CHAPTER 51: THE MASKS WE WEAR

Mumbai at night was a creature of its own, restless and alive. The air was heavy with the smells of smoke and fried food coming from the street. It was the kind of city that swallowed you whole, making you feel invincible admits the chaos. To Mira, that made it perfect.

They hadn’t stepped out of the apartment since they arrived here. Inside though, the atmosphere was starting to feel stifling. Being locked in for days was beginning to take a toil. But Mira couldn’t risk them being seen in the street. At least not yet.

Raquel stood near the window, gripping the curtains tightly with her fingers. She wasn’t looking at the street so much as staring at her own reflection in the glass, her new reflection. A shadow of her former self. Her new name, Sofia Liard felt strange in her head, like a bad life she’d been forced into.

"You’re too close to the window," Mira said without glancing up from the laptop she was typing in. "Step back. You want the whole Mumbai to know that we’re here?"

Raquel blinked, startled. "I was just—"

"You were making a mistake." Mira’s tone was flat, clipped. "Don’t argue. Move away from the window"

Raquel dropped the curtain instantly, scared that someone might indeed see her.

Liam, who had been sitting on the arm of the sofa watching the exchange, leaned forward. "Mira, come on. She was just looking out. It’s not like we’ve even left this house since we got here. Besides, nobody down there is staring back up at us."

Mira’s eyes snapped to him, sharp. "That’s exactly what you’d think. That’s what makes you careless, Liam. And that carelessness will get us caught."

At that, Liam stood up, bristling.

"You know what?" he said. "I’m done with this."

Mira’s brows lifted. "Done with what?"

"This." He swept a hand around the apartment. "The hiding. The fake names. The paranoia. We’re in India, Mira. We abandoned our parents, our friends, our entire lives—and for what? To play along with whatever you’ve dragged us into? Do you even hear yourself? Carelessness would get us caught. What carelessness? You expect us to go along with this without asking questions?"

Mira straightened slowly. "You think I dragged you here for fun?"

"I don’t know why you dragged us here at all!" Liam’s voice rose, his face red. "We don’t even know what you’ve done. Who’s after you. Why we’re hiding. And now you expect us to just roll with it? For how long? Weeks? Months? The rest of our lives? You think I’m going to waste my future hiding in some apartment in Mumbai under a fake name?"

Raquel’s voice cracked into the space, joining the argument "Liam’s right, Mira. You never asked us. You never even gave us the choice. You just... made the decision. Do you realize what you’ve done?" Her eyes glistened. "My parents don’t even know where I am. They must think I’m dead. I’ve cut off everything—school, friends, social media, my entire life—and for what? To hide like a criminal when I don’t even know what crime we’re running from?"

Mira’s lips pressed into a thin line. "You wouldn’t understand."

"Then make us understand!" Liam snapped. "You can’t keep treating us like pawns. You can’t keep hiding behind cryptic answers and expecting us to nod along. Tell us something!"

The room vibrated with the force of his anger.

"You told us this was temporary," Raquel said "That we just needed to lie low. But now we’re here, with new names, new identities... Do you even hear how insane this is? How long do we stay like this, Mira? How long before we get to be ourselves again? Or is this it? Is this who we are now, forever?"

Mira stared at them. For once, the cool, controlled mask she always wore faltered. Her chest rose and fell with slow, deliberate breaths, as if she were weighing every word before speaking.

Liam folded his arms, refusing to look away. "You owe us the truth."

Raquel’s voice was barely audible, but steady. "Why did you really pull us into this? Why us, when we had no idea what you are involved in? This is beyond that Bella’s saga."

Silence stretched. The city noise outside swelled, pressing against the glass.

Finally, Mira set down the PC and straightened. Her eyes, sharp and unyielding, moved from Liam to Raquel.

"Because," she said slowly, her voice low but cutting through the room like a blade, "I have better plans for you."

The words hung heavy in the air.

Raquel flinched, Liam’s jaw tightened, and for a long moment, none of them spoke. The hum of Mumbai’s night seemed to pulse louder around them, like the city itself was holding its breath.

Raquel was the first to break the silence. Her voice shook, but her eyes didn’t leave Mira’s face.

