Dev studied her. “So you disappeared?”
Tina felt a sharp twist in her chest. “I did what was best for me.” She wasn’t going to feel guilty. She had taken care of her family for as long as she could remember and this time she had to protect herself.
“By shutting everyone out,” Dev said with bitterness. “It’s what you do best. But I didn’t think you had it in you to turn your back on your family.”
Tina whipped her head around and glared at her husband. “I didn’t! You don’t know anything about my mother or my sisters.” She had made sure of that. She didn’t want Dev to see the family dynamics. He would notice how she was treated differently.
“I know your mother is confused and hurt by the silence she’s received for four months.”
Tina rubbed her hands over her face. The secrecy had been necessary. Her mother wouldn’t have been sympathetic. Reema Sharma was not just her mother, she was also her manager. It was not the ideal situation. For a while Tina had recognized that her mother’s advice was not based on what was best for Tina, but what was best to support the family.
“I’ve kept in contact,” she muttered.
Dev scoffed at her. “Paying their bills through your accountant is not staying—”
“How do you know about that?” She never discussed her salary and expenditures with Dev and she had been grateful that he had never asked. He was very traditional in his thinking that he would financially support her.
“When you first disappeared, I thought you would have returned to your mother’s house,” Dev said as he rose from his chair.
Tina groaned and rubbed her forehead. She tried to imagine the rich and sophisticated Dev Arjun visiting her mother’s home. She was certain the entire neighborhood would have been there to meet him. And knowing Reema, she had charged for tickets. “How much money did my family get out of you?”
“I was happy to help out,” Dev said with a shrug.
“You shouldn’t have done it. They are my responsibility,” Tina said. She hated how much her mother obsessed over money. Tina had been constantly told how much she had cost her mother—the dreams, the security, the husband. She knew she had been a burden on her mother and nothing she did would make up for it.
Dev glanced at his wristwatch. “We should leave for the studios,” he said. “I told your mother that we would be there at nine.”
Tina recognized the vintage timepiece. She had given it to him early in their affair when she had discovered he appreciated those works of art. Tina looked away as she remembered how she had teased him about his inability to be punctual when he had a collection of high-end and technology-advanced watches.
“My mother is peculiar that way.” Tina couldn’t shake off the dread that made her sag her shoulders and drag her feet. “When she says she’ll be somewhere at nine, she really means nine.”
“Let’s go meet them,” Dev said.
An hour later Tina sat rigidly next to her husband in the back of the luxury car. As the driver turned on a busy street, Tina clenched her hands into fists and bent her head. It had taken longer than usual for her to get ready. She was nervous about her first visit to Arjun Film Studios. He had not invited her before and Tina had been reluctant to drop by unannounced. She had always suspected he kept her away because she didn’t meet up to the Arjun high standards. She knew she had to look the part as the boss’s wife. Dressed in a bright yellow designer dress, stiletto heels and dark sunglasses, she looked like a Bollywood star. The ensemble was her armor, hiding her tension and uncertainty.