Chapter 5: The First YesFive days felt longer than five weeks.Suhani had begun to measure time differently since the interview—not by clocks or calendars, but by the way her heart paused every time her phone buzzed. Each notification carried the possibility of change. Each unanswered hour tested her patience.Delhi moved as it always did—fast, noisy, unapologetic—but for Suhani, everything felt suspended. She helped her mother in the mornings, accompanied her father on short walks in the evenings, nodded politely at relatives who asked gentle yet intrusive questions about “plans.” She answered all of them with the same line.“I’m waiting.”Waiting was