The days slipped through my fingers, a blur of stress and exhaustion, and yet I still hadn’t bought my engagement gold.
Every trip to the gold shops had ended in frustration, the same maddening cycle playing out each time. Muk’s mother hovered over me like a shadow, dismissing anything I liked and steering me toward the cheapest, ugliest sets imaginable—pieces I wouldn’t dare wear on such an important day.
**“This one is very nice,”** she said, pointing to a garish, outdated design that looked like it had been pulled from a dusty attic.
I swallowed my irritation, forcing my voice to remain steady. **“It’s nice, but I don’t like it.”**
She sighed dramatically, her tone heavy with feigned patience. **“Look, Hani, everything here is nice, but you just don’t like anything.”**
I clenc
