“And you don’t know who Krish or his brother are.”
Rhea shook his head. “No, but I see how much you care about this Krish, and that makes me very happy. Is his full name Krishna?”
“Yes.”
Rhea smiled. “Cute. Are you two a couple? Are there wedding bells in the air?”
“Only if I get a concussion soon,” Sejal muttered. She might be digging Krish more than she’d thought she would, but she still didn’t see herself as a marrying gal.
“Ah, too bad. A crisis really brings out the best or the worst in a man, and it seems that he has helped you quite a bit, so it must be the best in his case. Nice body, interesting face, pretty eyes.”
Sejal looked out at Krish again. He had all those things, and a kindness she’d never experienced anywhere else. “I thought you said to beware of men with light eyes.”
“Did I? That sounds rather reverse colorist of me— Oh wait. That must have been when I was dating that Kapoor fellow. Very obnoxious, even for an actor.”
“Which Kapoor— Actually, never mind.” The story would take longer than they had.
Rhea lowered her voice. “I shouldn’t have blamed the individual, it’s all systemic and tied to colonialism in the end. People can be so toxic about celebrating more Eurocentric features, you know?”
“Yeah, I get it. But Krish doesn’t think he’s beautiful, actually.”
“Oh.” Rhea thought for a moment. “Is he too poor to afford amirror? It’s okay, Sejal, I gave you enough jewels for you to keep a man in style if you need to.”
Sejal couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, he’s fine. And I actually used your jewels for my friend. He had some debt, and he’s sick.”
Rhea’s face changed, softened. “That sounds like a solid use of your inheritance.” Her aunt turned back to the tea cart and helped herself to a tea bag. She dropped it into a mug. “Tea for you? It’s not chai, but it’ll do.”
Sejal inhaled. In the banter, she’d nearly forgotten. “No, I don’t want tea. I’m pissed at you.”
Rhea’s back tensed. “Yes, I can see that. I was hoping a grand gesture with Alexei would help ease your anger. I’ve realized in the past few years that I don’t want to leave this world with you being mad at me. Especially because I don’t even know what I did to earn that anger.”
Sejal rubbed her neck. “You were yourself.”
Rhea turned to face her, mug in her hands. There was no water in it, but she cradled it as if it would warm her. “Ouch.”
“You were supposed to be better than us,” Sejal exploded. “You were our role model, our way out, our aspiration. And then I find out you were a thief like our parents, as corrupt as the others, and someone else I had to keep a secret for.”
To her credit, Rhea didn’t tear up or flinch from Sejal’s anger. “You’re right. I thought I was protecting you.”
“You were lying to me.”
“Only about what I did for a living. Why did your feelings have to change because I happened to steal a few things here and there?”
“How can I be sure of that? How can I be certain that you only lied about that and nothing else?”
Her aunt took a step toward her. “Sejal. What else do you think I lied about?”
“About... about you and our dad actually loving us.” The words hurt. “He would have given us up if it weren’t for you forcing him to keep us. Admit that he didn’t love us, that it was another thing you lied about.”
Rhea looked down at the floor, then back up at her. “Yes. He was a shitty father. And if he did love you, as I believe he did, I admit that he did not show it. Perhaps... I couldn’t ever face that. Perhaps I forced him to keep you because I was selfish. I didn’t want to give up my lifestyle, but I also didn’t want you to go into the system.”
“And this Alexei nonsense. Dad wasn’t really trying to avenge me.”
“It’s true Vassar hated Alexei, and he was happy to stick it to him.” Her eyes shone. “But yes... he was mostly excited about the treasure at the end of the hunt.”
Satisfaction ran through Sejal. Finally. Finally, here was someone saying what she and Mira had always believed, and validating their feelings about their terrible, no-good parent.
It didn’t feel good to not have had her father’s love, but it did feel good to be told she hadn’t imagined her whole childhood.
