The morning sun had barely risen over the Raizada mansion, casting long golden shadows across the servant quarters. Sitara sat at her small desk, her textbooks open in front of her, but her mind was elsewhere. She had been staring at the same page for twenty minutes, the words blurring together into meaningless shapes.

Her father had left early. Ashish had an urgent meeting outside Mumbai, and Ramesh had been called to drive him. They would be gone all day—maybe until late at night. Sitara had watched him leave, had seen the car disappear through the gates, and had felt a strange mixture of relief and dread.