Chapter 1 – A House Full of Silence
Lily's life had been surrounded by silence for as long as she could remember.
When she was just two years old, her mother passed away. No one in the family spoke about it — not once, not in whispers, not even in moments of vulnerability.
She lived with her bade papa and badi mummy. They were good people — loving in their own way — but strict. Freedom was something they measured carefully, especially for a girl. Her bade papa's job often kept him away, traveling from one place to another. Badi mummy was a homemaker who kept everything in order.
Then, in tenth grade, tragedy struck again. Her father — her real father, her everything — died in an accident.
Lily didn't cry. Not a single tear. Everyone thought she was cold-hearted, but in truth, she was numb. Her father had lived away most of the time, but he had been her anchor. Losing him felt like losing the only person who truly understood her. And now, she was his only daughter… his only Lily.