I let out a rude snort that would have made my mother furious.
“As if Ma would ever allow her daughter to take up a career! And you might think I’m too young to be married, Samrat, but my mother wouldn’t agree with you. If she had her way, she would have hog-tied you and dragged you to the wedding mandap as soon as we began dating.”
“You have your whole life ahead of you, Meher. Do you want to waste it on going to polo matches, attending charity luncheons, and heritage auctions?”
“Don’t forget fittings for designer clothes. Those take up a lot of my time,” I said cheekily.
“And I’m very grateful for the results of said fittings, but I’m serious, babe. What do you want to do with your life?”
Ugh! Why was he asking such questions? It was all very well for him to talk of a career, but I had been raised to believe I had only one goal in life…to make an advantageous marriage. Sure, I had a degree of sorts, from an American university, but it wasn’t worth more than the paper it was printed on.
I had no employable skills, but I could tell a real Birkin from a fake one. I could host dinner for seventy people at a day’s notice. I could manage a full housekeeping team remotely. I could help my future husband pick out a yacht, plan a skiing holiday in the Swiss Alps, and I could decorate all his homes with one hand tied behind my back. I knew how to sweet-talk the most miserly old curmudgeon into loosening his purse strings in the name of charity. And more importantly, I knew how to navigate the shark-infested waters we called high society. What more did I need?
Before I could explain any of this to Samrat, there was a furious clip-clop of heels on the cobblestoned path of the stables, and his sister-in-law came into view. She was panting as if she had run all the way here.
“There you are,” she exclaimed. “Your Bhai Sa is waiting to congratulate you, Sam. Besides, it’s time to present the trophy.”
“We’ll be there in a minute, Bhabhi Sa,” he said politely, gripping my hand tightly.
“Uff! How many times do I have to tell you to call me Nilu?” she said sweetly, and the expression on her face turned my stomach.
Why the hell was Nilanjana staring at her husband’s brother like he was a delicious piece of meat? Eww!
I took a step closer to him, and her eyes fell on our clasped hands. She gave me a wintry smile.
“Your mother is looking for you, Meher. You shouldn’t go wandering around strange places. You might get lost,” she said, as if I were a child.
“I was with Samrat. And I knew he’d keep me safe,” I said, giving him an adoring glance that I knew would piss her off.
Nilanjana hadn’t changed much. She was a couple of years ahead of me at the prestigious Swiss boarding school I had attended, and although I had lost touch with her after she passed out, I knew one thing. She was a bully in school, and I knew that under that veneer of politeness and charm, she was a bigger bully now that she had married the Maharaja of Deorangir.
Samrat’s older brother, Adhiraj, was a rather sickly man, but he was heir to a vast fortune. I guessed money trumped good health as far as Nilanjana was concerned. Well, she could keep all the wealth. All I wanted was Samrat.
“And what about Sanjay? He’s here just to meet you. How do you think he’s going to feel when he finds you canoodling with another man?” she snapped.
Sanjay was Nilanjana’s brother, and I couldn’t believe she was using him to cause a rift between Samrat and me. Well, it wouldn’t work!
Just as I thought that, Samrat’s hand tightened on mine.
“What the hell do you mean, Bhabhi Sa?”
“Ask her. I don’t want to cause any problems,” said the nasty, lying bitch, before she walked away with a triumphant smile at me.
“Explain,” barked Samrat, and I turned to him in disbelief.
“There’s nothing to explain! I went out with Sanjay a couple of times last year, until someone sent me his Bumble profile. He was trying to hook up with chicks on the side while he tried to convince me to go steady. I dumped him way before you and I started dating.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes,” I said, exasperated at having to explain all this. It was just a couple of dates, for fuck’s sake.
Samrat merely grunted in response, and we went back to the polo field. I ducked my head to avoid my mother’s glare. Samrat squeezed my hand before he went off to join his teammates on the field for the prize-giving ceremony, and I returned to my seat next to Ma.
“How dare you make such a fool of yourself, Meher? I’ve never been so mortified,” said Ma through gritted teeth. “Samrat’s sister-in-law made some very pointed remarks about your unladylike behaviour.”
I bit my tongue hard and kept my opinions about Nilanjana to myself. But I would have dearly liked to point out that lusting after your husband’s younger brother was even more unladylike.
Samrat and I couldn’t keep our eyes off each other through the gala dinner that followed the match, and he kissed me hard when he dropped me off at my room in his palace.
