The night had been long… too long. The silence in the house was heavier than words could ever be. Riaan sat on the couch in the living room, staring blankly at the flickering TV screen that he wasn’t really watching. The clock ticked loudly — every second echoing like a reminder of how far things had slipped between him and Prisha.

Prisha walked out of her room quietly, her eyes swollen from crying. She had cried silently into her pillow, trying not to let anyone hear. She didn’t even know what exactly she had done wrong — only that Riaan’s eyes had changed, that his voice carried a strange distance.