It was a quiet evening, a deceptive calmness lingering in the air. The kind of calm that felt unsettling, like the eerie silence before a storm. I had just finished my Bharatnatyam classes, and the students had left. I closed the door behind them, the sound of the latch clicking into place echoing through the empty house. This was my life now—fake roles, fake smiles, and fake relationships.

I had blended so well into this fabricated family over the past few months that even I sometimes forgot it wasn’t real. My “fake Aunt” had gone out for a kitty party, and my “brother” and “sister” were enjoying their newfound freedom, relishing these few days of independence as if they were on an extended vacation. Maybe they found joy in the pretense, but I didn’t. I was counting down the days until I could finally be free. Truly free. Free for life.