“Never make people feel bad when you’re better at something than they are,” her mother had said with an unfamiliar amount of glee one night at dinner when her husband had been on call and she’d made the potato bhujia with enough red chili powder to make even Naina and her break into a sweat.

Just as their dessert arrived—hot gajjar halwa with vanilla ice cream—a murmur rose across the restaurant. Before Naina could turn around and check what the buzz was about, her mother’s eyes went wide enough that Naina knew it wasn’t good.

She also knew that it had to have something to do with the Rajes.

Turns out, it had to do with the Raje most directly to blame for her daughter’s downfall. Yash Raje and his lovely new girlfriend, everyone’s darling, India Dashwood, had decided to walk into the restaurant. It really was Naina’s lucky day.

Chandni Kohli’s mood did a nosedive as she stared at Yash shaking hands and taking selfies with people who stopped him as he followed the host. Asking her mother not to stare would only make her feel worse, so Naina tried to drown her objections in the rather spectacular halwa. The carrots had been cooked to buttery perfection in enough cream and sugar to obliterate pain as pedestrian as this.

India was the one who noticed Naina first. The smile she gave Naina was open and warm, and happy as ever with the world around her.

Naina had behaved terribly toward India. When Yash had met India last year and fallen for her as though the rug had been yanked out from under him, Naina had believed that he’d lost his senses and tried to “save” him. Which meant Naina had tried to convince him of how stupid it would be to risk everything on what she believed to be an infatuation.

Turned out it hadn’t been one. Turned out Naina’s machinations hadn’t been as selfless as she’d believed them to be. Turned out India was the kind of person who held no grudges. After putting Naina in her place, deservedly, she’d been unerringly kind to her once she and Yash had gone public with their relationship. To give Yash his fair share of credit in the entire business, he was so smitten by India that she’d have to be blind to feel even a little threatened by Naina.

The happiest couple in all of San Francisco made their gracious way to Naina and her mother, who was having a hard time with the flutters again.

Yash leaned over and hugged her mother. “Namaste, Chandni Auntie.”

India did the same. Then Yash, who’d suddenly transformed into this warm and fuzzy person, gave Naina a big bear hug, and she realized how very much she had missed her best friend. Even this strangely expressive new avatar of him.