Shushma stood outside the heavy wooden door of Principal Rajesh Verma's office, her heart hammering against her ribs like a caged bird. At 23, she was in her final year at the prestigious government college in the city, but life had not been kind. Coming from a small village in Uttar Pradesh, she was the first in her family to reach this level of education. Her father’s illness had drained their savings, and now the exam fees—twelve thousand rupees—felt like an impossible mountain. Without paying, she couldn’t sit for her finals. Desperate, she had borrowed a simple white salwar kameez, her long black hair tied in a neat braid, and her innocent doe-like eyes filled with worry.

She knocked softly.