Ishani returned home just as the sky turned the bruised purple of early evening. The drive back from Sinha house had been a blur—tears drying on her cheeks, Ajay’s threat echoing in her ears like a poison she couldn’t spit out. She felt drained, hollowed out, the maroon silk saree now sticking uncomfortably to her skin from the heat and her own nervous sweat.

The moment she stepped inside, the family noticed.