The sun slipped lazily into the curtains, filling the lavish room with a pale morning glow. Prisha stirred against the silk sheets, her body heavy, her eyes swollen from a night of muffled sobs. She had cried herself into exhaustion, but even sleep hadn’t been kind—it carried nightmares of the cage she was trapped in.

Her chest rose and fell unevenly as she sat up slowly, pressing her palms against her temples.