Chapter 1: Whispers in Lahore

Chapter I

In the quiet courtyard of Dr. Shehryar Khan’s Lahore residence, an unexpected late-night visitor awakens Leila’s unspoken desires.

The wrought-iron gates of the Gulberg estate were already bolted when the clock in the downstairs study struck eleven. Upstairs, the silk curtains of my dressing room stirred against the warm Lahore night air, carrying the heavy sweetness of night-blooming jasmine from the courtyard below.

Shehryar had been called back to the hospital two hours earlier, leaving his cufflinks on the marble vanity and the house in a hush that felt almost expectant. I stood before the tall arched mirror in an ivory silk robe, tracing the collarbone where the fabric slipped loose, wondering why the silence of the house always made my pulse beat faster.

Then came the soft, deliberate knock at the side veranda door—not the hurried tap of a household servant, but a low, unhurried cadence that sent a sudden tremor down my spine.