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“Is it because she’s in love with you?”

“No. Because she’s afraid I’ll replace her.”

“Why don’t you?”

“Loyalty.”

“Loyalty to what?”

“To whom, you mean.”

“You’re such a dick.”

“Slap me then.”

“Ah, the kink returns.” I wink. “Stop distracting me. Who are you being loyal to by keeping Prishna?”

“My wife.”

“Your wife?”

“Prishna is Valerie’s sister.”

“Sister?”

He nods.

“But—”

“Yes, they’re different ethnicities. Prishna is Indian; Valerie is white. Valerie’s parents adopted Prishna when she was a child.”

“Oh, I see.”

I picture the necklace, the two broken hearts that come together as one. Sisters. They must have been close. Also, this partially explains why she works for him, but not why she stays.

“So, that’s why Prishna hates me,” I say thoughtfully. “She’s protective of you and also grieving her sister.”

“Perhaps.”

I shake my head. “It feels like more, though. She seems scared about something or someone, and a bit unhinged—abnormally so. There’s just something about her that makes me feel uneasy.” When he doesn’t acknowledge these accusations, I continue. “How long have you known her?”

“Six years.”

The death certificate I found with her name on it says she died at age forty, which, according to what I assume her age to be, could very likely be six years ago.

“Where did she get those burns on the side of her face?”

“A fire.”

“Yes, I gathered that.” I roll my eyes so hard, I feel it in my brain. “I mean, like, what happened?”

“You’ll have to ask her.”

“You’ve never asked?”

“Why would I?”

“Oh, I don’t know, to get to know your employees on a personal level?”

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