The house slept under a heavy blanket of silence after midnight. Only the occasional bark of a street dog or the distant rumble of a late-night truck on the Jodhpur highway broke it.

Poonam waited until Rajesh’s snores deepened into the rhythm of true unconsciousness. She slipped from their bed—naked this time, the red sari left crumpled on Vijay’s floor from the previous night. Bare feet silent on the cool marble, she moved through the darkened corridors like a shadow carrying secrets.