Honestly, I had gone there fully prepared to say no. Arranged marriage wasn’t something I believed in. Not because I was against marriage itself, but because I didn’t understand how anyone could decide something as important as a life partner after a single meeting.

But somewhere during those few hours, something shifted. I don’t know why. Maybe it was the way she expressed herself. Maybe it was the fact that there wasn’t a single trace of pretence in her. She wasn’t trying to impress me. She wasn’t carefully choosing her words to appear perfect. She was simply herself. The real her. And that was rare. There was something comforting about her presence. Something familiar despite the fact that we had met only a few hours ago. Something I wanted around.