CHAPTER 31
One Month Later – Jaipur, India.
It was morning when Mishti woke up in her hotel room in Jaipur.
They had landed from London late the previous night and checked in straight away at The Rajmahal Palace, a sprawling seven-star luxury resort that looked like it had been carved out of royal history itself.
The jet lag still clung to her body, but she had managed to sleep for five to six hours.
It was enough to steady her, not enough to quiet the hunger that now made her stomach growl.
She pushed herself out of bed, walked to the tall glass windows, and drew the curtains aside.
Fresh air rushed in as she cracked the window open slightly. She was in India. Her homeland. Even the air here was warm and grounding. Just breathing it in felt strangely healing, as if she had been holding her breath for months and finally allowed herself to exhale.
Mishti had messaged Komal last night, a simple text telling her she had landed in Jaipur for the wedding of her boss’s daughter.
When Komal had learned, a month ago, that Mishti would be in India for two weeks, she had immediately planned to come down as well.
She was flying in sometime this week, just for a day or two.
Mishti, too, could hardly wait to see her again.
She leaned forward and looked down at the pool and garden area below.
The place was already alive. Staff moved briskly between pathways.
Decorators adjusted floral arches. Guests from the groom’s and bride’s sides checked in, family after family arriving with luggage, laughter and chatter.
It was nothing short of another big fat Indian wedding, happening right in front of her eyes.
And without warning, it reminded her of her own.
Her wedding to Karan had been nothing like this. No destination wedding. No extended celebrations. No indulgence. It had been quick, almost rushed. Because Karan had wanted it that way. The contrast between what she saw now and what she had lived through tightened her chest.
But just then, a sudden chill ran through her. Not because of the weather. Jaipur was warmer than London. This chill came from the thought that followed. She was close to him now. Karan was no more continents away, or oceans apart. He was just a few hundred miles away from Jaipur.
Suddenly that realisation stirred something she had been trying very hard not to ignore.
An urge to see him. Just once. Even from afar.
She did not know if she would. But the wanting rose anyway. Mishti swallowed it down, forced herself to turn away from the window, and headed straight for the bathroom to shower.
Breakfast hours were already long over. She would have to order something later. But before that, she needed to meet VK and Avni, to check on them and see how things were progressing. And of course, help them with the arrangements here.
She took a long shower, letting the warm water wash away the last traces of travel fatigue.
She then stepped out, dressed in a pair of fitted jeans, a soft pastel green cotton ethnic kurta, light and breathable for Jaipur’s weather.
She had not bought any wedding clothes and still had to shop for them here from the local market.
Maybe tomorrow, she thought and then made her way downstairs towards the main garden.
Decorations were still in progress. Strings of lights were being tested and retested.
Fresh flowers lay in neat stacks, waiting to be arranged.
Fabric drapes fluttered lightly in the morning breeze.
There were colours and movement everywhere, and lots of excitement was building around.
Watching it all brought a deep, unexpected happiness to Mishti’s heart.
Avni deserved nothing less, she thought.
That was when she spotted Avni and VK.
They stood at the centre of the garden, engaged in conversation with a woman who looked like an event planner, tablet in hand, gesturing animatedly as she spoke.
Mishti walked towards them at an easy pace.
By the time she reached close, the discussion seemed to have wrapped up.
The woman nodded, smiled, and walked away.
Avni and VK turned towards her.
“Hey, Mishti. Did you sleep well?” Avni asked immediately.
Mishti nodded. “I did. What about you?”
“Don’t ask. I hardly slept for three hours. Still can’t believe my marriage is in two weeks,” she pouted.
VK laughed, patting her back. “Wait for the pre-wedding rituals to begin and then tell me how you barely sleep.”
Mishti agreed. The excitement mixed with the nervousness of a bride was something else altogether. She had that same kind of flutter when she was going to get married to Karan. Avni at least knew the man she was marrying, loved him, but for Mishti, it was like walking in a dark hole.
“It feels so good to be here,” Mishti said, diverting herself, looking around. “I’m really glad I didn’t miss this.”
“Of course.” VK nodded. “We wouldn’t have let you miss it at all, Mishti.”
