The morning light filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse, casting long, pale beams across the pristine white flooring. Nandini sat on the edge of the bed, the silk sheets pooled around her waist. The silence of the apartment was absolute, broken only by the low, rhythmic hum of the air conditioning. She was twenty-four, a woman with curves that drew the eye wherever she went, her figure full and soft in the harsh light of the modern room. She glanced down at her body, the skin warm to the touch, and then felt the sudden, familiar dampness between her thighs. Her breath hitched in her throat. It was her period. In the home where she grew up, this had been a signal for immediate exile. Her mother would hand her a separate set of bedsheets, her voice dropping to a hush as if speaking a secret curse. Nandini would be confined to the far corner of the house, forbidden from entering the kitchen, barred from touching the prayer room idols, and forced to eat from a...
The morning light filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse, casting long, pale beams across the pristine white flooring. Nandini sat on the edge of the bed, the silk sheets pooled around her waist. The silence of the apartment was absolute, broken only by the low, rhythmic hum of the air conditioning. She was twenty-four, a woman with curves that drew the eye wherever she went, her figure full and soft in the harsh light of the modern room. She glanced down at her body, the skin warm to the touch, and then felt the sudden, familiar dampness between her thighs. Her breath hitched in her throat. It was her period. In the home where she grew up, this had been a signal for immediate exile. Her mother would hand her a separate set of bedsheets, her voice dropping to a hush as if speaking a secret curse. Nandini would be confined to the far corner of the house, forbidden from entering the kitchen, barred from touching the prayer room idols, and forced to eat from a...