Page 91 of Born in Sin

She sighed, not in bitterness—but in something softer, sadder. “It was always you. There never was and never will be anyone else. Not for me.”

His breath hitched. He tilted her face up, brushing her damp hair behind her ear. “I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to earn your trust again. Give me a chance to earn you.”

“Earn me? How do you earn a ghost? I don’t know if I even exist. I don’t know who I am anymore. I buried Celina to become Cara. I lost that girl that night, and I forced myself to become someone else. But it’s a mask. Just a mask. It’s not me. Who am I? The girl you loved? The girl her mother betrayed? The girl they violated? Who the hell am I?”

“You’re mine. In every avatar, in every mask, in ever era of your life, you’re mine. That’s who you are. Mine.”

He cupped the back of her head and tilted her face up so he could look into her eyes, so she could see the truth of them.

“Every night, no matter where I was in this world, I stood on a terrace or balcony and I looked up at the night sky. Every single night. There are a million stars that litter that sky but to me there is only one, I only ever see one – you. I have only ever seenyou. You are the brightest star in my sky. And I would never let your light dim. This time, the choices are all yours. Whatever you choose, you choose for us both.”

Crestwood

Celina sat behind the Chemistry lab, huddled in a corner, legs pulled up against her chest, arms wrapped around them. Her body felt chilled against the harsh breeze that was buffeting the ground. But her mind was on fire, a million theories racing through it.

Virat was over a half an hour late. Celina shivered as she sat in a darkened corner, her gaze fixed on the path Virat usually took to get here, to get to her. But he didn’t come.

Loud laughter echoed over the night breeze, making her try and shrink herself even further into the pocket of darkness she had found. Voices carried to where she was, indistinguishable to her muddled brain.

And still, he didn’t come.

She sighed, wiping at an errant tear that spilled over for no particular reason, she pushed to her feet, intending to get back to her room before she got caught. And he arrived out of the darkness, shadows still clinging to him. She was runningbefore she knew it, throwing herself into his open arms, sobs ripping through her.

“I’m here,” he murmured, holding on just as tightly. “I’m here. Tell me what you need.”

She sobbed harder, all her confused, pent up emotions spilling out of her in a messy spiral that wet the front of his shirt and kept going. He held her through it all, his face pressed into her hair, soundless murmurs spilling from his lips. When her sobs got quieter and her grip gentler, he led her back to her little pocket of darkness and sat down, pulling her into his lap so he could hold her close.

“It’s going to be okay,” he vowed, his voice low and intense.

Celina raised her tear stained face to look at him. “Really?”

“Really.” Virat nuzzled her damp cheek. “All we need to do is make it to graduation. And then we’re free. Of this place, of these people, of-“

“Vir.” Celina’s cold voice stopped him mid-sentence.

He exhaled, closing his eyes.

“I need to know what the story is.”

“The story?” he asked, keeping his gaze on the ground below them. “Which story exactly?”

“The one between you and my mother. The one between you and Varun. The one between you and Majid. Are you seeing the pattern here, Vir? You’re the common denominator in all the stories.”

Hurt flashed in his eyes as he looked at her. “What are you saying Celi?”

“I’m saying I want to understand what’s going on but no one will tell me.” She shoved at his chest with an open palm. “Especially not you.”

He stared at her, a pensive look on his face. “Will you give me until graduation? After that, I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”

“Why? What’s going to change in a week?”

“Everything.” The ferocity in Virat’s voice took her by surprise. “Everything will change.”

Frustrated, she twisted to get out of his grip. “I am so sick of all this vague bullshit. If you’re not going to tell me anything, I’m going back to my room.”

Virat held on tighter. “Celi, wait.”

She stopped struggling, her chest heaving with emotion, eyes flashing with impotent fury.

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