Devi meets Des at a particularly low point in her life and he turns out to be far beyond her expectations.
After Nalini becomes friends with Rhyah the nutritionist thanks to Nirmala’s efforts, Devi is introduced to her son Nirdesh, who goes by ‘Des’. She’s expecting a basic Indian nerd who’s too lame but that ends up being far from the truth.
Indian knight in shining armour
Devi is at a Navratri celebration at her house while all her friends are at Trent’s birthday party so she tries to sn eak out. Her mother catches her and stops her from going.
Rhyah gets a call from her son and then tells Nalini that he’s sitting alone at home because none of his friends are talking since he returned from his semester at sea.
Nalini tells Devi can go for the party as long as she takes Des with her and while she’s reluctant to have a nerd cramp her style, she’s still happy to get a chance at going to the party so she accepts.
Once she reaches the party, she tells Eleanor about Des and suggests telling everyone they’re cousins so that he doesn’t harsh her vibe but he walks in soon after and it’s not what they expect.
Des is this good looking, well dressed, Indian kid who’s got charm and is not the typical nerd. After an awkward introduction, Devi catches Paxton with his new girlfriend and she walks out in tears, overcome with grief.
Des goes out after her and offers some comfort before suggesting that they make Paxton jealous by hanging out together. They have a good time and Des asks for Devi’s number at the end of the night.
Secret lovers
After initially ghosting her because he had his doubts, Devi and Des start dating right under their parents noses. The fact that Des was in a different school helped her be more relaxed around him because he didn’t know her past drama.
They find each other on opposite sides of a debate competition and Devi cheats because she’s intimidated by his private school background but she comes clean and fixes things later on.
Devi organizes a game night so that she can have some alone time with her boyfriend away from the prying eyes of their parents but the night doesn’t go as planned after Devi has a sudden episode of grief and Des feels insecure due to Paxton’s presence.
Devi later heads over to Des’ house to apologise and while they’re making out in his room, Rhyah walks in on them.
A sanctioned love affair
Des and Devi faced their respective mothers, ready to accept whatever decision was made for them and while Rhyah tells them that they cannot date because Nalini doesn’t allow Devi to, Nalini completely flips the script.
She agrees with the two of them dating because apart from simply being Indian, he’s a lot more smart and stable compared to the boys she was caught with before.
Things start to look up for Des and Devi but Rhyah shows a troubling attitude toward Devi’s past and how she faced the death of her father.
On the day of Devi’s first orchestra concert since that fateful day, she has a panic attack and Rhyah finds her in the washroom. She helps her calm down but she later pulls Des aside and insists that she break up with Devi because she’s “hysterical’ and has “too many issues” so she’ll only hold him down.
Ben hears all of this and tries to warn Devi but to no avail. Des doesn’t have the courage to break up with Devi so he just avoids her instead until she finds out and confronts him about it.
Rhyah’s truth is revealed when Devi tells her mother about what she said and Nalini says that it’s best if they don’t stay friends anymore as Des apologises one last time for how his mother ruined their relationship.
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