This is the novel’s first masterstroke. Umera Ahmed refuses to paint the second wife as a villain. Mehreen is not a scheming temptress; she is a product of a different environment, one that values a woman’s voice over her silence. The tragedy is not malice, but a fundamental mismatch of values within the same patriarchal system. Dure Shahwar watches from the sidelines as Mehreen laughs freely, expresses opinions, and shares a bed of equals with the husband who only ever offers Dure Shahwar duty.