Chapter 56

The evening didn't begin with anything loud or urgent, which is exactly why Aadhya tried to ignore what her body had already started telling her, because discomfort was something she had trained herself to manage quietly, to suppress until it either passed or forced her to stop, and today she chose the first option again, even when the dull ache settling low in her abdomen didn't feel like something that would fade easily, because acknowledging it meant slowing down and she wasn't used to choosing that. She had come home earlier than usual, her focus slipping too often to stay productive, her posture shifting every few minutes without relief, and still she convinced herself it was manageable, that she just needed to sit through it, like she always did.