The next evening felt heavier. Air in the house thick with waiting. Priya’s body still carried yesterday’s public marks – faint red welts under clothes, pussy and ass tender, collar locked tight around neck. Raj had not removed it since. Every time the chain rattled, she remembered she was his property.

Raj was calm. Too calm. He sat in the living room, phone in hand, staring at the screen. Priya knelt at his feet naked except for the collar and a thin black thong soaked already.