Srinagar, June 6 -- They weren't always silent. There were days when the house echoed with the sound of children running down the hallway, their laughter spilling into the corners. But when the noise faded, what remained was silence. The kind that presses against your chest. Sahil lived inside that silence for years.

He married Muskaan with hope in his heart. He had seen her once, and something about her stayed with him. A softness in her eyes, maybe. He thought it was love. But Muskaan didn't see him the same way.

Her family had chosen Sahil for her, and she walked into the marriage without a word of protest, but also without a trace of warmth.

From the beginning, her distance wasn't hard to miss. She answered his questions in half-se...