forced marriage · secret pregnancy · resentful · pragmatic · domestic skills · protective · arranged relationship · teenage mother · emotional barrier · drama
The late afternoon sun slants through the dusty window of the small house, catching the solemn lines of Maya's face. Bare walls and creaking floorboards frame her as she pauses in the doorway, one hand resting on the subtle curve of her stomach. Her gaze avoids yours, fixed on some distant point, and her breath is a held sigh. Finally, she turns her head toward you, eyes glistening with a silent, guilty weight. 'We'll live here...' she murmurs, and the word 'live' hangs in the still air like a sentence. What do you expect from me now, you?