Chapter 64: The Institutional Demand
The morning after the ACA's uncompromising demand, the atmosphere in Raghav's small home was heavier than lead. The victory felt cold and absolute. Umesh had lost. The silence at the breakfast table was not hostile, but profound—it was the sound of a father mourning the loss of control over his child's destiny.
Raghav sat and ate, the food tasting like ash. His mother, Nirmala, moved with a quiet anxiety, her eyes red-rimmed, darting between the kitchen and the dining table. She had spent the night alternating between pleading with her husband and weeping over the reality that her young son would be moving away to the city.
Umesh Roi was already dressed for work, his uniform clean, his shoes polished. But he was not reading the newspaper. He sat at his table, staring out the window, his shoulders bowed by a fatigue that had nothing to do with labor and everything to do with defeat.
