Page 27 of Dream On, Liar

Raina and I stayed frozen when Dev finally stepped into view. One hand rested in the pocket of his perfectly tailored trousers as he moved toward the living room before pausing. His head snapped in our direction almost instantly, and the second he spotted us lurking near the staircase, he rolled his eyes like we were two ten-year-olds caught spying on our parents from the staircase.

“Are you two finished acting like children?” he called up. “Get downstairs. Now.”

Without waiting for our reply, he kept walking. A second later, Oliver glanced up toward us too, a grin tugging at his mouth at what he found, clearly enjoying the whole thing.

Raina muttered something under her breath as she moved toward the stairs, and I followed after her more slowly, disinterested in whatever our eldest brother had to say to me.

By the time we reached the kitchen, the atmosphere had already settled into that familiar kind of tension that lingered when it was just Oliver and Dev.

Oliver stood near the island with his arms folded, posture stiff in a way that mirrored Dev standing across from him.

There was never a time when they had been best friends, but I still didn’t know what had actually happened between them that had created this tension. Not fully. Every time I tried to bring it up, conversations died almost instantly, and neither Oliver nor Raina ever wanted to touch the subject long enough to explain it. All I knew was that somehow, it circled back to Dev and Raina. Whatever line had been crossed there, nobody seemed interested in reopening it. And if I knew my brother, there was no apology coming from him…which means we’d be at this impasse would be forever.

The second Raina moved toward Oliver, though, some of the tension eased out of him almost immediately. Not fully, but enough that his shoulders loosened slightly when she stopped next to him, hooking an arm around his waist, as he pulled her closer.

I stayed quiet, leaning back against the wall furthest from all of them and focused on absolutely nothing instead. Because I already knew where this conversation was headed, and I had no interest in volunteering myself for it.

Dev looked at me once. Then he sighed through his nose and shook his head, disappointment flashing across his face as he realised exactly what I was doing.

After a few minutes, Raina finally broke the silence. “Sooo, is one of you going to fill us in on what’s happening or what?”

Dev said nothing, instead, he leaned back against the counter like he was getting comfortable, calm as ever in what I already knew was another obscenely expensive suit, and still giving away absolutely nothing about whether he’d come straight from work or not. Honestly, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him willingly dress casually after Nanu took over his life. Since then, it didn’t matter if it was a business meeting, a random family dinner, the Formula One paddock, or one of my matches. He always looked like he’d stepped out of a boardroom and somehow, he never looked remotely uncomfortable doing it.

The fact he was settling in only told me one thing. He had no intention of bringing the topic up first either. Whether he wanted to watch me squirm or tempt me into saying just enough so he could control the rest of the conversation after, I wasn’t stupid enough to fall for it. Dev had perfected the art of giving people just enough truth to keep them quiet while burying the rest somewhere nobody could reach it.

So instead, I turned toward Raina.

“Question. Did you know that Dev hired Ishaan—you know, our Dad’s secret love child—to work at Singhania Diamonds, and has been working with him for almost a year?” I kept my eyes on her face deliberately. “You know, after all of us decided we weren’t exactly ready or willing to deal with that yet. Because, that’s what I found out when I went to see Dad.”

She frowned. “He told you about Ishaan working there?”

“No, Dad wasn’t there. But you know who was? Ishaan.” I replied tersely, my brain hyper-focusing on the fact that she hadn’t answered my question. “Apparently, Ishaan has regular lunches with our father in the house I’m fairly certain our mother chose. Talk about disrespect.”

Raina pursed her lips at the brittleness of my tone.

“I knew he worked there, yes.” I felt myself stiffen at her words. “But not because someone told me,” She added quickly. “And I definitely did not know about the lunches.”

Raina sighed at my narrowed expression, before continuing. “Look, I respected the fact that you didn’t want to meet him or know anything about him. I just…the world is really fucking small, and sometimes information just lands your way.”

“Explain,” Dev spoke for the first time. The single word came out dangerously calm, but his entire body had gone rigid, like she’d thrown him for a curve he hadn’t expected. I let myself relish in the fact for the single second she spared him.

“Kiara Chakraborty.” She spoke the name like it carried more weight than I realised. When he didn’t respond, she turned to me instead, clearly deciding she wasn’t about to let me stay in the dark any longer.

At least one of them trusted me with the information.

“You know the friend I sometimes leave Lilli and Milo with?” She asked. When I nodded after a beat, the faint shift of memory finally clicking into place, she continued. “Well, I’d already figured out they were mutual friends when I’d looked him up the first time, but some point last year, I guess Dad must’ve told Ishaan that we knew about him. So he told her, and she ended up mentioning it to me…and only because she thought I already knew. She made me promise not to tell anyone else.”

“For good reason.” Dev added curtly, without giving me a second to process her words. “He wasn’t comfortable with it. Especially when you’ve made it abundantly clear, repeatedly, that you want nothing to do with him, and prefer that neither of us did too.”

My gaze snapped toward him. “And how exactly would he know that?” I shot back. “Unless you told him.”

Dev didn’t flinch. “Well what was I supposed to say when he asked to meet you?”

A sharp heat twisted in my chest so fast it almost made me laugh.

“You could’ve started with telling me,” I said. “Instead of deciding everything for everybody like you always do.”

The kitchen fell in a suffocating silence at that. Dev’s expression barely shifted, but I caught the subtle clench in his jaw. Raina looked between us carefully, while Oliver stayed silent near her, watching the entire thing unfold like he already knew stepping in would only make it worse.