Then, almost casually, Mishti turned to Avni and asked, “By the way… where’s the groom and his family? I’m eager to meet them. Are they already here, or have they not checked in yet?”
Avni chuckled at her enthusiasm. “They’ve arrived early this morning.
” Then, after a brief pause, she added with a teasing smile, “But it’s not like you haven’t met anyone from the groom’s side yet.
You already have, babes. He’s right here.
” As she said that, Avni curled her arm around VK’s arm comfortably.
Mishti frowned, confused. “That’s VK… your dad.”
Avni smiled wider. She glanced at VK with pride first, then turned back to Mishti and said, “Well, he’s not my Dad. But my father-in-law. I mean, he’s going to be.”
Mishti’s jaw dropped as she stared at them, stunned.
“He’s not your dad? I… I didn’t know. But you call him Papa.”
“I do. That’s because he is no less than a father to me,” Avni continued casually. “Actually, a few people back in London already know. But it honestly never crossed my mind to tell you that he’s not my real father. He raised me. And I don’t think I could have asked for a better one.”
Mishti stood there, still trying to process it. She had never known this, never even doubted it. So if VK was Avni’s father-in-law, then where was Avni’s family?
VK read the confusion on Mishti’s face and smiled gently.
“I’ve loved Avni more than my own daughter.
And thank God I don’t have to part with her.
She and my son fell in love, and here we are, preparing for their wedding.
” His smile deepened. “She’ll officially become my daughter all over again now. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Mishti nodded blankly. This was far beyond anything she could have imagined.
“And Avni’s real family?” she asked, a bit hesitant.
Avni too stiffened instantly, her expression turning hurtful as if the subject had struck a raw nerve. “I… I don’t have anyone in my family,” she said quietly.
“Don’t say that, Avni,” VK cut in, scolding her. “Yes, your parents are no more, but you still have a brother.”
Avni gritted her teeth, rolled her eyes, and said flatly, “I don’t count him as family. He never was. In fact, he’s non-existent to me. And he’ll remain that way.”
VK was about to argue, but that very moment, he looked past Mishti, and his face lit up with a knowing smile. “Look,” he said softly, “we were just talking about him. And there he is. Avni’s elder brother.”
Mishti felt him before she turned. Still, as if needing to confirm the impossible, she turned around slowly, her hand instinctively going to her chest, right where she used to touch her Mangalsutra, which was no longer there now.
At the very same moment VK spoke his name, she saw him. “That’s him. Avni’s real elder brother. Karan Wadhwa.”
Karan walked toward them, dressed in a crisp white shirt and dark trousers, every bit the same broody, devastating presence he had always been. His eyes never once wandered. They were fixed only on her. His wife.
Mishti felt the ground tilt beneath her feet.
Avni was Karan’s sister, real sister? Why had no one ever told her?
For all the months that she stayed with Karan in Wadhwa mansion, there had never been any signs of him having a sister too.
Then how? The questions spun violently in her head, one colliding with another, but she could not focus on any of them.
Because her gaze refused to leave the man walking toward her.
The way his eyes bored into hers made her breath falter.
And just like that, she realised something.
He wasn’t surprised or shocked seeing her here.
He looked confident, as if waiting for this confrontation.
Did Karan know she would be here? But how?
The moment Avni saw him coming, she turned to walk away, but VK caught her hand and stopped her. She froze, clearly irritated, but stayed, seeing Raj walking towards them, too, right behind Karan. Mishti instantly heard Avni telling her, “And that’s my fiancée. Rajat Mathur. My Raj…”
Mishti was still in shock. Raj was Rajat and he was VK’s son? Avni’s fiancée? And all these 11 months since she left India, she had been still living amongst people who were related to Karan? Was the world really so small? What kind of coincidence was this?
Karan reached them first. His gaze slid to Avni for barely a second in an acknowledgement, before it returned to Mishti, as though she were the only soul standing there. As if the rest of the world had faded into insignificance. Rajat joined the next minute.
Avni immediately moved toward him, looping her arm through his and turning back with a bright smile.
“Rajat… she’s the one I keep telling you about. My friend who turned into a sister. Mishti.”
Mishti swallowed hard, forcing herself to look at Rajat as he greeted her with a polite, “Hi.” She returned a faint smile, though it never quite reached her eyes.