Warmth spread through Jia. She hadn’t really thought her sister would betray her in front of their parents, but this was nice confirmation.
Farzana pressed her lips together and crossed her arms over her chest, momentarily outnumbered. “Humph.”
Shweta rubbed her hands together briskly. “Now, let’s start getting plans together for a celebration tomorrow, eh? Adil, we will have to come up with the perfect menu.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
DEV FOUND Shweta in her small office, and he entered without waiting for permission. He sat across from the desk and gazed at the top of his grandmother’s head. There was a slight bald patch forming at the crown there that he’d never noticed. She lifted her head and peered at him over her glasses. “Stop,” she barked.
“Stop what?”
“Staring at me.”
“I’m merely trying to figure out what your game is. First of all, are you really sick?”
“I have some blockages in my arteries, the doctor says.”
Another jolt of that worry and unease, at the thought of his indomitable grandmother being ill. He had complicated feelings about his brother’s and grandfather’s deaths. They’d be multiplied tenfold for Aji. “What does that mean? Are you actually dying?”
She played with her pen, then set it down. “Not exactly. It’s manageable with medicine and diet.” She pouted. “They want me to go vegetarian, can you imagine?”
Dev heaved a sigh of relief and made a mental note to talk to Adil about tasty vegetarian meals for her. “You can’t lie about this stuff. You made it sound like you were expiring on the spot.”
Shweta made an unbothered noise. “I do what I need to do.”
“Can I ask you something? Why are you so determined to see me married before the deadline? I told you I don’t care about the money—”
“I care.” Her soft words cut him off quicker than a shout would have. “I have tried to break that will, and I cannot. And if you don’t get money, Luna doesn’t get any money, and I won’t have that. I can leave you what’s mine, but you deserve his money as well.” Shweta shook her head, and he was shocked to see tears shining in her eyes. “He kept my son and you and Rohan from me all those years. I won’t let him rob you of your birthright.”
“You . . .” Dev leaned forward in his chair. “Wait, did you say he did? Like you had no part in disowning my parents?” He regretted the words as soon as he said them. One of the silent understandings of their relationship was that they didn’t talk about the past. “Never mind.”
She blinked rapidly. “No. No, let me clear something up. What say did you think I had in that house? Your grandfather sent my baby boy away, and kept my grandsons from me as well, and then your parents died there, far from me. You were so grown-up and distant when you came back. I had a chance with Rohan so I gave him as much money as I could, trying to make up for everything. And even that was wrong, because all it did was spoil him, like it spoiled . . .” She took a deep breath and looked back at her computer. It was a credit to her years of acting that she was able to recover her composure so quickly. She typed something on her keyboard and then closed her laptop. “The lawyers will have the prenup ready by morning.”
Were they done talking about the past? Because for once, he wanted to pry into that box. “No prenup.”
“Yes, prenup. Or she could take you for half your wealth a week after marriage.”
“I don’t care if she does. That money isn’t mine.” If anything, it was a relief that she’d get something out of this if he wasn’t a perfect husband. Dev braced his hands on the arms of the chair. “Go back to what you were saying.”
She made a dismissive noise. “There’s no need to dwell on the past. There are, of course, things I wish I’d done differently in life. Things I wish I’d said. But those things can’t be done or said now.”
“Why not? We have time. Say them. Do them.”
Shweta looked away, blinking, then shook her head. “No. I don’t think so.”
She sounded final, so he dug out another box. “Luna told me you paid Rohan to keep her. Is that true?”
Shweta pressed her hand to her chest. “How on earth did she find that out?”
“Is it true?”
Shweta’s lips thinned. “Luna is family. I couldn’t tolerate the thought of family being raised somewhere else, like you were. Rohan was a good boy, just selfish. He needed some urging, and I gave it.”
“Did he keep her tucked away for her own protection or because he was ashamed of her? Because she didn’t fit the perfect Dixit mold?”
Her face dropped, and for a second, she wasn’t a Bollywood legend, but a tired older woman. She’d shrunk, he realized, in the past year, her shoulders growing more stooped. “I think you know the answer to that.”
Dev’s grip tightened on the arms of his chair. He did know, and he hated it. “I miss him, but I also didn’t like him very much.”
Her smile was wry. “Welcome to being a part of a family. We don’t choose every member, unfortunately.”
People come in and out of our lives, and we have to enjoy the parts in the middle. But I think it’s okay to not enjoy all the parts. “You’re so close with Luna. She hasn’t hugged me the way she hugs you.”
Shweta feigned interest in her nails. “I do miss her.”
“Why didn’t you fight me on custody?”
“I fought your uncle once for custody of you because I was selfish. I didn’t encourage him to see you. I regret that. Adil is a good man and would have raised you and Rohan to be good men.” His grandmother gave a tired shrug. “I love Luna like she’s the daughter I never had. But I knew she’d be better off with you. I knew you would give her the best home you possibly could, and you’d protect her.”
Dev frowned, disquieted. He didn’t like that his distant relationship with his grandmother had blinded him. He’d taken Luna across the world from the one person who had shown her unconditional love.
“Speaking of Luna, perhaps you should go tell her about the wedding? She’ll be excited.”
Dev didn’t know about that. She’d reacted so poorly to the news of the engagement. And given what Aji had confirmed about Rohan, he didn’t blame her. Still, it was his responsibility to tell her. “You’re correct. Are you going to bed?”
His grandmother got a faraway look in her eyes. “No. I sleep late. I’ll go listen to the ocean. It sounds different here, no?”
“Very different. Different isn’t bad.”
“No, it’s not.”
Dev hesitated, but there were so many more things he wished to say to his grandmother, he didn’t know where to start. So he ended up only wishing her good night.
The house was big enough that he didn’t come across any Ahmeds on the way to Luna’s bedroom. The door was slightly ajar, and Luna and Arjun sat on the end of the bed, controllers in their hands, both of them intent on the racing game on the television. “You’re still playing,” he said.
Arjun raised a finger. “Hang on, I’m about to— shit!”