I won't come down at your level by offending just because I disagree. She was ofcourse innocent at the time she got married; the middle class mentality as elaborated in the lines: "She had been shocked and frightened at his proposal. Her family was not very supportive or liberal. If they ever found out that she was dating someone, let alone about to marry someone secretly, they would disown her." She was innocent at that time and she had sex with him because she is now her wife. This part of story also resembles the scenes of movie 'Parineeta'. She was innocent also in the sense that she trusted him. She couldn't tell because she knows the consequences of telling it; but she might have thought to tell her parents when they get married formally. Her main objective of coming to US was meeting with her husband. However, she did not intend to waste her parent's money as the story mentions her getting scholarship of $10,000. Love can let people to do anything. After being brave enough to come to US, going to new city becomes the tiny issue. I don't see any relation between giving surprise and innocence. Some people never stop complaining. Regarding your "And she just innocently keeps loving the creep who duped her! Innocence ofcourse... ". I think that I already answered that with "she's already corrupted and had been deceived, and now more likely to act with pre-cautions". So her innocence has perhaps gone after being deceived. People like to call corrupted people like this smart and brilliant, and innocent as her earlier life as stupidity.