Page 11 of Married in Deceit

Veda flushed. “How could he?” she asked instead of answering. “How could he say something like that to both of you? If he thought that, he should have spoken to me. Why is he talking to Nanna and you?”

“Because he’s asking for Nanna’s permission to marry you.”

Now, she thought, as she stood rooted to the spot, her ears ringing and her body feeling numb and disjointed. Now was when lightning was going to strike her.

But, again, nothing happened. Nothing other than her brother staring at her with what looked like pity and worry.

“What did you just say?” she asked faintly. Surely, she’d heard wrong?

“He wants to marry you, Veda.”

She sat down on the ground, her feet going out from under her and her bottom hitting the mud of their driveway. She stared at her brother’s perfectly polished shoes which were in her line of sight. Uncomprehending, she sat there in silence as her brother slowly lowered himself to the ground beside her.

“What do you want Veda?” he asked. “I need to know before Nanna gets home.”

“What do I want?” she parroted tonelessly. What did she want? What. Did. She. Want?

She wanted to be seen. She wanted to be heard. She wanted to be loved.

By him. By Agastya. She’d wanted to be loved by him for so long now she didn’t even know when it had started. When had she started to crave this man like a drug, preferably one injected straight into her veins? He was the high she lived for. He was the unattainable high she’d dreamed off.

But her brother was sitting there and telling her it was attainable. He was telling Veda that she could have Agastya. And not just have him. She could be his too.

A shiver of joy erupted inside her bringing with it hope. A hope she’d ruthlessly squashed until this moment.

Her brother sighed. “I guess I have my answer.”

She shut her eyes, finding it hard to meet his gaze.

“How long has this been going on for, Vedu?”

“A while,” she murmured, eyes still firmly shut. “But nothing was going on. I didn’t even think he had noticed me.”

“Of course he noticed you,” Ram said irritably. “You’re Chaitanya Gadde’s daughter.”

She was more than that, Veda thought with a spurt of rebellion. So much more but no one ever saw that. But maybe, just maybe, Agastya had? Her heart trembled at the thought of what it was being offered.

“Why do you think he’s proposing marriage?” Ram asked, slicing through her pretty, little fantasy. His ruthless, lawyer brain wouldn’t allow her even a few seconds of pathetic dreams.

“What was the reason he gave you?”

“He said that he knew you were in love with him and then he talked about the advantages of a match between our families.”

Her face burned again. “Advantages? How very practical of him?”

“It is more than practical,” Ram replied. “It’s strategic.”

Her heart fluttered in her chest. Strategic. Practical. And yet, this was Agastya. He would never do something unless he wanted to. So, surely that meant…surely it meant that he wanted…her?

“What did Nanna say?” she asked, over the silent rush of her rising hopes.

Ram stayed silent for what felt like an age. And then he said, “He has the chance to be the father-in-law of the future Prime Minister of India. What do you think he said?”

“He may not win the seat,” she whispered, her heart now thrumming like a caged bird in her chest. Was this really happening?

“It’s Agastya Kodela,” Ram snorted. “Of course, he will win. He always wins.”

A Range Rover turned into the end of the driveway, slowing as it got closer to them. The car came to a halt a few feet away, throwing up tiny dust clouds in their face. Their father got out, his crisp black suit and perfectly styled hair a direct contrast to his two children who still sat in the dirt.

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