Page 42 of Born in Sin

They stepped out of the building and stopped at the head of the driveway. Virat’s father signaled to someone, a driver she presumed, before turning to face his son. But it wasn’t a driver. His business manager, Sharan Chaudhry, stepped into view. Celina flattened herself to the wall, unashamedly spying.

“Sharan Chacha!”

Virat sounded relieved at the sight of his father’s manager, or maybe just at the sight of what passed as normal in his world. For the entirety of his existence, it had been Sharan Chacha who had attended every Parent’s Day, driven him to his own house for term breaks, and dropped him off at the beginning of the next term. So why was Virat’s father here now?

“Why are you here?” Virat asked abruptly, almost seeming to be in tune with her thoughts.

Raghuvansh Jha cleared his throat. “There is something you should know. Something I thought you should know at least.”

“What?” Virat’s voice was calm but Celina knew him well. She was the only one who would have heard the thread of uncertainty underlying it.

“Your mother is dead.”

The ground shook beneath her feet. Was that an earthquake? Or was it just Celina’s shock sending tremors through her. She took a shaky step forward and peeked around the wall at the Jhas.

Virat was staring at his father, expressionlessly, no flicker of emotion in his face. Her gaze dropped to his hands, and she saw the fine tremor that passed through them.

But when Virat finally spoke, his voice was as steady as a granite rock.

“Okay.”

One word. That’s all it was but Celina’s heart broke with it, shattered into a million pieces. She knew without his saying anything more that his world was never going to be the same again.

His father nodded, seeming pleased with Virat’s reaction or lack of it. “Goodbye,” he said, before getting into the car the driver had pulled up. He didn’t wait for a response from his son before putting the window up and driving away. As they passed down the driveway, the window was wound down, and a paper came fluttering out.

Virat’s report card. He stared at it, making no move to pick it up.

“Virat,” Sharan Chacha said, giving him a compassionate glance. “I’ll bring the car. You go get your luggage.

With that, the manager left and Celina exploded out of her hiding place. She wrapped her arms around him, holding on tight, squeezing until she felt like she was burrowing into him.

Virat gently unwound her arms from around him, setting her back. “You’ll get into trouble,” he told her, his voice a calm monotone.

“I don’t care!” She stared at him mutinously, anger, pain and grief mixing within her.

“I do!”

She shook her head, not wanting to fight with him. Not now. “I heard what your father said,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why?” he asked curiously.

“Virat.” Agitation coated her words. “Now you’ll never get to meet her. Ever.”

“She didn’t want to meet me Celi.” His voice was rough with unspoken emotion. “She left me a long time ago. This…this is nothing.”

“She was your mother!”

“She gave birth to me,” he replied. “But she wasn’t my mother. No one was.”

Chapter Sixteen

CARA

“Your boy isn’t here,” Kabir murmured, his voice pitched so low that only she could hear.

“It’s probably better if we’re not in the same room together,” she murmured back.

“Why?” He gave her the smile that broke a million hearts onscreen. “Because the soulful, yearning looks the two of you share would blow your cover?”