The heavy wooden door creaked open, and Karm stepped into his bedroom, the faint scent of sandalwood incense from the living room still clinging to his skin. At 31, he carried the quiet confidence of a man who had built his life on numbers and control. As a chartered accountant working from home, his days were spent in spreadsheets and audits, not in the chaos of emotions. But today, control had been ripped away from him.

Yesterday, in a cold courthouse, he had signed papers that bound him legally to Vahi—22 years old, sharp-tongued, and the last woman on earth he wanted as his wife.