Chapter 4 — Veer’s Stuffed Tiger

Third Person

The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky, casting a warm, golden light across the Malhotra home. From her room, Tyra could hear the faint rustlings of the household—the distant clatter of utensils in the kitchen, the low murmur of Shaurya’s mother speaking to one of the staff, and the occasional creak of the wooden stairs. The house exuded a quiet hum of life, yet Tyra’s world felt still, her focus entirely on the sketchbook perched on her lap. She sat cross-legged on the floor by the window, the breeze tousling her hair as she shaded in the curve of a marigold she’d been sketching from the garden below.