Chapter 2: The First Command
Devika selected a long dress, earrings, and a pair of bangles. She insisted that Arjun try them, presenting the exercise as a harmless experiment. When he emerged from the bedroom, she studied him with unsettling concentration.
“There you are,” she whispered. “I knew I could create someone beautiful.”
“It’s just clothes, Auntie. I’ll change now.”
“No.” Her voice hardened. “You will listen to me first.”
She began calling him Aaradhya, claiming that the name suited the person she wanted him to become. Arjun rejected the name, but Devika continued using it until the house itself seemed to echo with it.
Her obsession was not simply about feminine clothing. She wanted to control his choices, his appearance, his relationships, and eventually the way he understood himself.
That night, Arjun locked his bedroom door. For the first time since moving in, he wondered whether accepting her help had been a terrible mistake.
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