Both of them sat down after the seven circles around the fire, and the pandit asked Raghav to put on the mangal sutra around Pallavi's neck. As Raghav turned to Pallavi with it, Pallavi looked down to avoid his eyes. The disgust Raghav saw in Pallavi's face tugged at his heart strings. What was he doing? Why was he ruining this woman's and his lives. Then as he tied the mangal sutra, he saw Amma's smile, and remembered. Then came time for the sindoor, and as Raghav placed the vermillion in Pallavi's maang, Pallavi couldn't control herself anymore. Tears slid down her face, and she closed her eyes, trying her best to remember why she was tying herself to such a horrible man.
The pandit declared the wedding rituals complete and both Raghav and Pallavi stood to take Amma's blessings. As Pallavi stood up, the dizziness she had been feeling since morning came to a head. She fainted. Before she hit the ground, Raghav caught her.
"Oh god, what happened to Pallavi?" Amma yelled.
"Raghav, call a doctor, what the hell happened? What did you say to her outside before the wedding?" Keerthi was lobbing curses at Raghav and trying to wake Pallavi up.
Raghav looked down and saw Pallavi's closed eyes, the sindoor in her hair, and the mangal sutra around her neck. He gritted his teeth and took her to a couch quickly. "Farhad, call a doctor immediately. Amma, calm down, looks like Saree ka Dukaan decided to diet on her wedding day like an idiot. She must have not eaten anything."
When the doctor arrived he checked Pallavi's blood pressure, her heartbeat and her breathing. "It looks like you were right Mr. Rao, your wife's condition seems to be a simple crash due to dehydration and not eating all day. I've given her a glucose injection and she should wake up soon. I would make sure she eats a lot tonight, and definitely get some more sugar in her. It seems women all around the world will do anything to look thin on their wedding day, I tell you—"
Raghav raised his hand and signaled the doctor to stop talking, "thank you for your help, Farhad will pay your fees and you can leave."
Amma looked less worried after this news, she didn't want anything to happen to her new daughter-in-law, "Raghav, go take her up to your room and let her rest, Keerthi and I will bring some food up for her in a bit. I should call her Aai and the rest of her family."
Raghav sighed, what magic had this woman spun on his mother that she was so in love with Pallavi already? He wouldn't stand it if the rest of his life was spent competing with Pallavi Deshmukh for attention from his mother.
He carried Pallavi up the stairs. As he set her on the bed, making sure to set her on the left side, because he hated that side and preferred the right, he heard Farhad's voice, "Anna, based on what you did to Pallavi's brother, I don't think she told her family what she was doing to get Nikhil released, what are you going to say when Amma tells them that you two got married?"
Raghav, his eyes still on the unconscious woman who was now his wife, "first things first, call that stupid inspector and have that Junior College, Nikhil, released from jail. Make sure any and all evidence of our frame up is gone, and bribe whoever needs to be bribed to ensure that he doesn't have a record because of this. Tell Harish to let Junior College know that his services will no longer be needed, we'll find some other way to bypass customs."
"Ok Anna, we can do all that, but Pallavi's family?"
"From tonight they aren't her family anymore. Amma and Keerthi...and I am. I don't need to offer anyone any explanations for anything. We did nothing wrong, and no one except you, me, and Pallavi need to know how we got to this decision."
Farhad left the room, and Raghav's eyes fell back on Pallavi. A lock of her hair had fallen across her face, and Raghav smiled. He bent down to move it, and as he did, Pallavi awoke with a start.
"What happened, where am I?" Pallavi saw Raghav's face and her fingers went to touch the mangal sutra around her neck. She remembered feeling dizzy, and then everything went black. Then every horrible memory of the wedding came back to her. She looked at Raghav and backed away from him to the other side of the bed. "Stay away from me, I'm fine, I just didn't eat anything since this morning, I'm—"
"I know Saree ka Dukaan, I made a mistake calling you intelligent this morning, you're clearly not. What kind of person forgets to eat?"
Pallavi was furious, she got on her knees on the bed and grabbed Raghav's collar, "you very well know exactly why I forgot to eat today, and it's all your fault. So unless you want me to walk downstairs and tell your precious mother—"
Just then Amma and Keerthi walked in the room, "Pallavi, you're awake. Raghav are you bothering her again, stop. Pallavi lay back down, I brought some food for you, and I called your mother and your family, they're on their way here."
Raghav backed away and noticed the stricken look on Pallavi's face. Farhad was right, Pallavi hadn't told her family why she was marrying him. Despite what he said to Farhad, Raghav knew that he had to make sure Sharda didn't make a scene in front of Amma, or Pallavi might spill the whole truth before even twenty-four hours of this sham marriage was over.
He left the room and went back downstairs, as he reached the pandit to pay him for his services and lead him out the door, Sharda, Milind, Sulochana, Mansi, and Amruta burst into the house.
"Where the hell is my daughter, Raghav Rao?" Sharda yelled.
