Caged By Judgement

Sample · Chapter One - The Eyes That Followed Her

The afternoon heat hung over Mushin like a heavy blanket.Danfo horns fought with the cries of hawkers. A bus conductor leaned out of a yellow bus, shouting for passengers, while an okada rider squeezed through a space that barely existed. Somewhere behind the rows of shops, a generator coughed to life, adding its rough hum to the already restless street.Tiara walked through it all with her head lowered.She could feel people looking at her.She tried not to notice.She noticed anyway.A woman arranging tomatoes beside her stall looked up as Tiara passed. Two boys sitting outside a phone-accessories shop nudged each other and stared. An elderly man glanced at her, shook his head, and returned to his newspaper.Tiara tightened her grip on the small bag in her hand.Just keep walking.She quickened her pace.Then two girls behind her started talking.“Imagine these young ladies nowadays,” one of them said.“Honestly,” the other replied. “They’ll just be carrying belle anyhow.”They laughed.Tiara's steps slowed.They weren't talking to her.She knew that.But their words still struck her like a slap she had somehow seen coming and couldn't avoid. carrying belle.Her throat tightened.She kept walking.Mushin continued around her as though nothing had happened. A woman bargained loudly with a trader. A bus honked impatiently. Someone called out the price of bread from a nearby shop.Everything was normal.Only Tiara wasn't.There had been a time when people spoke about her differently.“That’s a good girl.”“Tiara is very respectful.”“She takes care of her younger ones.”“She’ll go far.”She remembered those words more clearly than she wanted to.People used to smile when they saw her.Some had pitied her because of everything she had been through, but even their pity had felt warm then.Now, she couldn't tell the difference between pity and contempt.She passed a small shop with a dusty glass window and caught her reflection.She stopped.The girl staring back at her looked tired.Tiara stared at herself for a few seconds.is this really me?Her eyes dropped to her stomach.The bump beneath her dress was no longer something she could hide.Slowly, she placed a hand over it.For a moment, the noise of Mushin seemed to fade into the background.How did i get here?Her eyes filled with tears.She blinked them away.No.Not here.She wasn't going to give anyone the satisfaction of watching her cry.She lowered her hand and continued walking.But for a moment, her reflection seemed to follow her.So did the girl she used to be.The girl who had plans.The girl who had once looked at other girls and thought she knew exactly what kind of people they were.I can never become like them.A bitter smile almost touched her lips.Life had a strange sense of humour.“Tiara!”She froze.She knew that voice.“Tiara!”S...

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