Prologue

"Life’s decisions can reshape destinies... a single wrong choice, and my life lies in ruins."

"Please, Rajat, I beg you... just let me go," I whisper, my voice shaking, breaking. My plea isn’t for myself but for the fragile life within me—my baby, just four weeks in my womb, drawing its breaths through me. Each breath is a struggle as I gasp beneath the weight of the man who was supposed to be my protector, my partner. Instead, he’s become the cage trapping me, his body pressing down on me, suffocating me like a fish pulled out of the water, thrashing helplessly, seeking a single breath of life.

But my pleas are lost on him. His face twists into something unrecognizable, darkened by his hatred, by a twisted sense of control. “I don’t want this child,” he spits, each word laced with venom. “I know it’s a girl—I don’t want another burden. One daughter is already more than enough dead weight.” His voice turns hoarse and cruel. “You’re nothing but a plaything to me, a body to use for my needs.”

He continues his assault, and I feel every stab of pain, but my thoughts are only for my unborn child. The doctor had warned me not to be involved in any physical stress, warned that my body wasn’t strong enough to carry another child. I’m 34 now, and complications already shadow this pregnancy. After thirteen years since my first daughter was born, this unexpected life has given me a new purpose, a reason to endure.

Yet here I am, powerless, used by the man I once loved with all my heart. He’s taken everything, reduced me to a lifeless doll, fulfilling his desires with no thought to my agony. I had watched him betray me, cheat on me in my own home, in the very room that held my dreams of a shared life. My in-laws tried to reason with him, to help him see the worth in me, but to Rajat, I am nothing more than a body—a convenience.

I’m choking now, my breaths shortening, and I finally break. Tears blur my vision, hot and relentless, as I cry out with all the strength left in me. “No! I want this child! What crime has this innocent life committed? My daughters are my only reason to keep breathing, to keep enduring this prison... please, don’t take this child away!”

But my cries dissolve into silence as I feel my body give in, slipping into unconsciousness under the crushing weight of his cruelty. And as darkness pulls me under, I wonder...

Will I be able to save my child? Will I ever be free of this cage?

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This is only the beginning of her story, but her voice speaks to those who have been silenced, to the resilience that lives even in the darkest of times. If her story moves you, please consider voting, liking, and leaving a comment. Your support means more than words can express.

Thank you for choosing this journey, and a heartfelt thanks to the brave woman who shared her truth with me.