I never meant to end up here. Handcuffed, soaked, and staring at a cracked ceiling in a police station that smells like rust and regret. All because I couldn’t stand watching my father smile as he tied the knot with another woman—while my mother still breathes, still loves him, still waits.

I threw the mangalsutra into the wedding fire. I smashed the car windows with my bare fists. I screamed until my voice broke. And now? Now I’m paying for it.

But tonight, the station isn’t empty. They brought in a girl—Anu—barefoot, shivering, her eyes sharp with fear and defiance. She won’t say much, but I hear her whispering to herself in the next cell. Something about a hostel. A man named Arnie.

When the guard moves us to the common area for processing, she looks at me. Just once. And in that glance, I see it—she’s running from something worse than arrest.

The inspector is on the phone, arranging her return. My hands are still cuffed. But I know one thing: if I don’t do something, she’s gone.

What do I do?