Chapter 22

Summary

• Grace, with noise-cancelling earphones on, is unaware as Nisha climbs up to the upper bunk to call her son Ray.
• Nisha is troubled by Ray's description of his lonely and stressful situation at the dorm; she tries to comfort him.
• Ray, feeling neglected and rejected by his father, expresses no concern about his parents’ impending separation.
• Nisha struggles to explain to Ray that she and his father are separating because he's chosen to be with someone else.
• Ray reveals his father called him a liability and he told his father to go away, showing inner turmoil and resilience.
• Nisha earnestly plans to remove Ray from the school and live with him, but financial constraints due to her divorce delay this.
• The conversation reveals that Ray is aware of a secret about his father's gift of supposed Christian Louboutin shoes to Nisha.
• Ray indicates that the expensive shoes may actually be imitations, prompting Nisha to recall inconsistencies when she received them.
• Nisha, reminiscing about her childhood experiences with theft, feels guilt and responsibility to solve her current predicament.
• Nisha visits The White Horse pub to review CCTV to identify a suspected shoe thief, showing determination and clever manipulation.
• Nisha succeeds in identifying the woman wearing her stolen shoes in the CCTV footage with the help of Milo, a bar employee.
• Nisha obtains the name of the company, Uberprint, where the shoe thief may work, making significant progress in her quest.
• In a spontaneous moment of joy and connection, Nisha shares a passionate kiss with Aleks, her colleague.
• The interaction with Aleks ends abruptly as a coworker enters, leaving Nisha feeling a mix of gratification and confusion.