It’s the monsoon of 1990, and the air is thick with memory. I’m Vijay—obedient, grieving, and bound by duty to my mother, who’s just arranged my marriage to a girl named Rama. I didn’t protest. I never do.

Raja, my brother in all but blood, was supposed to be here. But he’s in London, chasing another fling. I miss him. I always do, even when he’s at his worst.

Then I see her face.

Rama.

My breath stops.

It’s her—the girl Raja raped. The one I failed to save. The one I saw sobbing in the alley, clothes torn, eyes broken. I chased Raja that night, screamed at him, but he laughed. And now… she’s standing here, veil lifted, staring at me like I’m part of the crime.

I want to explain. I want to scream. But my mother beams with pride.

How do I tell her the man I love most destroyed the woman I’m now bound to?

Raja returns tomorrow.

And I don’t know if our friendship can survive the truth.