“Can you find every statistic you possibly can about homelessness in San Francisco? I need any data any organization might have gathered. All the current programs there are and how they’re being funded. You take care of that while I figure out the rest.”

Hari brightened. “You really think you can figure it out?” The faith that shone in his eyes despite his lack of faith in the world felt good. This was who Vansh was. He gave people hope.

The way Naina had dismissed him burned inside him. Her belief that things just fell into his lap was absolute. Sure, his looks and his name opened doors, but faith in his abilities never awaited him beyond those doors. That part he had to earn for himself after he’d reversed perceptions.

Purpose coursed through Vansh’s veins. “I always figure things out. Finding solutions is what I live for. You’ll see.” And Naina and Jiggy Mehta would see too.

Chapter Nine

Naina was going to make a quick appearance at the party, make sure Mehta saw her face, and then quietly disappear. Fifteen minutes tops, that was the plan, and she wasn’t deviating from it. Already being there dressed to the nines in a pale pink and blue ghagra choli was far more than she should have had to do for work.

Her mother had gotten the ghagra choli custom-made from a designer cousin in India. Which roughly translated to a cousin who knocked off designers in a tailoring workshop in the garage of her home. The outfit apparently replicated one that Deepika Padukone had worn in some Bollywood film, and that fact had made Mummy happier than Naina had ever seen her.

“I told my cousin that you had the same-to-same body and face as Deepika, don’t even need measurement,” Mummy had said tearfully when she’d given Naina the ghagra for what she thought was going to be Naina and Yash’s engagement party.

The engagement had turned out to be as much of a pipe dream as the one Mummy had spun for her designer cousin. Not only did Naina look nothing like Deepika Padukone, but instead of putting a ring on her finger in a traditional Indian engagement ceremony, Yash had announced that he was in love with someone else. Consequently, the ghagra had sat in Naina’s closet untouched along with Mummy’s hopes and dreams.

As if those lies weren’t enough, Naina was not, in fact, the same-to-same size as the Bollywood star. At least not anymore. When she’d tried to put on the damn choli blouse today, it had been too tight.