Chapter 202

The words tasted bitter on her tongue, the lie a betrayal of everything she believed in. She had always promised herself that she would never hide from the truth, that she would face her demons head-on. But this was different. This was a truth too painful to speak, too shameful to admit. She had been violated, her body used as a vessel for someone else’s desires. And now she was expected to carry the reminder of that violation for nine months, to nurture and protect a life that had been forced upon her.

Dilshad’s face lit up with joy at the news, her hands immediately moving to Roshanay’s belly. She spoke excitedly about the future, about the baby, about the joy of becoming a grandmother. Roshanay listened with a smile pasted on her face, the joy in her mother’s voice a stark contrast to the turmoil in her own heart. She couldn’t bring herself to take that joy away, couldn’t shatter her mother’s happiness with the ugly truth. For now, the lie was a kindness, a protection of th