The wedding was over.
The ceremony, the rituals, the overwhelming presence of people-all of it had ended, and I was now officially Samira Chaudhury. The weight of it hadn't quite sunk in yet, but the moment I stepped out of the hall and into the car beside Ahan, reality hit me hard.
I was leaving behind everything I had known, even if much of it wasn't worth holding onto.
My family's goodbye had been cold, formal, and devoid of any genuine emotion. My mother had held my hands for a brief second, her lips pressed into a tight line, muttering some well-rehearsed farewell about duty and sacrifice. My father gave me a curt nod, already looking past me like I was someone else's responsibility now. There were no tears, no affectionate hugs, no whispered words of encouragement.
Not that I had expected any of that.
I shifted in my seat as Ahan and I headed toward the airport, my eyes flicking to him now and then. He was silent, his eyes trained on the road ahead, calm and composed as always. I wasn't sure what to say, so I said nothing. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts-about the wedding, the marriage, Ahan, and what lay ahead.
We were heading to Delhi-his home.
The capital felt like a faraway world from the suffocating environment I'd grown up in. A part of me felt relieved to be leaving Kolkata behind, leaving my family behind. But there was also a deep anxiety gnawing at me. What would life in Delhi with Ahan and his family be like?
I turned my gaze out the window, trying to calm the nervous flutter in my stomach.
---
The flight passed quickly, and before I knew it, we had landed in Delhi. My palms were sweating, not from the humid air, but from the anticipation of what awaited me. Ahan's family was supposed to be waiting to welcome us home, and the thought made me both anxious and curious. I knew how cold and indifferent my own family had been. Would his family be any different?
We drove to his house, and as the car pulled into the driveway, I felt my heart skip a beat.