RISHTAA: An Arranged Love (IPKKND AU) **ON HIATUS**

Chapter 31: Khushi

Khushi smoothed her hands down the front of her pink and cream suit as she waited for her family to alight from the car Arnav-ji had sent. She gazed up at the building in wonder, all blue-tinged windows and blocky, before her eyes found the AR logo on a brick wall. Pride swelled inside her.

"Bitiya?"

Her father came to stand next to her, gazing appreciatively at the glass doors that marked the entrance to the biggest textile empire in India.

"He built this himself," Khushi said, wonder suffusing her tone.

"He's one of a kind," Babu-ji nodded.

"My damaad is a diamond," Bua-ji had heard, "A diamond I tell you. So accomplished and polite, even with all this wealth."

Money is power, Khushi, and I have a lot of money.

Her smile faded with the memory of his words but Khushi forced it back, mindful of the tentative happiness on her sister's face. Jiji looked glad to be out of the house. Khushi took her sister's hand and guided her up the steps to the entryway, where they were met by two security guards.

"Namaste," she greeted brightly, "Arnav-ji invited us."

They were both dressed in black, with the AR logo sewn into the front in red thread. They wore no nametags. They were roughly the same height, though one was broader in the shoulders than the other, and wore matching frowns. Khushi named the first Raju and the other Bunty in her mind, and smiled as they exchanged a look.

Raju walked inside while Bunty consulted a clipboard, "Name?"

"Khushi Kumari Gupta. This is my Jiji, and that's my Babu-ji, my Amma, and my Bua-ji."

He nodded absently as he scanned his papers, and then opened the doors before motioning them through, "Take a seat in reception, someone will come down for you."

Khushi flashed a smile at her parents before walking, arm still linked with Jiji's. Her confidence faltered as she crossed the threshold, however. The entrance hall was painted a bright white, with red accents. Grey sofas lined the edges of the room, and a reception desk stood at the far end, a gateway into the offices beyond. The receptionist manning the desk wore a bright pink top, with matching pink hoops in her ears and her hair in a complicated-looking pile on her head. Her makeup was flawless, her skin dewy and eyes made large with kohl and eye shadow.

Instantly, Khushi felt self-conscious, the cream, lipstick, and kajal she'd applied this morning seeming insignificant in comparison to that lady's perfection. And her outfit, painstakingly picked out the night before in an attempt to look the part of Future-Mrs-Raizada, now seemed out of place.

"Khushi, what's wrong?" Jiji tugged on her arm.

She came back to herself, shaking her head, and led her family to the sofas nearest to them, "Nothing, Jiji. Let's sit down. I'll text Arnav-ji to let him know that we're here."

"Oh my God, who let these behen-ji's in here?"

Khushi looked up at the scathing, high pitched words to see two girls staring in her direction. One wore dark, tight fitting pants and a bright yellow top with no sleeves. Her hair was slicked back into a high ponytail and her shoes were at least 3 inches high. The other wore a bright blue dress, held up by two thin straps and ending two hand spans above her knees. Khushi followed the line of her long legs down to platform shoes in a shade of blue that almost exactly matched her dress.

"What are they wearing? Look at those shoes. And those jhumki! I'd die if I had to dress like that."

Embarrassment curled within her as she glanced at her parents, but they were whispering to Bua-ji and paying no attention. Blessedly, Jiji had fallen into a daydream and hadn't heard anything either. Her unease turned into anger as the ladies continued, snidely commenting on everything from their salwar suits to their plaits and the pom-poms which hung from her sleeves.