Sold to Dubai: My Family’s Betrayal
Chapter 8: The Bluff
“Hey, treating me to dinner? What’s up?”
Seeing the family argue nonstop, and Neha starting to waver, I quickly pretended to take a phone call.
Seeing they weren’t paying much attention, I kept up the act.
“Your mom found a rich husband in Dubai?”
As soon as I said that, all three of them looked over.
I continued, “Tell your mom not to go—Dubai’s really not safe, lots of scams.”
“What? Your mom’s already married over there? And gave you five crore rupees?”
“So that’s why you’re treating me to dinner? Five crores—that’s almost fifty million rupees!”
“Wait, I get to pick the restaurant. Okay, call me later.”
I hung up. The three of them stared at me, suspicious and shocked.
I tentatively said, “My friend is really pretty—she used to be a print model.”
“She met a Dubai tycoon through the overseas version of Instagram, and just met up a few days ago.”
“My little prince is from overseas Insta too!” Neha said excitedly.
I nodded. “Exactly. Dubai men love Indian beauties, especially tall and elegant ones.”
After I finished, I saw my stepmother subconsciously glance down at her own figure, clearly sizing herself up.
But then she suddenly reached out. “Give me your phone—I want to see which friend it is. I want to check if you’re telling the truth.”
Her sudden move caught me off guard. I was just putting on an act—who knew my stepmother would be so thorough, refusing to believe a single word without proof.
As the wind howled through the crack in the window, carrying with it the smell of wet earth and frying pakoras from somewhere nearby, I fumbled with my phone, hoping she wouldn’t notice my trembling hands. The old photo of my friend Sunaina at her college farewell—now my supposed Dubai-returned model—was my only gamble. The drama in the house had reached its interval, and I was waiting for the next act, praying I wouldn’t be caught bluffing. I could already feel the tension thickening, like the heavy air before a power cut in the middle of a soap opera’s climax. If Sunaina’s photo didn’t convince them, I’d be the next one thrown out in the rain.
