The Hall had once echoed with music and cheers, but now, whispers had taken over like wind rustling through anxious trees. Some guests whispered their judgments, some voiced quiet support, and others—the ones who knew Kriti, who knew her story—sat frozen. Ayla, Varun, Ashvin, Ruaan, Vyas, Tarini, and Arjun were all unmoving. But the most shaken were Kiara and Rupali.

They had just witnessed something monumental—their best friend, always so composed and compliant, standing up to the one person she had feared defying all her life: her father. Her voice still echoed in their ears, trembling but unshaken. Her eyes, though glossy with withheld tears, had spoken of years of unvoiced suffocation. What terrified them wasn't just what had happened, but what it meant for Kriti and Devendra going forward. Something had cracked. Something irreversible.