“I’m sorry. Maybe you think you love him, but I promise you, you deserve better.”

Kaavi sighed.

“You don’t know the half of it.”

“Then tell me, Kaavs. Let me help you. You know I will. You know you can trust me.”

“Okay, look, I have an idea. I—well, let’s just say that I’ve had my own suspicions about Spencer. I’ve been thinking of a way out of this for a while.”

I could have fainted with relief. Of course Kaavi was smarter than I had given her credit for. Of course she’d caught on to the fact that Spencer was a scumbag.

“But why can’t you just leave him? Call the whole thing off. Your parents would understand.”

“My parents? No way. They are part of the reason . . .” she let her voice trail off. “My parents won’t be of help, Ams. I’m on my own. And anyway, I can’t let Spencer get away with all this. He needs to pay for all his bullshit.”

This did not feel right. Didn’t she know that she couldn’t get the better of him? She might be smart, but he was dangerous.

“What do you mean?”

“Listen, I’m just going to, well, I’m going to disappear for a while, okay? Tonight. And I’ll need you to cover for me. Please don’t say no.”

“Of course I’ll cover for you, Kaavs, but where are you going?”

“I’m going to fly out to Singapore. I’m getting my flight arranged now as we speak. Now listen carefully—everyone’s going to lose their shit when they realize I’ve gone. You’ll probably be questioned. I don’t want you to lie. I want you to tell them—anyone who asks—what you’ve told me about Spencer, okay? About him being such a class A dick.”

I found myself nodding. She was leaving. Thank god she was leaving.

“Let me come with you.” The words slipped out before I even thought about them.

She smiled at me but didn’t say anything. For a second there, I saw her. My best friend. The girl who listened to my dreams, who was my only family.

“I just—it’s been so long. I don’t—” I felt my voice wobble and paused to get it back under control. “I don’t want to lose you again.”

“You’ll never lose me, Ams. You never did, okay? What, you think that just because we don’t speak to each other for a while that we’re not friends?”

“Five years is more than a while.”

“Hey, I’ll be fine, okay? I need you to stay here and handle things for me. People need to know who Spencer is. Just give me some time to get on a plane and get out of here.”

After everything I had done, I could give her that.

“I’ll be fine, okay? Now here’s the plan. I’m going to call Spencer in here.”

“What? No!”

“No, calm down, listen. He has to be seen coming in here. Where’s your room, again?”

“Upstairs, around the corner.”