Aarohi rejected the driver’s polite offer to take her home. She couldn't face Riya's immediate questions, her sharp cynicism too much to bear while the aftershocks of Samarth’s office visit still trembled through her.

Instead, she chose a quiet, leafy stretch of Park Street, near her bakery job on MG Road. It was early morning, the air still cool and soft. She found a small, neglected park where the only sounds were the gentle ambient noises of Mumbai waking up a street vendor’s distant call, the soft sound of a woman blowing soap bubbles for a small child.