You're Invited(103)

Of course Tehani had to almost ruin everything by drunkenly staggering to my room while I was in there with Spencer, but fortunately Amaya knocked her out. That whole debacle got swept away, thank god, along with all accusations against Amaya. She did come out the hero in this. She should thank me, really.

“Well, everything’s done now. Things can go back to normal, hopefully. I’ll just use all this press to get another endorsement or something. Things always work out for the best.”

“No need to get cocky, Kaavindi. Be prudent. You’ll probably need to be in the months to come.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t believe you haven’t noticed. I thought we’d taught you better than that, but then, you have been distracted, I suppose. Fonseka Jewellers has not been doing well, Kaavindi. So much so that I’ve had to dip into your charity fund from time to time.”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“You’re the one who messed with my accounts?”

“And I was surprised it took you that long to realize. You’re slipping, Kaavindi.”

“I had someone fired because of it.”

“And look how useful all that turned out to be.”

I took a sip of my drink.

“You really are a piece of work, you know that, Amma?”

She sighed. “When will you grow up and stop getting yourself into trouble, Kaavindi?”

Enough with the fucking dramatics already.

“What do you mean, Amma? Look, I’m grateful for your help, I really am. But I’ve taken care of myself all this time, I’m not about to stop now.”

It was her turn to roll her eyes.

“Are you really that idiotic, child? Do you think you just magically maintain your flawless reputation when you are flying around the world sleeping with god knows who? Do you think that your little problems from your teenage years miraculously went away?”

I swallowed.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, don’t tell me you never figured it out?”

But I had no clue what she was talking about. I raised an eyebrow at her.

She shook her head.

“And here I was, thinking you were the smart one. Tell me, Kaavindi, what do you think happened to Gayan Peiris?”

Gayan? The boy who died in a drunk driving accident?

“I have no idea what you are talking about. We were at Amaya’s, and he’d had too much vodka. Amaya and I barely drank back then; we were mostly pretending.”

“And did you give a second thought to that bottle of vodka you just happened to stumble on that night you were sleeping over at Amaya’s? I know you were just trying to impress her and that horrible boy, but I always wondered why all the sleeping pills I had dissolved into the alcohol never knocked you out.”

I frowned.

“I knew that useless bastard would drive back home. All those stupid boys did. Just like I knew that the two of you were getting together behind Amaya’s back.”

There was no way she could have known that. We had been so careful.

And did that mean—?

“You drugged him?”

“I did what I had to do. Imagine what it would have done to you if it got out that you were sleeping with your best friend’s boyfriend? And at that age? Kaavindi, you would have been ruined.”

My palms felt damp and I rubbed them against my trousers.

“I took care of that physics teacher you were misbehaving with, too, by the way, if you’d like to thank me for that as well. You know, the only thing I’m grateful for is that you were quiet and well-mannered enough that you didn’t call attention to yourself like Amaya did. With behavior like that, it was easy for everyone to suspect her. At least I’ve taught you to be discreet.”

I rarely felt lost for words, but I honestly had no idea what I was supposed to say.

“Are you really all that surprised, Kaavindi?”

I suppose she had managed to get a gun, help me kill my fiancé, and pin the blame on someone else. Maybe I had to give her a little bit of credit.

“So why do you hate Amaya, then?”

“Come on, Kaavindi. I didn’t hate Amaya. It was actually quite useful having her around when you were younger. She always took all the attention away from you in the best possible way. But when she showed up pregnant, well, your father took pity on her, and my astrologer always did say that it would be lucky for me to have three children, so it all worked out. I just wanted her out of our lives. She’d served her purpose.”

I wanted to be angry. I wanted to be outraged.

But how different was I from her, actually?

They say we all eventually turn into our mothers. I was well on my way there.

We heard drums beating in the distance, and someone blowing a conch shell horn.

“Oh look,” she said, standing up. “Seems like there’s a wedding happening. Let’s go take a peek at the bride. At least some daughters know how to make their mothers happy.”





ACKNOWLEDGMENTS





TO MY FRIEND and agent, Melissa Danaczko, whose support and advice has always been invaluable. Thank you for all your encouragement and for always believing in me and, most importantly, in my thinking couch!

To my amazing editor, Jen Monroe, whom I can always count on for the best ideas! Thank you for being so wonderful to work with, and for not being (too) disturbed by all my strange suggestions.