"Better plans? What does that even mean, Mira?"

Mira didn’t answer immediately. She picked up the wine glass from the coffee table, swirling it slowly, watching the liquid spin. For a moment, it looked like she hadn’t even heard Raquel.

Liam stepped forward, fists clenched at his sides. "Don’t play that game with us. She asked you a question, what plans, Mira?"

She set the glass back down with a sharp clink. "You wouldn’t understand if I told you."

"Stop saying that!" Liam’s voice cracked in frustration. "For once in your life, stop hiding behind riddles and just—just say it. Say the fucking truth. You owe us that much."

Raquel’s breath hitched. "You ruined everything, Mira. You took our lives and ripped them apart. My parents think I’m gone. Do you know what that feels like? To vanish and let them think their only daughter is—" Her voice broke. She covered her mouth with her hand.

Mira’s jaw tightened, but she didn’t move to comfort her. She only stared at Raquel, unflinching.

"You’re selfish," Liam spat, his voice low and trembling. "You dragged us across the world, made us throw away our names, our futures... For you. Always for you. And now you sit there and tell us you’ve got ’better plans’ for us like we’re... like we’re tools."

Mira’s lips curved into the faintest smile, spite filling her tone. "Because that’s exactly what you are."

Raquel flinched, a small gasp escaping her throat. Liam’s face went white with rage.

"You think this is a game?" he said through clenched teeth. "You think our lives are chess pieces you can just move around? Tell me, Mira—what are these plans? What are we to you? Shields? Servants? What?"

Mira leaned back against the chair, folding her arms across her chest. "You’re angry now, but one day you’ll understand. I didn’t destroy your lives, Liam. I gave them purpose. I gave you both more than you would have ever had staying where you were. That little school, your parents’ suffocating rules, your small predictable futures—did you really think that was all life had to offer you?"

Raquel’s head snapped up, her eyes wide. "Yes! That’s what I wanted! A normal life! My parents, my friends, school, exams—boring, maybe, but mine. Not this—" She gestured wildly at the sterile apartment around them. "Not hiding in some strange city with a fake name because my cousin decided to play puppet master!"

Liam’s voice was like stone. "And me, Mira? What did you ’plan’ for me?"

Mira’s gaze lingered on him, steady, almost too calm. "You’ll see. In time."

Liam took a step closer, his voice rising. "No, I won’t. Not unless you tell me right now. What the hell am I doing here, Mira? What are we doing here?"

For a flicker of a moment, her composure cracked. Her throat worked as she swallowed, her eyes hardening again.

"You’re here," she said softly, "because I need you. Both of you. More than you realize. And because out there—" she nodded toward the curtained window— "you wouldn’t survive without me."

The room went dead quiet.

Raquel sank deeper into her chair, tears spilling silently now. Liam stood frozen, his chest heaving, caught between rage and disbelief.

Mira didn’t look away. "You can hate me all you want. You can scream, curse me, call me selfish. But the truth is, you’re safer with me than without me. And when the time comes, you’ll thank me for what I’ve done. Because this—" she gestured around at the cramped apartment, the city beyond— "this is only the beginning."

Liam’s fists clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked. "Safer with you? Don’t give me that crap, Mira. Ever since we followed you out of New York, I’ve had this sinking feeling in my gut that I made the biggest mistake of my life. And now? You’re sitting there telling me you’ve planned our lives without even asking us? Do you even hear yourself?"

Mira tilted her head, her expression unreadable. "If you’d stayed behind, Liam, you’d be dead by now."

The words landed like a thunderclap.

Raquel gasped, pressing a hand to her chest. "What?"

Liam narrowed his eyes, fury flashing. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I’m not playing with you," Mira said coolly. "Those people who tailed me in New York—they weren’t after me alone. They knew your names. Your faces. They would’ve dug until they found you. And when they did, you would’ve been leverage. Pawns used against me. Collateral damage."

Raquel shook her head violently. "No. No, I don’t believe you. That can’t be true. Why would anyone—?"

"Because," Mira snapped, her voice sharp as a whip, "when someone wants to break a wolf, they go after the pack. You were my pack. Don’t you get it?"