Tears stream down Ami's face, blurring her vision as her chest rises and falls with sharp, aching sobs.
Knock, knock.
No response.
She doesn't hear the knocks at the door -- soft at first, then louder.
Ami curls into the corner beside her bed, sitting on the cold floor, gripping the letter so tightly her knuckles turn white. Her cries come out in broken gasps.
The door creaks open.
Soha: "Ami…?"
Sneha: (sighs) "See? I told you she'd cry all alone and not tell us anything."
Without waiting, Soha rushes forward and wraps Ami in a tight hug from behind.
Soha: "There, there... Ami, I'm here. We're here."
Sneha drops to the floor beside them and wraps her arms around both.
As she holds Ami, her eyes land on the crumpled letter in Ami's hand. Curiosity takes over.
Sneha: "What's this?"
Ami doesn't answer. She just sobs harder, her face hidden.
Sneha gently pulls the paper from her hand and begins reading. Soha leans over her shoulder.
Their eyes widen as they read, line by line --- shock, disbelief, and anger all crashing into their faces.
Sneha: (whispers) "What... the actual hell…"
Her voice rises, shaking with fury.
Sneha: "They murdered her!
Ami ---- your family, they killed your mom?! WHAT THE---?! This is insane!! This is----this is unforgivable! You have to do something!"
Soha stays frozen, eyes glassy, hand over her mouth.
Ami: (through gritted teeth, tears pouring)
"My mother… she didn't have to die like that.
She should've left him… she should've thought about herself for once.
She endured all that just to keep me safe...
And I--I was too small to do anything…"
Her voice cracks. She's sobbing, her cheeks bright red from the pressure and pain.
Soha: (hugging her tighter)
"Ami, please… I'm crying too now, stop… breathe…"
Ami: (screaming through her tears)
"Why, Mother?! Why did you let them hurt you?!
You should've run away with me!
You should've chosen to live!"
Sneha: (teeth clenched, eyes blazing)
"This isn't right. This isn't just grief. This is murder.
We're going to the police -------now."
Soha: (hesitant)
"But… would a letter even count as evidence?
It's just a piece of paper. We need something solid.
Hard proof."
Ami stares at them, her voice hoarse.
Ami:
"I don't know what to do...
I don't even care about his name --- I never needed a father.
I needed her.
She was the only one who truly loved me."
Ami clenches her fists, rage overtaking grief.
Ami:
"I'm done crying. I'm done staying quiet.
I will burn every lie they built, tear down every mask they wear.
I'll destroy every single one of them ----- for her."
Sneha places a firm hand on Ami's back.
Sneha: (soft but firm)
"I'm with you. Whatever your plan is --- I'll help."
Soha:
"We both will. You're not alone."
They sit there on the floor, the letter between them ---- a quiet testimony of a woman who was silenced, and a daughter now finding her voice.
The three girls share one feeling now:
Disgust.
At a family who smiled with poisoned words.
At a man who hid cruelty behind a father's title.
At a world that lets this happen --- and expects silence.
Ami's sobs eventually quiet into silence, her body drained from all the crying.
Her head rests against Soha's shoulder --and before they realize it, she's fallen asleep.
Sneha: (whispers) "She's asleep…"
Soha gently shifts Ami onto the bed while Sneha helps adjust the pillow beneath her head.
They pull the blanket over her, tucking it around her shoulders like a mother would. Soha takes a small towel from Ami's desk and gently wipes her tear-streaked face.
Soha: (softly) "Poor Ami…"
Sneha: (sighs, voice tired)
"We'll talk about the rest tomorrow.
She needs to rest tonight. Her eyes… her heart --- too much for one night."
They both look at Ami's sleeping face --- peaceful now, but still stained with dried tears.
Soha:
"I can't stop thinking about it… what her mother went through…
And now, God knows what this family might still do to her."
Sneha: (bitterly)
"It's not just heartbreaking. It's sick.
That kind of betrayal ----- it destroys something inside you.
I don't even want to imagine what else they've done to Ami when no one was watching."
They exchange a heavy look, then quietly step out of the room, careful not to wake her.
The door clicks shut behind them.
Darkness settles gently over Ami's room…
As they step out of Ami's room and close the door behind them, the hallway feels strangely quiet.
They don't talk for a few seconds.
Soha: (breaking the silence, quietly)
"You know what hurts me the most?"
Sneha: "Hmm?"
Soha:
"That she went through all of this --- and still managed to smile like nothing happened.
She jokes, laughs, helps us with our problems…
And yet she was carrying something this heavy all along."
Sneha doesn't respond right away.
She exhales slowly, her fists tightening at her sides.
Sneha:
"I remember… once, we were teasing her for being too quiet in a family drama skit.
She said, 'I don't like pretending families are happy.'
I thought she was just being edgy.
Now I get it."
Soha looks down at her phone, still holding the letter photo they took.
Soha:
"What if they try something again?
What if they realize she knows?"
Sneha: (with steel in her voice)
"Let them try.
Let them dare.
She's not alone anymore."
Meanwhile… in Ami's room
The moonlight sneaks through the curtains, soft and silver.
Ami stirs slightly in her sleep. Her fingers clutch at the blanket, and her lips move ---barely a whisper.
Ami: (murmuring in her sleep)
"Mother… don't go… I'm scared…"
A tiny tear slips from the corner of her eye and rolls onto the pillow.
But even in sleep -- even in pain ---she looks stronger than she did before.
Like a storm is coming.
And she'll be the one leading it.