Page 54 of Best Kept Secret

I stared at the printed page in my hand, nausea running through me, making me feel sick.

"You're pathetic," Beau spat, the venom in his voice made my stomach hurt. "Take that trash bag and get out. You're done here."

"Please...." The word came out broken, and I barely recognized my own voice. My vision blurred with tears as I stumbled toward Pari's room, desperate for one last moment with her.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" He grabbed my arm.

"I just…can I say goodbye.Please."

His jaw clenched, and he pushed me away from him. I stumbled toward Pari's door. I opened it, my heart shattering as I looked at her small, sleeping form. I knelt by her bed, my hand trembling as I brushed a stray curl from her forehead. My sweet girl. The only person in the world who made me feel like I was worth something.

I whispered in Bengali, my voice cracking. "Ami tomake bhalobashi, Shona." I love you, my golden girl.

I pressed a kiss to her forehead, trying to hold back the sobs threatening to tear me apart. This wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to lose her.

As I stood, I turned back to Beau, who lingered in the doorway like a stone wall, immovable.

I walked out, closing the door softly behind me so Pari wouldn't wake up.

I went to the living room and looked at the black trash bag. My things were trash. Just like I was. I was foolish to have thought I'd have someone as beautiful and pure as Pari in my life, someone as wonderful and loyal as Beau. Garbage like me didn't deserve good things.

I turned to Beau. "I'll go. I just…please, Beau, no matter what,neverleave Pari alone with my parents. Promise me, Beau," I begged, my voice ragged. "Please, never—"

He cut me off, his face cold. "You'rethe liar, Mira.You'rethe one who's been playing me this whole time. I trusted you with my daughter, and you betrayed that trust. I'll take care of Pari. You're not needed here."

He wasn't listening to me. He would never believe the truth, no one ever did. Asha and I were the only ones who could understand what we'd been through.

"Go, Mira,now."

My legs gave out beneath me. I dropped to my knees, my hands clasped together in front of me as I pleaded. "Please, Beau. Please, I'm begging you. Never leave her alone with my parents. Promise me that. Just that, and I'll go away. You'll never have to see me again."

I thought for a moment that I saw something in his eyes, a flicker of hesitation, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. He took a step back, his voice ice-cold. "Get out."

I collapsed, my sobs breaking free, wracking my body. "Just one promise. That's all."

He stared down at me, unmoved. "I'll make sure Pari's safe. That's all you need to know."

He left me there on the floor, broken and empty, as he walked away.

When I finally found the strength to stand, I pulled out the phone he'd given me from the tote bag and left it on the coffee table in the living room next to Pari's Duplo blocks.

I dragged my things in the black trash bag out to where my car was still parked. My limbs felt numb, like I was walking through water, everything was sluggish, heavy. I couldn't think, couldn't process what had just happened.

I drove away, my hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly they hurt, but it didn't matter. I didn't feel the pain. I didn't feel anything. My mind was a blur of images—Pari's face, Beau's cold eyes, the sound of my own sobs echoing in the silence.

I had lost everything. Every dream, every hope I had built up, the life I had started to imagine—it was all gone.

Tears flowed freely as I drove aimlessly through the darkened streets of Savannah, the city alive around me, but I was disconnected from it all. I was falling apart, unraveling piece by piece, and there was nothing left to hold onto.

I had nothing.

But then…I'd always known that I deserved nothing.

Chapter 22

Beau

It had been three days since Mira left. Three days since I kicked her out. Three days since I'd had a decent night's sleep. Three days since heartbreak. I had not believed in nonsense like that, but now I did.

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