Heeriye

Four.

Shehnaaz

"Are they gone yet?"

The sun is fifteen minutes from setting and Palak and I have been watching out of the windows for the past half an hour.

"Still there," she sighs, letting the curtains fall closed.

"Do you think he knows?"

Palak's eyebrow hitches up. "How can he possibly? Unless he's been watching you the past few days...?"

Goosebumps prickle my skin. I collapse onto the armchair opposite the couch where the girls are currently sprawled out, tangled against each other and sleeping peacefully. Jahan retreated to his room several minutes ago. I don't want to intrude—until I have to, anyway.

"Ugh," I complain softly. "We need to be out of here before Bhavan comes back."

"There's a cricket game tonight. I think we're good."

I snort out a depressed laugh. "You never know. My luck hasn't really been all that great lately."

"Riiight... luck. That's the issue at hand."

I shoot her a look. "You really gonna make me feel bad about this? Cause trust me: I feel bad enough as it is."

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, hon. I'm sorry—that came out wrong." The thing with Palak is, if you stare at her long enough, she'll crack. Sure enough, her mouth twitches, trembles, and then she blurts out, "It's just I still can't believe you signed a contract exchanging money for sex!"

"I'm not proud of it!" I hiss back.

"Well, you should be," she retorts, completely taking me by surprise. "It was ballsy. Hell, it's the type of thing Shruti would've done before she had the kids. The only mistake you made was falling in love with him."

And there it is—the undeniable fact that, for all his faults, I am in love with Sidharth.

I'm also pregnant with his baby.

I'm also praying he gets bored and drives off soon or else this whole thing is gonna blow up in my face.

I've got a lot going on these days.

Palak takes another peek out the window. "Still there, by the way."

I chew on my bottom lip. "He suspects something. Why else would he still be here?"

"Maybe he's trying to make sure you're okay."

"Please. He doesn't give a shit about me. If anything, he's here for the kids. Which is nice but extremely inconvenient. We need to get back to the Hotel and finish planning our escape out of this nightmare."

"Give it a few more minutes. They can't sit out there forever."

I scoff. "You don't know how stubborn he can be."

She's got her lips pursed and her head cocked to the side. A surefire sign that she's thinking about something she's not sure she should say out loud.

"What is it?" I press.

She blinks innocently. "What do you mean?"

"I'm exhausted, Palak. Just tell me."

"I'm just worried, sana," she whispers. "I'm worried about you out there alone with three no,four children. How are you gonna stay a float?"

"I'll admit I haven't thought that far ahead. But I'll manage. I've saved a good chunk of the money I earned from the... um... contract."

"Sure, but c'mon. You know babies aren't cheap, right?"