Chapter 27: A Lazy Day

The first light of dawn filtered through the blinds, painting stripes of pale gold across my bedroom wall. I woke up alone, the sheets beside me cool and undisturbed. For a moment, the events of last night felt like a fever dream, a lurid fantasy born of my own ambition and Janaki’s manipulative genius. But then I remembered. I remembered carrying Devi’s limp, trusting form to her bed. I remembered the soft, sleepy sigh she made as I pulled the covers over her. And I remembered, with a strange, protective pang of guilt, carefully pulling her panties back up, then finding a clean pair of pajama pants and wrestling them onto her unconscious body. I couldn’t have her waking up half-naked and confused. That would raise questions I wasn’t ready to answer. I was her protector, her confidant, her loving stepson. The act was as much for my own peace of mind as it was for hers.

I lay in bed, my hands behind my head, staring at the ceiling, my mind a chaotic mess of triumph and trepidation. Last night had been a victory, a major breakthrough. The wall around Devi had crumbled, her confession a testament to the success of Janaki’s cruel, effective strategy. But what now? How were the coming days supposed to play out? Would she be embarrassed? Would she pretend it never happened? Or would she look at me with those lonely, loving eyes, her desire now a conscious, acknowledged thing? The uncertainty was a new kind of frustration, a puzzle with a million possible outcomes, and I had no idea which one I was heading towards.