Chapter three: The contract
208 Words
Kamala placed a folder on the table between them.
Inside were documents—official, stamped, and unmistakable.
Marriage papers.
Mira’s breath caught. “This—this must be a joke.”
Kamala shook her head. “No joke. Thirty years ago, your grandfather entered into an agreement with another family—the Rathores. A marriage alliance, meant to secure property rights and settle a dispute.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Mira said. “I wasn’t even born.”
“Exactly. The agreement was… postponed. Names were left blank, to be filled by the next generation.”
Mira stood abruptly. “You can’t possibly expect me to—”
“The Rathores are arriving tomorrow,” Kamala interrupted. “They believe the agreement still stands. Legally, it does.”
Mira felt dizzy. “So you called me here to tell me I’m supposed to marry a stranger?”
Kamala’s voice softened, just a little. “I called you here because if this alliance is broken, the Sen house—and the land around it—will be lost.”
Mira looked around the room, at the cracked walls and faded pride.
“This is insane,” she whispered.
“Perhaps,” Kamala said. “But it is real.”
- Writer
