A Scandalous Secret by Jaishree Misra Read Free Book Online Page A

paused, unable to resist a bit of drama, ‘And I’ve traced my birth mother too. All the way to India, as it happens.’
    â€˜Cor! I remember you said you were half Indian but, bloody hell, that’s a long way away. Not quite like my little trip around to that council block in Merton I told you about, eh?’
    Conscious of Tim standing by, Sonya said, ‘You don’t mind if I put Tim in the picture, do you, Chels?’ She waited until Chelsea nodded before explaining, ‘Chelsea’s an adopted child too, Tim, and, when she turned eighteen recently, she went off in search of her birth parents. I more or less got the idea from her when we met at Tabitha Stott’s birthday party recently.’
    â€˜Was it difficult, your search?’ Tim asked Chelsea.
    â€˜Took all of two weeks,’ Chelsea laughed, ‘and eventually I found the couple who gave birth to me living not more than a mile away from where I grew up in Wimbledon Village!’
    â€˜Wow!’ Tim responded, ‘What was that like?’
    â€˜Terrifying, I can tell you now,’ Chelsea said, her blackened witch’s teeth gleaming as she laughed. ‘I took to waking up in a cold sweat for days after, imagining them trying to break into my parents’ house to get me. And anything else they could find while they were there!’
    â€˜But you’re still glad you did it, yes?’ Sonya asked.
    Chelsea nodded. ‘I think I needed to plug a few gaps in my head. Luckily, I had the full support of my parents who helped me every inch of the way. My dad especially. But he was an adopted child himself, you see, so I thinkhe really understood. Are your parents okay about your search?’
    Sonya hesitated for a moment, reluctant to say anything disloyal about her parents. ‘Poor Mum and Dad,’ she said. ‘They’re just a bit confused right now. But they’ll come around in the end, I know. They love me far too much.’
    â€˜Well, what have you found out so far?’ Chelsea persisted.
    â€˜Not a great deal. Just that the woman who gave birth to me lives in India. Apparently, she refused to divulge the name of the man who’d fathered me so there’s nothing on him in the records. But, as I’m going to India next week, I may have more to tell you after that.’
    â€˜Going to India ? Hey, what an adventure – my trip to Merton does rather pale by comparison! Are you going too?’ Chelsea asked Tim.
    â€˜No,’ Sonya responded swiftly, ‘I’m going with Estella, actually.’
    â€˜Cool,’ Chelsea repeated, although Sonya knew that was not how Tim felt at all.
    Â 
    A couple of hours later, Sonya told herself mournfully that the party wasn’t quite working. Only for her, that is, going by the general whoops of merriment that were audible from the yard outside and the growing mountain of empty beer cans she could see just outside the door. She cast a glance around the mill from her uncomfortable perch on a wooden stool. She was sitting as close as she possibly could to the ovens without singeing her eyebrows because she had found herself freezing to death in her skimpy sari. It was also preventing her from helping Estella, who was at this moment laying out great platters of food on the trestle tables at the far end of the kitchen. This was supposed to have been a joint party, Soniathought with an annoyed humph. But here she was, stupidly forced into being a guest because she was sure she would trip and snag Priyal’s mum’s beautiful sari if she ventured to undertake domestic chores while wearing it. How on earth did Indian women go to parties and do their household chores wearing these things, she wondered.

Chapter Five
    Sharat walked towards the breakfast room, humming a jaunty tune. Last night’s party had been an unqualified success and the icing on the cake had been the Home Minister’s promise as he’d left.