Hannah and Liv nodded in agreement.

Hisham’s reasons for concealing his engagement were still unclear to me. Maybe he didn’t realize he was leading me on? Or perhaps he did and he simply didn’t care? All I knew is it would’ve saved me a lot of tears and heartbreak had I known sooner.

“I know this wasn’t the outcome you were hoping for, Leila,” Tania said sympathetically. “I’m so sorry.”

I thought about where I was when I first started this process—my Bollywood fantasies, my unrealistic expectations about finding love—and where I was now. It felt like an entire lifetime had passed in between. There was actually a time when I believed I was incapable of falling in love, and now here I was, having had my heart broken twice in the span of three months. It might not have been the outcome I wanted, but in a way, it was kind of remarkable.

“Now that you’ve experienced love twice,” Hannah said, “do you at least feel like you have a better sense of what you’re looking for?”

I thought about my list and how far I had come from it. For the first time in my life, I had surprised even myself with my openness to being with someone who grew up in India. I’d always assumed that because of the differences in cultural upbringing, I would prefer someone American versus Indian-born. However, after spending time with Hisham, I realized that was not true. Our differences actually brought us together, and it was through him that I was able to appreciate aspects of my culture in a way I never had before. My feelings for Hisham went beyond a cursory list, and they taught me more about myself than I had ever expected.

“I do. I feel like I’ve grown,” I said softly. “But . . .” I could feel the lump rising in my throat as the thing that had been nagging me for the past week finally formed itself into words. “I may have fallen in love, but I wasn’t able to convince anyone to fall for me. So at the end of it all, I feel like I’ve failed.”

I closed my eyes tightly as my mother’s words replayed in my mind.

If you do not succeed in finding a suitable boy by our thirtieth anniversary, it is in our hands from there. No more excuses.

“My future now rests with my parents,” I said, looking at my friends. “And there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Leila, of course you can!” Liv said.

“This is still your life, regardless of what your parents tell you!” Hannah added.

I looked at Tania and she remained silent.

“It’s complicated.” I shook my head. “Yes, I’ve grown. Yes, I’ve learned about myself, but what does it matter? When it’s all said and done, perhaps we do just end up with who our parents choose for us. Maybe there is no greater purpose. Maybe that is our kismet. Maybe that is our only choice.”