The clock on the bedside table glowed a malevolent red, mocking Tridha with its 3:17 AM. The silence of the night, usually a comforting blanket, pressed down on her, heavy and suffocating. Then, a sharp, searing pain ripped through her lower abdomen, a sudden, brutal wave that made her gasp. It was like a tiny, angry fist clenching and unclenching inside her.