As days turned into weeks, the pressure of the marriage weighed heavily on Amara. She couldn't deny the respect she felt for Raj—he was kind and thoughtful, but he was a man shaped by expectations. She found herself torn between the life she had built for herself in the city and the one her parents envisioned for her here in Kashi.

Raj, too, was struggling. His life in the United States had been free of familial obligations, but returning to Kashi meant stepping into shoes he hadn't known he'd been expected to fill. He realized he had spent so long following the script that he had never considered what he wanted from life, from love.

Their conversations became more frequent, and though they shared little common ground, a quiet understanding began to form between them. Raj confessed that he had never felt the passion for his business that everyone believed he had. And Amara shared her fear of losing herself in a marriage that felt more like an arrangement than a partnership.