Chapter 7

Vidya Oberoi had wanted the family present at the wedding.

When Neil finally agreed to marry Tara, she had immediately suggested calling his siblings. Rishi, Joy, and Jiya were at home, and it would have taken little more than half an hour for them to reach The Opera Grand. She had even considered informing a few close family friends, people who had known the Oberois  for decades.

Neil had stopped her. There was no anger in his refusal, only the quiet firmness with which he generally made decisions. He had no intention of turning the evening into a family celebration. He understood what he was agreeing to, perhaps more clearly than anyone else present. He was marrying Tara because the circumstances had left her in an extraordinarily difficult position, and because his grandmother had asked him to assume a responsibility he could not bring himself to refuse.

He was also painfully aware of what the marriage meant to Tara.

Tara had been preparing to marry another man. She had loved Samar, had imagined a future with him, and had arrived at the hotel expecting to begin that future. Within a matter of hours, she had been abandoned at the altar and persuaded to marry a man sixteen years her senior—a man who had once been her elder sister's husband.

Neil was not under the illusion that Tara had suddenly developed any desire to become his wife.Nor could he pretend to feel something he did not.

Inviting his siblings, gathering friends, and performing elaborate wedding rituals before an audience would have required a degree of celebration and emotional commitment that neither of them could honestly offer. To stand before people they loved and exchange promises of lifelong devotion would have felt like making a performance of something that was, in reality, an arrangement.

He would fulfil the responsibilities that came with being Tara's husband. He had agreed to that much, and he would not take those responsibilities lightly.

But he would not make vows he did not mean.

Vidya had understood his reasoning, even if she had not entirely agreed with it. She knew her eldest grandson well enough to recognise when further persuasion would accomplish nothing.

And so, shortly after the marriage ceremony, she left The Opera Grand for home.

Neil and Tara remained at the hotel, although not together. Tara returned to the bridal suite she had checked into the previous afternoon, when she had still been preparing for her wedding to Samar. Her luggage, personal belongings, and everything she had brought for the occasion were already there.

Neil retired to his own private suite, which was permanently reserved for him at The Opera Grand.

There was no discussion about spending the night together, no awkward attempt to maintain appearances, and certainly no expectation that they would behave like newlyweds. Everyone closely involved knew the circumstances of their marriage. There was nothing to conceal and no reason to manufacture an intimacy that did not exist.

The fact that Neil had once been married to Tara's late sister was not something either of them could simply put aside.

It was not the beginning of a love story, at least not one either of them could imagine.

It was an arrangement born out of responsibility and an unfortunate turn of events.

And neither had entered it with much hope.

_______

 Oberoi Mansion, Alipore, Kolkata  — 3:30 a.m.

The Oberoi mansion had settled into silence when the first knock sounded on Rishi Oberoi's bedroom door. Rishi, thirty-seven and five years younger than Neil, was fast asleep beside his wife when the knocking came again, louder this time.

He opened his eyes and glanced towards the bedside clock. "Who on earth is knocking at this hour?" he muttered.

Ria stirred beside him. "What happened?"

Another knock followed. "Rishi?" It was Vidya.

Rishi immediately sat up. His grandmother wont disturbe anyone in the middle of the night unless something was wrong. "Dadi?"

"Come downstairs. And bring Ria."

He was already getting out of bed. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, yes. I'm perfectly fine. Just come downstairs."

Rishi frowned. Her voice sounded perfectly normal, which somehow made the situation more confusing.

He turned towards Ria, who was now sitting upright. "Dadi wants us downstairs."

"At this hour?" Ria reached for her dressing gown. "Has something happened?"

"I don't know."

Within minutes, the two of them were descending the grand staircase. They found Vidya waiting in the drawing room, still dressed in the silk saree she had worn to the wedding. Her jewellery had been removed, and a cup of tea sat untouched on the table beside her.

Rishi stopped at the entrance. "Dadi, what happened?"

Before she could answer, footsteps sounded from the staircase. Joy appeared first, wearing a T-shirt and pyjama trousers, his hair thoroughly dishevelled. His twin sister, Jiya, followed him in an oversized nightshirt, looking distinctly irritated at being woken.

"Dadi, please tell me nobody has died," Joy said, rubbing his eyes.

"Joy!" Jiya exclaimed.

"What? It's half past three in the morning. People don't usually summon the entire family for pleasant news."

Vidya gave him a disapproving look. "Must you always say the first thing that enters your head?"

"Usually, yes."

"Sit down."

Joy dropped onto the sofa. Jiya sat beside him, pulling a cushion into her lap.

The twins were twenty-six, born in the same year as Tara Sen. Their arrival had been something of a family surprise, particularly because their parents already had two grown sons. For years, relatives had affectionately teased the late Mr and Mrs Oberoi about their unexpected additions to the family.

Joy had inherited his father's easy humour, while Jiya possessed her mother's quick temper and sharp intelligence. They were inseparable despite arguing over practically everything.

Jiya was engaged, and her wedding was scheduled for six months later. Consequently, the household had already begun preparing for one wedding. Nobody had expected another.

Rishi sat opposite Vidya, with Ria beside him. "Now, Dadi, please tell us what's going on."

Vidya looked at her grandchildren. "I've just come from The Opera Grand."

"We know," Jiya replied. "You went to Tara's wedding."

Vidya nodded. "There was a problem at the wedding."

Rishi straightened. "What kind of problem?"

"Samar didn't come." For a moment, nobody spoke.

Jiya lowered the cushion. "What do you mean, he didn't come?"

"He had left Kolkata. The wedding was called off."

"Oh, God," Ria whispered.

Joy sat forward. "Are you serious?"

Vidya nodded. "Tara was already dressed as a bride. The guests had arrived, the arrangements were complete, and then they discovered that Samar had left."

"That bastard," Joy said quietly.

"Joy," Vidya warned, although without much conviction.

"What else am I supposed to call him?"

Jiya looked genuinely distressed. "Poor Tara. Oh, God. What must she have gone through?"