Seema lay curled up on her bed, her body trembling as tears soaked her pillow. The stinging slaps from her parents’ hands still echoed in her mind, their harsh words cutting deeper than any blade. “Worthless slut,” her mother had hissed, while her father called her a “disgrace.” The door slammed shut, leaving her alone with the weight of their disappointment and her own shame. She pulled her knees to her chest, her bare skin prickling with the chill of the room, but it was nothing compared to the cold emptiness inside her.😭

Her mind drifted, unwillingly, to the night that now felt like a distant dream—or perhaps a nightmare. The night Vikrant had called her to meet him behind the library. The memory was a blur of heat and hunger, a stark contrast to the icy silence of her current reality. She could still feel the rough bark of the tree against her back as he pressed her against it, his lips crashing down on hers with a ferocity that left her breathless. His hands were everywhere, grasping, claiming, as if he owned her. And in that moment, she had let him.