CHAPTER 21: Saru

He hurt me and left me alone on that street. I couldn't do anything but cry. After some time, I realized that his anger might stem from issues with his father. He came looking for me, apologized, and I could see tears in his big, downcast eyes. So, I just hugged him to console him. 

We took a taxi home since it was too late. Harsh asked me, "What do you want, Saru?" I replied with a fake smile, "What I want isn't possible." "What is it? Tell me!" he urged eagerly ."I want to marry an IIT IIM boy, which is impossible," I said. He looked a bit confused. "Why is it impossible?" I responded again with a fake smile, "Because no one wants to marry a girl who looks like an aunt." "Aunt types?" he asked, and I nodded my head.

After a moment, he said with a mysterious look, "Let me take you somewhere." He told the taxi driver to take us to a strange place that I probably didn't know. When we arrived, there were lights everywhere. Harsh explained to me that he was a smuggler of items used in the fashion industry, and that Ruby also bought stock from him. After hearing the word "smuggler," I refused to move any further and told him that I wanted to go home. However, Harsh held my hand and replied, "Trust me."

We entered a room filled with mirrors, mannequins, dresses, and makeup supplies. A man was seated, holding a cup of tea, and staring at one of the mannequins. Harsh called out to him, "Alam Brother?" The man turned around; he was middle-aged, wearing a green kurta, with brown skin, long hair, and a black mustache. When I looked at him, I felt terrified and told Harsh, "I don't want a makeover." However, Harsh didn't listen to me.

A man approached me, likely to get a closer look. Harsh left me standing there and sat down on a chair a little way off. Alam called for his assistants to help me, and they were all girls dressed in tight-fitting jeans, high heels, and black crop tops. They took me to a room and started preparing a facial for me. One girl applied the facial mask on my face, another worked on my hair, either curling or straightening it, while a third focused on my nails. Meanwhile, Alam was looking for dresses for me. 

After my facial, Alam came to take a look at me and, with a wide smile on his face, said, "Beautiful!" I smiled back, and he suggested I try on some dresses. I tried a few, but none of them felt right for me. After about an hour, when I was starting to feel exhausted, Alam went into his room and emerged with a long kurta featuring a floral print and colorful thread embroidery, along with a palazzo. It looked magnificent, and he encouraged me to try it on. I wore the outfit and walked over to Harsh. He glanced at me but said nothing. I smiled at him and asked, "How do I look?" He responded, "Are you happy now? What else do you want?" I replied, "I wish my family could see me like this." He held my hand and said, "Then let's go see them." I responded, feeling distressed, "It's a bad idea, Harsh." He kept moving forward, still holding my hand, and insisted, "No, it's not."