"A Step Toward Trust"

A few hours earlier…
After Vedant had left, Avantika had shut herself in her room without a word. The sunlight that once filtered through her window had begun to fade, but inside her mind, a quiet darkness lingered.
Urmila Tai glanced at the closed door and softly murmured to herself, “She needs a little silence right now.”
She knew—some wounds don’t heal with words… they mend in stillness.