Still, I could hear my mother audibly release the breath she was holding as Amaya hugged me, gave her an air-kiss, and wheeled her suitcase away.

“You think you could hold in the celebrations until her plane takes off, at least?” I asked, rolling my eyes. A porter was watching me, though, so I gave her a big smile to tone it down.

“Don’t you think you should be nicer to me, after everything that happened?” she countered.

I sighed.

It was only a matter of time before she rubbed this whole thing in my face. I knew it.

“Keep your voice down,” I said, making sure I was still smiling. “Let’s go to the Airport Garden Hotel and have a drink.” She was smart enough to agree. There was no telling who would overhear us if we spoke at home.

The hotel was about ten minutes away, and it took about another ten minutes for our drinks to show up. My mother was quiet the whole time. Quiet and smug. Waiting for the right moment to strike.

“Well?” I asked.

“Well what?”

“You have something to say, no, so say it.”

“I think you’re the one with things to say, Kaavindi. Like how about thank you, Amma.”

“Oh please.” I rolled my eyes. “You were saving your own ass as much as mine.”

“Language, Kaavindi. And I did save your ass, by the way. Your plan was abysmal. You should be keeping flowers at my feet and worshipping me for what I managed to do.”

“So you managed to get me a gun, Amma.” I snuck a quick peek around, but no one was within earshot. “Thank you. There, are you happy now?”

“I had hoped for a little more gratitude than that.”

I suppose she was right. I mean, she got me into this mess, but she sure as hell got me out of it. Call it mother’s intuition, but she guessed I would try to run the night before the wedding. Or maybe she planned on getting rid of Spencer ever since she heard he was broke and his dad was in jail—who knows? I had just made it out of my room when I found her, waiting for me, hands on her hips and absolutely livid.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Thank you.”

“I couldn’t believe how stupid you were, getting Amaya tangled up in all of this.”

“Yeah, I didn’t realize how volatile she was. It was a long shot, anyway, but I figured she could be a backup plan. In case Mr. Ananda didn’t show for some reason. She was the only one who figured things out and showed up at the beach, after all.”

She sighed.

“Still, it was stupid to involve someone else.”

The truth was that if I was good at compartmentalizing, I was excellent at planning. I’ve said a thousand times before, I always, always had options. And once again, luck came knocking on my door. Amaya helped me “hatch a plan” and was fully ready to go along with it. And it wasn’t the worst plan either. I would say Spencer was abusive and leave.