Chapters (27)
Neena looked up at her family through the tears. She looked at the woman who had bathed, fed and dressed her for so many years, and failed to find a speck of love in her eyes. Her sister stood by the fireplace with her eyes diverted to the floor, trying to sniffle back tears with a protective hand over her womb. Her uncle stared at her from the armchair with a grimace, as though the very sight of her made him feel sick. She looked down to the carpet and watched the tears fall and soak into the fabric. She had taken her first steps on this very carpet.
‘Do you understand?’ her father asked.
Neena turned and looked at him. There was a solemn note to his voice.
‘Do you understand?’ her mother repeated.
Neena looked back to her mother. Whatever she did, she would never earn their love or respect again. She knew that now.
She nodded.
‘Say it,’ her uncle barked.
‘I understand.’
Neena stood with their eyes following her every move. She forced herself to look up from the carpet and take them in one last time. She had to remember the look in their eyes and every small detail of their betrayal when her heart missed them. She had to remember that they would never miss her. Kirin looked up and finally met her eye with tears streaming down her cheeks.
‘Congratulations,’ Neena said, and looked down at her sister’s womb.
Kirin burst into tears and turned away.
Neena held the envelope filled with money in her hand and turned for the door. Her father didn’t move. Tears formed in his eyes. For a brief moment, she thought he wanted to embrace her.
‘Move, brother,’ her uncle said.
Her father tore his eyes from her to his brother, nodded, and stepped aside.
Neena walked through to the hallway with their eyes on her back and opened the front door. She would never return to the house again.
She stepped onto the driveway, and the front door slammed shut behind her. She looked down at the envelope filled with cash and watched as a tear soaked into the paper. She blinked away the tears and counted the money inside. Five thousand pounds.
Richard had betrayed her, and her family had washed their hands of her. She had no one left to turn to. But she had to be the strong one for Dayal. Whatever became of her, she would never let Dayal feel the pain she felt in that moment.
She would get more money, and they would leave for a new life. She didn’t need Richard to give her an escape. She would make one on her own.
TEN
