Kiara stood in the living room of their family home, the afternoon light filtering through the half-drawn curtains. Her parents had left that morning for their week-long trip to the hills, leaving her alone with her two older brothers, Rohan and Vikram. She was twenty-two, just finished with her college exams, and the house felt too quiet without the usual parental presence. Rohan, twenty-eight, leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed, his broad shoulders filling the frame. Vikram, twenty-six, sat on the edge of the sofa, scrolling through his phone with a lazy smirk.

“Ab ghar khali hai, chhoti,” Rohan said, his voice low and steady. (Now the house is empty, little one.)