Chapter 1: The Day Everything Fell Apart At twenty-one, Kavya had already learned that exhaustion could become a way of life. She woke before sunrise, packed lunch in a steel container, and travelled across Hyderabad to work at an electronics assembly plant in Sanath Nagar. By the time she returned home, her feet ached, her shoulders hurt, and all she wanted was a hot meal and an hour of peace. Instead, she usually found her husband, Rahul, recording videos. He had dreams of becoming a social media celebrity. There was nothing wrong with having dreams, Kavya often reminded herself. What troubled her was that Rahul seemed willing to sacrifice everything else to pursue them. Rent could wait. Electricity bills could wait. Even their groceries sometimes had to wait. His latest camera equipment, however, could never wait. For over a year, they had been living in a small annexe behind his father's house. The arrangement had been temporary, or so they had promised themselves when they f...
It was still light outside, but inside the drawing room, with the curtains drawn and the last of the firewood smouldering in the old fireplace, the room lay in deep shadows. Raghav sat in one of them, and he did not mind. The dimness gave him the courage to keep his eyes fixed as ardently as he pleased on the young woman sitting near the firelight. Nandini was a handsome girl, with the rich, healthy complexion of someone who had grown up in the South Indian sun. She sat comfortably in a wooden armchair, stroking the smooth coat of the cat curled in her lap. Now and then, she sent a slow glance towards the shadow where her visitor sat. They spoke quietly about ordinary things—the previous evening's reception at a friend's house, the next week's wedding, and a new shop that had opened near the main road. Neither seemed particularly interested in the conversation. Their thoughts were elsewhere. Nandini knew that Raghav loved her. He was an honest, rather awkward man, too str...