Radhika was only 22 but had already taken over her late father's small South Indian restaurant in the bustling Koramangala area of Bangalore. "Annapurna Mess" was a modest place with 12 tables, serving dosas, biryanis, and filter coffee to office-goers and college students. She was a petite, fair-skinned beauty with long black hair that she usually tied in a practical bun, sharp hazel eyes, and a figure that her modest salwar kameez struggled to hide—full breasts, a narrow waist, and wide hips that swayed when she moved between tables.

The staff consisted of five men: Rajesh (head cook, 35), Imran (assistant cook, 28), Suresh (senior waiter, 40), Mahesh (junior waiter, 24), and young delivery boy Vikram (19). They had worked under her father and now resented taking orders from a young woman who they thought was too soft and inexperienced.