“Terry, he’s signed the papers, and by law, if he reneges, he’ll get jail time.”

“They’ll never prosecute him. He’ll just run away with him.”

“No, he won’t.”

“How do you know?” My voice had risen a couple of notches. “I’m a little emotional right now.”

“I know.” Chris was preternaturally calm. “Teresa, listen to me. I know there are some divorced men who are good fathers. But judging from my experience with divorced men—which, granted, is biased—what I see is that once men start new families, they discard the children from their exes. Men are attached to their kids because they are attached to their wives. Once they’re done with their wives, they lose interest in the kids.”

“You never lost interest in Gabe,” I countered.

“Because I never lost interest in you,” Chris said. “This may sound harsh, but I’m pretty sure that Devek will remarry. And once that happens, you and your kids will be relegated to souvenirs.”

“What do you know of him?” I said. “You’ve never met him.”

“I’ve talked to him.”

“You have? When?”

“Mostly, I talked through lawyers, but there were times I had to talk to Devek directly. Specifically, when it came to Sanjay. And our conversation has been mostly civil.”

“Mostly?”

“He’s a frustrating guy.” Chris laughed. “Devek is a little …”

“Weak?”

“I was going to say wimpy, which is surprising because most doctors think they’re a step away from God. He’s probably weak because he’s always been under the thumb of his older brother”—he looked at me—“who seems to have a thing for you.”

I felt myself turning red. I looked down.

“Good for you for saying no,” Chris said.

Tears spilled down my cheeks. I whispered, “Devek told you what he did?”

“I dragged it out of him. In all my experiences, I don’t recall knowing another man who tried to pimp his wife to his brother. What’s his name? Pramod?”

I said, “Then you’re aware of Devek’s character. He’s not going to let Sanjay go. If for no reason other than spite.”

“Nah, that won’t happen.” He looked at me. “Listen to me, Terry. Devek is a respected doctor who comes from a rich and prominent family. He’s an idiot, but on paper, he’s a pretty good catch. I guarantee you that once he gets a new wife—and a much younger wife—she won’t want anything to do with Sanjay. Eventually Devek will stop asking for visits. He will, in fact, ask you to keep Sanjay for the summer because he’ll have other plans with his new family. You’ll get him back. In the meantime, this concession got him to sign the papers.”

I wiped my eyes. “What if he doesn’t give him back … I mean now?”