The heavy sound of the main iron door locking echoed in Kavya's ears for a long time.
After Agin left, an absolute, breathless silence settled over the entire farmhouse, as if the mainspring of a ticking clock had suddenly snapped. Outside, a violent rainstorm had broken loose. Thick sheets of water lashed against the large glass windowpanes with a rhythmic, hammering beat, while flashes of lightning behind the distant mountains flooded the room with momentary, ghostly white light.
Kavya remained seated right where she was on the stairs. Her legs felt too heavy to carry her.
Her mind refused to slow down. Her childhood home, her father's tear-stained face when he confessed he had run out of options... that fifty-lakh debt, the carefree days of college where she was wrapped up in her own
