The dinner table felt unnervingly quiet without the grandparents’ familiar chatter and good-natured complaints. The silence was a taut wire, and Afiya, seated between her parents, felt the tension emanating from two different points in the room like a magnetic pull.

Ahmed sat directly opposite her, a king surveying his prize. His eyes, dark and possessive, never left her for long. Across from him, on the same side as Yusuf, Saad was also watching her, his gaze a confusing mix of concern, curiosity, and something hotter, more troubled, that he couldn’t quite suppress.