When Rafey came home from the office in the evening, he noticed that Uswa was unusually silent. Even while bringing him coffee, Uswa’s eyes were downcast, and after setting the coffee on the table, she went back to the kitchen. Rafey’s heart sank as he noticed Uswa’s behaviour. She always greeted him with a smile and an eager recount of her day. Something was definitely wrong. Instead of drinking his coffee, Rafey followed her into the kitchen to see what was keeping her so busy that she didn’t sit with him.

Uswa was making pasta at that time. Rafey’s routine was to have coffee after coming home from the office and then have a light snack after freshening up. Usually, Uswa would prepare something only after he went to their room; otherwise, she would sit with him while he drank his coffee and recounted her entire day’s events.