devices.
Dev would have much rather had some maternal softness or kind words. Rohan hadn’t minded, or at least not outwardly. He’d taken the credit cards the couple had tossed at them and followed their cousin, Arjun, down scandal’s path.
Luna was a different story. Aji wasn’t exactly maternal with the girl, but as far as he could tell, they had an easy relationship where they both sought each other out. Though he didn’t understand it, Dev was willing to respect their bond. But he certainly wasn’t going to let Luna be spoiled without any checks like Rohan had been, and a second phone he couldn’t monitor came under that category.
His grandmother ignored him, which wasn’t unusual. “Luna tells me you are renting? You should buy a nice house.”
“Real estate is rather expensive here.” He didn’t have the money for a hefty down payment.
“You know you could afford whatever you like.”
Oh, it was going to be a call about this.
A shot of frustrated anger ran through him, as it did every time he thought of his too-controlling late grandfather. The man had died mere weeks after Rohan. Dev hadn’t really counted on an inheritance, but his grandfather’s final wishes, showing exactly how he felt about his wayward son’s unwanted descendants, had still hurt. “Seeing as how I only have a few months left to meet the condition, I very much doubt I’m going to be able to make it.”
“The will only said marriage by thirty-three, no specifics. Don’t tell me you can’t find a single suitable woman?”
“You’d be happy if I married any woman, eh?” He gave a humorless laugh.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
It means your husband disowned your eldest son for marrying a woman of a lower class and different religion. Dev couldn’t say that, though.
He didn’t actually think his grandmother had driven his parents away. She just hadn’t stopped her husband from doing it. He lowered his voice, though no one was near enough to hear him. “It means I’m not picking up some woman off the street so I can inherit money.” He had no issue with marriage—privately, he agreed that it was high time he settled down with someone. But that had nothing to do with this. He might be up to his ears in Rohan’s debts, but he wasn’t about to drag some poor strange woman into his family’s mess.
Plus, honestly . . . it pained his pride to let his grandfather win. He could well imagine the old man in hell, cackling because he’d forced Dev to jump into a loveless marriage for money.
“A marriage in a couple months is not absurd. I knew your grandfather for two weeks before we got married. Your parents ran away after a month.”
His grandmother must be extremely desperate, if she was going to mention his parents. They usually tiptoed around that subject. “It’s not the time issue.”
“I have told you, I have a number of friends’ daughters who would make you very happy. You’re being so stubborn. You should—”
You should. He thought of Jia’s wise words on the subject of you should. “No,” he said firmly.
“Then you pick a girl.”
His face grew hot. The only girl who had captured his attention recently had nothing to do with any will.
“I will accept anyone, I promise, into our family. Think of Luna. You could turn right around and give it all to her.”
That was the only tempting part of this charade. His grandfather had left nothing to his only great-grandchild.
Perhaps he was being overly stubborn. An inheritance could solve a lot of his problems and give him and Luna freedom.
No. He made good money. It might take some time, but he’d crawl out of this debt his brother had left him and take care of Luna by himself. “I have to go, I’m at work. I’ll have Luna call you when I get home tonight.”
His grandmother sighed. “Very well. Think about what I’ve said. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Aji.” He hung up and nearly rubbed his forehead before he remembered that his makeup would smear.
Then you pick a girl.
He tapped his phone against his palm, and then opened Instagram. He’d taken the app off his phone years ago, since Chandu’s agency handled most of his social media. He’d only downloaded it again a month or so ago when he’d realized Luna had an account. She mostly posted memes and odd-angled selfies, but he supposed it was a good idea to keep tabs on her. He had some time before he had to worry