Saisha’s pov:

I have never questioned why I am inside this house.

These are our traditions. We must follow them.

That’s what my parents told me when I dared to ask at the age of thirteen. Their answer came not in words, but in the form of a sharp slap across my cheek - a punishment for even thinking beyond what was expected of me. Since then, I have learned to silence my thoughts, to never let my curiosity slip past my lips.

If I do anything wrong, I will be punished.

The last time I stepped outside this house was when I went to school. Once I completed it, my world became these walls, this house, and the endless chores my mother assigns me. Cooking, cleaning, serving - this is my life now. I wake up before the sun, I sleep long after everyone else, and in between, I exist only to obey.

I am tired.

But if I say it out loud, nothing will change. Complaints are not tolerated here. I have seen what happens to women who try to fight back. Their voices are swallowed by these very walls, their tears unseen, their dreams crushed before they can even take shape.

All my school friends are married now. The moment we finished school, their fate was sealed. A wedding, a husband, a new house, and the same cycle of servitude that I am living now - only under a different roof. I don’t know why I am not married yet. Maybe my father is waiting for the right proposal. Maybe my fate is just delayed, not different.

I love my younger brother. But I am jealous of him too.

Only he gets to go to school now. When he grows older, he will leave this village, go to the city for higher studies, build a career, earn money, live his life on his terms. No one will tell him to spend his days cooking and cleaning. No one will expect him to sacrifice himself for family honor.

He doesn’t even pick up his own plate after eating. That is my job.

Sometimes, I wonder… if I were born a boy, would my life have been different?

Would I have seen the world beyond these walls?

Would I have been… free?

                     A/N
These kind of families still exist.

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