with servants, she must have gotten the memo.
"Have a seat," Anjali continued, as if there was nothing odd. "Breakfast is almost ready."
Khushi cleared her throat. "Let me-"
"Oh no, you are not doing anything at all. Just sit and relax. Hari Prakash got everything in control."
Khushi felt very odd to hear that but didn't argue. She had watched her mother lay out breakfast for more than twenty years of her life and saw her father get angry if she ever missed a day. Wasn't it norm that the daughters-in-law served all the meals? So then, why was she being given special treatment?
"Good morning beautifuls," greeted Lavanya's chirpy voice. "What's for breakfast?"
"What? You aren't on some crazy diet today?" asked Anjali.
"Well all my diet went out the window thanks to Chote's wedding. Where is he by the way? He still hasn't given me my shagun."
Anjali pressed her lips, as though she was disappointed, before changing the topic. "Lavanya, he is younger than you. You have to give him shagun, not the other way around."
Lavanya rolled her eyes. "By one year! That doesn't count, does it Khushi?"
Khushi looked up, startled to be included in the conversation. She slowly shook her head, not knowing if her opinion even mattered.
"See, even Khushi agrees with me," Lavanya replied, triumphantly.
Anjali refrained from answering, giving Lavanya a full chance to turn her attention to a still Khushi.
"Why so quiet?" she asked, with a wink. "Didn't you sleep well last night?"
Khushi bit her lip, wondering if Lavanya too was pretending to be ignorant of her brother's whereabouts.
"Are you always this quiet?" she said, frowning slightly. "Because I swear I haven't heard you say a word since we met. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the thing is, I talk a lot. Usually Arnav joins in and we can talk for hours. Akash thinks it's absolutely nuts how we can do that, but the point is, you will be bored to death if you sit this still."
