The Night Has Ended

Chapter 3

Once she had given her consent to meet the boy, things snowballed. Sister informed the Guptas, they set up a meet in a café between Karan Gupta and Khushi. Karan was handsome, well-educated, and a little smug, and Khushi could find no fault in his behavior. His only condition was that she couldn't work after marriage. It gave her a few moments of disquiet, cause she liked being independent and busy, but he mentioned that with a huge household and limited house help as the tradition was, she may not even have time to work at a job outside the house. Plus there were a dozen charities they supported, that he was expecting his wife to work with, like his other sisters-in-law did.

She met his family next at his house, and that is what clinched it for her. She was an orphan and had never belonged anywhere. Never had a place to call home, never had people who she could call hers. The large Gupta family was very welcoming, gushing over her beauty, celebrating her academic achievements, marveling at her talents, making her feel very much at home. Their home was beautiful, and Anjali gave her a tour of the house, making sure to show Karan's bedroom at the end. Khushi was charmed with the large room, and Anjali tongue-in-cheek mentioned that she could change the room as she deemed fit. Khushi blushed.

Drawn in by the lure of a large family where she would belong, the financial security that being a Gupta would give her..... someone who had struggled for each meal for a very long time......, the flattery of Karan, who turned on the charm to woo her, she finally agreed to the alliance, and shyly informed Sister Teresa of the same.

The Guptas took charge of the wedding preparations. Since Khushi was an orphan with not a penny to her name, the groom's family arranged for all the functions. Khushi was ecstatic when Garima Gupta, her would-be mother-in-law, had told her that the Guptas would be taking care of the wedding costs.

"Karan's our youngest son, and the darling of the family. He's been pampered by everyone. We want this last big Gupta function to happen with all pomp and show. And we're your family now, you're our daughter, so its all your money too. All of this belongs to you too. And I want to show off my beautiful, accomplished daughter to everyone and the world"

The lavish wedding was exactly as Khushi had envisioned in her dreams. She was on cloud nine with the love being showered on her by all the Guptas. Her opinions and thoughts were sought after for each and every function. Since she was an inherently shy person, and Anjali and Vinita had exquisite taste, she had deferred to them, making her in-laws very happy that they were getting a soft, malleable bride, who respected the elders in the house.

The only note of discord had come in when Lavanya had cornered her three days before the wedding and asked to talk to her in private. She'd been roommates with Lavanya for only about a year at the working women's hostel, and with their hectic work schedules, they were more acquaintances than friends. Khushi did not have too many people in her life. But she'd invited Sister Teresa and two more nuns from the orphanage, Lavanya and two more of her colleagues from the place she was interning at. Again, everyone could be termed as acquaintances than friends. Her inherently shy nature did not allow for quick friendships to be formed.

She had paired up with Lavanya by complete chance, but the bubbly, dimpled beauty had made an impression on Khushi. She'd hung out with Lavanya a few times, and they had both mutually enjoyed each other's company. Lavanya came from a very poor family, with her mother making ends meet by being a domestic worker, while her father had absconded years ago. She worked as a social worker for the government and her dream was to make enough money to rent an apartment for herself and her mother, and she was saving hard for the same. Their thrifty habits matched and Khushi had managed to get along with her very well over the last year.

They met at a café near Lavanya's office and Lavanya mentioned that she had heard of Karan from a friend at work. NK was a police officer who Lavanya knew through her work with underprivileged women. Her blush as she mentioned NK made Khushi suspect that they were more than just friends, or atleast Lavanya was interested. Lavanya had mentioned to NK that Khushi was getting married into the Guptas, and NK was startled. He'd told Lavanya that he had almost arrested Karan a few times for drunken behavior. He had beat up a man so badly once, that the man was hospitalized. But his father and brothers had used their money and influence to cover it all up. He did admit that he hadn't seen any incidences over the last year. He thought they had put Karan through court-mandated counseling, and was hoping he was doing better. Lavanya conveyed all this to Khushi, and asked her to clarify this before the wedding.