Two weeks had passed since Karim’s plane left for Dubai. The monsoon had finally broken over Bhubaneswar; rain drummed steadily on the terracotta roof tiles, muffling sounds inside the old house and turning every corner into a private world. Amina no longer counted the nights she spent with Bilal..she simply surrendered to them. Her body bore the quiet evidence: faint love-bites along the curve of her neck that she hid beneath high-collared kurtas, a constant low-grade soreness between her thighs, nipples perpetually tender from being sucked and pinched for hours.

Tonight they had barely waited for dinner to end. Zainab had gone to bed early with a headache; Abbas sat downstairs smoking under the awning, watching the rain. Fatima claimed she needed to study late for her entrance exam mock test. Amina and Bilal slipped upstairs as soon as the dining table was cleared.