Puja stared at all three of them.
Perhaps this wasn’t the reaction she had expected.
Especially from three men who had spent the afternoon preparing to pay for sex.
After college, however, the story changed again.
This part Puja told differently.
More defensively.
Because this time nobody had threatened her.
Nobody controlled her grades.
Nobody had private photographs.
“I wanted a MacBook.”
Sanjay blinked.
“What?”
“And an iPhone.”
Raja looked at Vivek.
Vivek looked back.
Neither said anything.
Puja continued.
“Mine was old. Everyone around me had better stuff. I wanted them.”
Sanjay struggled to understand.
“So you…”
“Yes.”
“For a laptop?”
“And phone.”
Sanjay closed his eyes.
Puja immediately became defensive.
“Don’t judge me.”
“I’m trying not to.”
“You’re failing.”
“I’m your brother. Give me five minutes.”
She crossed her arms.
“The first time for money, I nearly cancelled.”
Nobody interrupted.
“The second time was easier.”
She swallowed.
“The third time…”
She paused.
“…I realized how quickly money could come.”
A transaction that would take weeks or months to earn through ordinary student work could happen in one evening.
That realization had frightened her.
And attracted her.
Both things were true.
“Three times became five.”
She stared toward the open door.
“Five became more.”
Sanjay remembered the agent.
“Seventeen.”
Puja looked at him.
“What?”
“The agent said tonight would’ve been your seventeenth booking.”
For the first time, Puja looked confused.
Then she laughed.
It contained absolutely no humour.
“Of course he did.”
Sanjay’s stomach dropped.
“What does that mean?”
Puja looked away.
“Tonight wasn’t seventeen.”
Silence.
Raja slowly straightened.
“Then what was it?”
Puja hesitated.
“Thirty-seven.”
Nobody moved.
Sanjay thought he had misheard.
“Thirty…”
“Seven.”
He stared at her.
“You’ve had thirty-six clients?”
Puja nodded.
“And we were supposed to be…”
She closed her eyes.
“Thirty-seven.”
The room became completely silent.
That single number changed something.
Not morally.
Not mathematically.
Emotionally.
It forced Sanjay to understand that this wasn’t an experiment his sister had tried several times.
It had become part of her life.
A hidden one.
Organized enough that agents knew her.
Regular enough that she had routines.
Complicated enough that she lied convincingly about where she went.
Sanjay whispered:
“How long?”
“Months.”
“Does anyone know?”
Puja didn’t answer.
That silence suddenly felt different.
Sanjay noticed.
“Puja.”
She looked at him.
“Who else knows?”
Puja bit her lip.
Raja seemed to realize something at the same moment.
His face changed.
“No.”
Puja looked toward him.
Raja stood.
“No.”
“What?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Puja didn’t answer.
His voice sharpened.
“Puja.”
Sanjay looked between them.
“What?”
Raja stepped closer.
“Sonam?”
Puja’s silence answered before her mouth did.
Raja went completely still.
“No.”
Puja lowered her eyes.
Sanjay stared at her.
“What about Sonam?”
Puja whispered:
“She’s doing it too.”
For several seconds Raja seemed incapable of breathing.
“My Sonam?”
Puja’s expression tightened.
“She’s twenty-four, Raja.”
