Chapter 16: chapter 16

SRUTHII hold my head high as I walk out of my bridal room. There are only five minutes left for the auspicious time the priest had fixed. I clutch the bouquet in my hand tightly. My face is calm and controlled. I don’t look like a woman who just had gotten the biggest shock of her life. My makeup is fixed and the sadness and hurt I still feel in the depths of my heart is nowhere to be found. In short, I look like a happy bride who is having the best moment of her life.“Are you sure about marrying him?” Gabe asks in a whisper.I am about to reply when a minister’s wife passes us with a curious look at us. Time to unleash the actor in me. Deliberately I say in a loud voice, “Oh! Gabe, you have no idea how much I am in love with Madhav. All those years of silently pinning for him were worth this moment.”Gabe gives me a surprised look at the lovesick expression on my face and I wink at her. She gets my message and stays silent on the topic. Of course, I am not sure about this marriage or about Madhav. But, I can’t act like that when I am out in the open. There are a lot of prying eyes and ears that I have to fool. The extent I have to go to ensure that my brother stays the defense minister!My brother’s PR team worked magic. Within minutes, they came up with a believable story that was very far from the truth. The cover story is that I and Madhav have been in love with each other for a long time but never confessed it to each other because we both thought the other didn’t feel like that. I agreed to marry Praveen to move on from Madhav. But, Madhav couldn't bear seeing me with another man and confessed his feelings to me. I was touched to hear that he too had feelings for me and agreed to call off the wedding that was about to happen. In the story version, I am portrayed as a woman who only cares about her love life. So, not bothering about the consequences my brother would face, I went to see Praveen to call off the wedding. But Praveen had left the wedding to meet his ex for whom he still had feelings. Since the only obstacle we had for our swoon-worthy romance was gone, Madhav and I decided to get married right away because, of course, we can’t bear to stay away from each other for another moment.Yep! That is the story the PR team came up with. I was sceptical of whether the people would buy it or not. Because, honestly the story sounds like a cliched serial script but the team made it so convincing that people who shipped me with Praveen are now shipping me with Madhav. So here I am acting like a bride who is so in love with her groom.Dread and anticipation swirl in my stomach as I walk the long aisle to the stage. Madhav is sitting before the fire where Praveen should have been. He has changed from his casuals to the groom's attire. His eyes are focused on the fire and he does whatever the priest is asking him to do. My brother is with the Prime Minister taking talks that need to be talked. As I walk down the aisle, everyone’s attention is on me and it takes me a lot of effort to maintain the excited and I-can’t-wait-to-get-married-to-him look when in reality all I want to do is run away somewhere far away from this place and wallow in sadness and self-pity. My brother leaves the Prime Minister’s side when I near the stage. Vikram looks happy and proud. He is playing the role perfectly. His eyes are shining with happiness as he takes my hand and guides me up the stage. The photographers click away the photos of each moment. Madhav’s eyes meet mine when I am on the stage. My breath hitch at the intensity of his gaze. He drinks me in from head to toe. His gaze is predatory and I feel breathless as I take my seat next to Madhav.Madhav leans in closer and it takes everything in me to sit still as he whispers, “You look beautiful as always.”The clicks of photos and the sound of the priest chanting or the noise of gossip all fade away as I lock eyes with Madhav. His gaze is soft and he looks at me like I light up his whole world.  His eyes are a rare shade of grey. For a moment, I forget everything except for the tender look in his eyes. Wait!Tender?!? What the hell, Sruthi?  Have you gone insane?This is Madhav next to you.There is no way Madhav is tender. I must have imagined that look on him. Or else he is a great actor. Yep! That can be the only possibility. Madhav is a great actor. He is just acting for the media. Just like how I am acting. That reminds me of the role I have to play. I flutter my eyelashes and look down like a bride blushing after hearing her groom whisper something in her ear.“How very romantic,” someone’s voice makes me look up from my Mehandi-covered hands. My heart sinks as I see who it is. Vinod. My brother’s former best friend and a well-wisher of mine. The one person who wouldn’t believe the cover story we are using because he knows very well my hatred for Madhav. “Ignore that jerk,” Madhav says following my line-of-sight. I don’t get to reply to Madhav as the wedding music starts to play. The priest starts the rituals. My mind is in a haze as we go through each ritual. Unwanted thoughts keep trying to invade my mind. I am conscious of all the eyes in our direction and I  keep up the façade of a happy bride. Since I am busy trying to act all happy and joyous, I don’t concentrate on the rituals with my full heart. I just do what the priest asks me to like a robot with no emotions. Madhav has no problem looking excited and happy. I have to give the man credit. He is a natural actor. His acting skills are top-notch. Madhav ties the knot with me. We go around the fire vowing to stay with each other through all the ups and downs of life. The rituals get over one by one and the dread in my stomach becomes large as we near the moment where the groom is supposed to give his bride his first kiss. The kiss of promise for all the happiness that is to come. The marriage is incomplete without the kiss and we have to do it. There is no escaping it. We get the blessings of the Prime Minister and all the other elders attending the marriage. I find it hard to breathe as the people around us look at me expectantly. I turn to face Madhav and he does the same. HOLY HELL!The reality of what is happening in my life crashes on me. Until now, I was so focused on averting a scandal that I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into. I AM MARRIED. To a man whom I possibly hate and loathe. And!He is about to kiss me.❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