Chapter 3 - Diane and Ravi were officially together now, committed rather than merely testing whether their 2 worlds could coexist.
Ravi had also become part of Sadi’s life.
He went with her to the dentist and held her hand in the waiting room. The treatment took several months, but eventually her teeth were aligned and her smile became confident.
The bullying stopped.
Sadi made new friends.
Ravi also began picking her up from school exactly twice each week and taking her for ice cream before bringing her home.
One Saturday afternoon, Diane was cooking lunch when Sadi and Ravi returned from one of those trips.
Sadi entered the kitchen with chocolate around her mouth.
“Diane, are you going to marry Mr. Ravi?”
Diane almost dropped the spoon.
“We’re dating, Sadi. We’re not planning a wedding.”
“But he’s perfect for you.”
Sadi began listing the evidence.
He made Diane happy. He was kind to her. He took Sadi for ice cream. He even helped Diane wash dishes after dinner without complaining.
“That is true love.”
Diane laughed.
“You only like him because of the ice cream.”
Sadi suddenly became serious.
“No. It’s because he makes you really smile.”
Diane stopped.
“You didn’t smile before he came. You were always tired and worried. I could see you were sad even when you tried to hide it.”
Tears formed in Diane’s eyes.
“But now your eyes sparkle when you look at him. You seem happy.”
Diane hugged her.
“I love you so much.”
“I love you too. And I love Mr. Ravi. He’s like the big brother I always wanted. Or like a father, but that would be weird, so I’ll stay with big brother.”
Ravi stood in the doorway.
He had heard everything.
His eyes were wet.
Sadi ran to him and hugged him.
2 weeks later, Ravi brought Diane to his mansion to meet his brothers properly.
She was nervous throughout the drive.
Ravi held her hand.
Ezra was already familiar to her, but Liam was not. The dinner was easier than Diane expected. Both brothers clearly cared deeply for Ravi and appeared willing to accept Diane into their family.
By the time Ravi drove her home, Diane felt happier and more complete than she had in years.
At her apartment door, he kissed her gently.
“Thank you for giving me a chance. Thank you for letting me become part of your life and Sadi’s.”
“Thank you for coming into ours,” Diane said. “And for making us happy.”
Exactly 1 year after the charity ball, Diane graduated from nursing school.
The ceremony took place in a large university auditorium.
When her name was called, Diane crossed the stage to receive the diploma she had fought years to earn.
From the audience, she heard Ravi shouting her name.
He and Sadi were standing and applauding.
Diane cried as she held the diploma.
Afterward, Ravi pulled her into his arms.
“I’m so proud of you.”
Sadi, now 11, nearly knocked Diane over with her hug.
“You’re the most amazing nurse in the world!”
That afternoon, while Diane celebrated, Ravi was pacing through his mansion with a small velvet box in his jacket.
Ezra watched with amusement.
“You’re shaking.”
“What if she says no?”
Ravi had asked the same question repeatedly.
“What if she thinks it’s too soon? What if she doesn’t want to marry someone like me?”
“She loves you,” Ezra said. “Stop worrying and go ask her.”
A few hours later, Ravi sat across from Diane at the dinner table in her apartment. Sadi sat beside her.
They had finished dessert when Ravi became serious.
“Diane, I have something to ask you.”
Then he stood and knelt beside the table.
Sadi gave a muffled scream.
Ravi opened the velvet box.
“You kissed me for $10,000 exactly 1 year ago.”
Diane covered her mouth.
“That was simultaneously the worst and best moment of my life. The worst because I was furious that someone touched me without permission.”
His eyes shone.
“But the best because that kiss brought you into my life.”
Diane began crying.
“You taught me to feel again. You gave me a real family after years of living only to protect my brothers and refusing to let anyone else into my heart.”
He held the ring.
“I love you more than I thought it was possible to love someone. Will you marry me? Let me spend the rest of my life making you happy.”
“Yes.”
Diane could barely speak through her tears.
“Yes. Always. Yes.”
Ravi slid the ring onto her finger.
Sadi screamed.
“I’m going to have a real big brother!”
She threw herself into Ravi’s arms.
He laughed and pulled Diane into the embrace.
The 3 of them stood together in the small kitchen.
“Family finally complete,” Ravi whispered.
6 months after the proposal, Diane stood before a mirror in a room inside Ravi’s mansion.
She wore a simple but beautiful wedding dress that Ravi had insisted on paying for despite her protests.
Nancy stood beside her, adjusting the veil with tears in her eyes.
Sadi spun around the room in a light blue flower-girl dress.
“You look beautiful,” Nancy said.
She hugged Diane carefully.
