Bilal framed that photo. He hung it in their living room.

He titled a series of close-up portraits "The Monalisa of Anantnag."

But in the conservative society of Anantnag, a woman's face is a private treasure, not a public gallery.

Ayaan left Anantnag the next morning. No goodbye. No final photo. The "Monalisa Scandal" did not end with a elopement. It ended with a wedding—but not the one the gossips predicted.