The air was thick with anxiety as Kanmaye paced her small room, feeling the weight of her impending engagement pressing down on her shoulders. The walls, once adorned with posters of her favorite bands and dreams of independence, now felt like a prison. Her heart raced with desperation as she replayed her mother’s dismissive words, echoing in her head like a relentless drumbeat. “This is your chance, Kanmaye. You’ll find stability. You have to think about the family.”

“Stability?” she whispered to herself, the bitterness coating her tongue. “What about my dreams?”