You're Invited(101)

“I would have been next, I’m sure of it,” she gasped, reaching out for my hand. “But then Amaya showed up. She managed to tackle him, somehow, and all three of us were struggling to get ahold of the gun when it went off. It was an accident, wasn’t it, Amaya?”

“We were only trying to get the gun away from him,” I replied in a voice that wasn’t my own.

Kaavi continued to sob, her face in her hands.

“The gun was loud. I was so scared.”

Her parents rushed to her side, her mother pulling her close and her father letting his own tears fall as he rubbed her shoulder.

I looked over at Miss Padmaraj.

“Maybe we should give them some space?”





35


AMAYA


One Week Later


SHE WAS PLAYING outside in the garden. Her nanny was sitting next to her while she poured imaginary tea into the delicate real china tea set that lay on a low picnic table. Both of them were wearing fairy wings. Her smile was so bright that I could barely look at her.

Nadia—the real reason I came back here. I couldn’t have Spencer around her. I did everything I could back then to keep her safe. I wasn’t about to stop now.

A part of me longed to go up to her. To say hello. To say goodbye.

But she was happy and peaceful and had no idea what the real world was like. I let her be that way. It was a choice I made five years ago, and despite what Mrs. Fonseka seems to think, it’s not one I regret. I am many things—I am stronger than I give myself credit for, I am fiercely protective of the people I love, but I also need to heal. And healing is a solitary journey. Not one worth disrupting a childhood for.

I checked the time. 11:11 a.m.

I whispered a goodbye that no one would hear. My biggest gift to Nadia was the life I had always wanted for myself.

Turning around, I saw Tehani a few feet away from me. She’d been watching me, judging from her expression.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kidnap her or something, if that’s what you’re concerned about. I just wanted to get one last look at her before I left.”

“I—I wanted to speak to you really quickly, if that’s okay?”

“I think you’ve said enough, to be honest.”

I had heard, because every bit of the investigation had been dragged open by gossips and well-wishers and aunties and uncles, about what Tehani had done. How she had invited me to the wedding. How she had pretended to be Beth. It’s a good thing that everyone was so focused on Mr. Ananda’s attack because Tehani would surely have been made out to be a straight-up sociopath otherwise.

It felt like my heart was ripped out all over again, when I heard about Beth. To think I had spent so long speaking to someone, opening up to them, telling them my innermost thoughts, all to find out later that it was a lie. It hurt to even think about it. It was excruciating to have to speak to Tehani now.

“Okay, look, I just wanted to apologize, okay?” Her tone was defensive, so I started to leave.

“The truth was that I wanted what you and Kaavi had, okay? I wanted a friend too.”

Something about the way she said it made me pause, though I still didn’t turn back to face her.

“All those things I said, not all of them were lies, you know. I know I gave you a different name. And different circumstances, of course. But look, all the real shit I said, you know, the stuff about how I felt so comfortable opening up to you and all that, that wasn’t a lie. Okay?”

I still didn’t say anything. I couldn’t if I wanted to.

“Please believe me. You—you were my friend.”

I turned around slowly. I don’t know what she was expecting. A hug? A tearful confession that it’s okay, that I forgave her for tricking me when I trusted her with things I never thought I’d tell anyone? That it’s all right that she thought I was a murderer? It was all I could do not to imagine myself breaking off her long fake nails and sticking them straight into her eyeballs.

I tried to do what I did best. I took a deep breath. I counted to five.

But that was the old me.

“Fuck off, Tehani.”

I walked to the car without looking back at her. Then I pulled out my phone and sent a text.

Alexander, hi. I’ll be back in the US soon. Shall we meet on Friday? I was thinking we could do drinks at the hotel bar first, if that was all right with you?



He could whip me for my insolence if he wanted to, but I suddenly felt brazen. It was time for me to move forward one way or the other. It was time for me to start taking back control over my life.

I would love nothing more, Clara. I’ll send a car for you at the usual time.



Good things were definitely coming my way.





36


KAAVI



“YOU DIDN’T NEED to come drop me, you know,” Amaya said, giving me a small smile. We were both sitting in the back of the car while my mother, who was having trouble letting me out of her sight, sat up front with the driver.

“It’s fine, I told you. It’s the least I could do, after everything you’ve done for me.”

The truth was, I would breathe a little easier once she was safely on her flight back to LA. All loose ends tied up. Any chance of what she knew coming back to bite me in the ass subdued, at least for now.