Husband For Hire

44. Fake Pregnancies and Priests

44. Fake Pregnancies and Priests

There are things you don't know about my life, about my family. If you did, you wouldn't even . . . spit in our direction.

* * *

"The only guy I've ever slept in the same room with has been you, Ashar," I said in the same tone. He blinked back at me not expecting my words. "My silence doesn't mean you can cross your limits and say the first thing that comes to your mind!"

I fought back the urge to strike him across the face for what he had insinuated. How dare he assume anything based on the sonogram photo?!

He was quiet for a moment a I saw a wave of regret cross his features before it got lost into the air. What kind of a girl did he thought he married? Did he get that vibe from me that I slept around with whomever?

"Listen, I shouldn't have said that," he said when he noticed my somber mood. "I got caught off guard."

I crossed my arms, looking anywhere but at him. That didn't justify the question he had asked me.

"Hold on. This is why you asked about my jacket." Realization dawned on his face as he ignored me. "That's why you didn't leave Jhanvi's side at the hospital. You knew. The food poisoning wasn't the reason she was feeling sick."

I tiredly explained to him the whole story and timeline of Jhanvi's pregnancy. Everything that I knew, at least. He had figured most of it out already. If we wanted to continue this charade, he needed to know the truth.

"Jhanvi doesn't want Sunny to know," I informed him. "She didn't want the baby, but she's been getting very protective of him now. I think she's afraid Sunny will fight for the baby's custody."

Ashar almost laughed.

He looked at the photo clenched in his hand and then back at me.

"I assure you my brother will do no such thing," he said. His face matched the bitterness in his tone. "He takes after my father when it comes to kids and responsibility."

"What do you mean?" I wanted him to tell me to find a way to bring Sunny and Jhanvi closer.

"All I'm saying is she's right," Ashar said. His face went blank. "My brother doesn't deserve to know. Neither should she tell him until she wants to. He will make the kid's life hell."

There was something Ashar wasn't telling me. He wouldn't eye contact and he tapped his foot as if thinking something.

How could he outright declare his own brother didn't deserve to know he was having a child?!

"He is the father," I tried again. "We ought to stop their divorce so my nephew can have both parents in his life. Do you want to see the kid hate his father the way you hate yours?"

I knew I had hit a nerve when he stepped closer to me. It wasn't threatening but more of a helpless gesture. As if he holding back.

"You don't know anything about my father or my brother," he said in a dangerously low voice.

I knew it wasn't the time to argue with Ashar. There was too much bad blood and hard feelings between these three men. Maybe Ashar single-handedly raising his sisters made him this way. I wondered why Sunny was so divided from Aara and Rosie. The malice seemed to be solely between the brothers.

I raised my hands in defeat.

"What do we do now?" I asked changing the topic. "Everyone thinks I'm pregnant. I look too young for that."