“I can’t believe the same girl who cried on my shoulder because she thought Ravi was going to kill her is about to marry him.”
Diane laughed through her tears.
The wedding was intentionally small.
Only the people who mattered most had been invited to the mansion’s garden to witness 2 people who had lost their parents too young and eventually found family in each other.
When the music began, Diane walked between rows of white chairs.
Ravi waited at the end of the aisle.
Ezra and Liam stood beside him as groomsmen.
He wore an immaculate tuxedo, but Diane barely noticed it.
She noticed his face.
Ravi looked at her as though nothing else in the garden existed.
There were tears in his eyes.
When Diane reached him, he took both of her hands.
The officiant began the ceremony.
Diane heard almost none of it until the vows.
Ravi tightened his hands around hers.
“You kissed me without permission, and you stole my heart in a way I never thought possible.”
His voice was steady despite the emotion behind it.
“I promise to always protect you, to love you with everything I have, and to be the best father I can be to Sadi. Always.”
Diane cried openly.
Then it was her turn.
“You were the most feared man in the city. But with me, you were always gentle, protective, and incredibly sweet.”
She looked directly into his eyes.
“I love you more than words can express. I promise to be your partner in everything, your family forever, and to love you through every moment of our lives.”
The officiant pronounced them husband and wife.
Before the sentence was completely finished, Ravi pulled Diane into a kiss.
The reception that followed was filled with laughter.
During the celebration, Sadi approached Ravi with unusual seriousness.
“Now you’re officially my brother?”
Ravi crouched to her height.
“Yes. Officially.”
“So I can call you Ravi now? Without the mister?”
“Yes, little one.”
Sadi’s face brightened.
“Cool.”
She threw herself into his arms.
“I love you, Ravi.”
For the first time in years, Ravi cried openly.
He held her tightly.
“I love you too, Sadie.”
Later that night, Diane and Ravi finally found a few quiet minutes alone in the garden beneath the soft lights.
Diane leaned against him.
“Who would have thought all this started because of a $10,000 kiss?”
“Best investment of my life.”
Diane laughed.
“Catherine didn’t even pay the whole $10,000. She only gave me $5,000.”
“No, she didn’t.”
Ravi drew Diane closer.
“But I paid much more than $10,000.”
Diane looked at him.
“I paid with my entire heart.”
He kissed her.
“Best payment ever,” Diane whispered.
2 years passed.
Diane eventually found herself sitting in the large living room of the new home she shared with Ravi.
Sadi was now 13.
In her arms was Noah, Diane and Ravi’s 1-year-old son. He had Ravi’s dark eyes and Diane’s smile.
Ravi sat beside his wife.
Sometimes Diane still found it difficult to believe that this ordinary domestic scene belonged to her.
“Diane, do you remember when you cried because you thought Ravi was going to kill you?”
Sadi made faces at Noah until the baby laughed.
“I remember perfectly.”
Diane laughed.
“I was terrified. I thought my life was over.”
“And now he’s your husband and Noah’s dad.”
Sadi looked toward Ravi.
“And my annoying big brother who won’t let me date until I’m 30.”
“Exactly.”
Ravi put his arm around Diane’s shoulders.
“And I’m going to be even more annoying when you actually want to date.”
“Ravi!”
They all laughed.
The beginning of their life together had been a $10,000 offer that Catherine Voss never even paid in full.
Catherine had handed Diane only $5,000 before the kiss and never delivered the remaining $5,000. Even the promised $10,000 would have left Diane $400 short of the exact $10,400 she needed for the overdue rent, Sadi’s school, and her dental treatment.
Ravi had later given Diane $15,000.
Mr. Martinez had paid her 2 weeks in advance when he dismissed her from the restaurant.
Ravi had spent 16 years without allowing anyone close enough to break his heart after the death of his parents.
He had been 18 when he became responsible for 12-year-old Ezra and 8-year-old Liam. Diane had been 21 when she became responsible for Sadi at 8.
Nancy had worked beside Diane at the night bar and later joined her at the smaller bar after Diane lost her restaurant job.
Ravi had taken Sadi for ice cream exactly twice a week, turning those afternoons into a tradition between them.
What began with desperation had altered every life involved.
Diane had kissed Ravi for $10,000.
Ravi had initially wanted to punish the stranger who touched him without permission, only to discover why she had done it.
They were 2 people who had lost their parents too young and had been forced to raise younger siblings before either was ready.
They had both learned to survive by protecting someone else.
Neither expected to find love in the process.
In the end, they built the family neither of them believed they would have again.
Ravi and Diane.
May you like
Sadi and Noah.
And the single kiss that had changed everything.
Related Stories
