The tension from the letter’s threat lingered like a fog for days, a low-grade anxiety that hummed beneath their skin even during their most intimate moments. Aditya watched Shweta move through the house with a careful quietness, her smiles sometimes not quite reaching her eyes. The need to break the spell, to reclaim their stolen paradise not just in the privacy of their home but in the wider world, became an obsession for him.

“We’re going out,” Aditya announced one evening, his voice leaving no room for debate. He stood in the doorway of the bedroom where she was folding laundry.