---
**Chapter 30: Storm Beneath the Calm**
The doorbell rang just as Aanya was finishing her weekend presentation draft. She wasn't expecting anyone—not even her food delivery. With a sigh, she pushed her chair back, tied her hair into a loose bun, and walked to the door.
When she opened it, her breath caught in her throat.
There stood **Arjun's mother**—Sumitra Malhotra.
Draped in a deep maroon silk saree, a matching pashmina shawl around her shoulders, and an expression somewhere between judgment and disappointment.
"Namaste," Sumitra said, as if it were a challenge.
Aanya's heart stuttered. "Aunty—what… how are you here?"
Sumitra didn't wait for an invitation. She stepped in with the grace of someone used to ownership. "You didn't think I'd stay back in Delhi while my son follows you halfway across the world?"
Aanya blinked. "Arjun told you…?"
"That you're trying to forget you're married? Yes. That you've been ignoring him? Yes. That you've made no effort to save this marriage? Definitely."
Aanya's jaw tightened. "I didn't know I was supposed to do it all alone."
Sumitra let out a sharp exhale. "You young girls are all the same—ambition mistaken for independence. What did you think, beta? That marriage was some trial subscription you could cancel once you got bored?"
Aanya tried not to flinch. "With respect, you have no idea what I've been through with Arjun."
Sumitra's eyes softened—for a brief second. "He's difficult. I'll admit that. But he's my son. And he's never chased after anyone like this. Ever. You've changed him in ways I can't explain. He built walls, and you're the only one who ever climbed them."
Aanya didn't know what hurt more—the guilt crawling into her chest or the idea that Arjun had shared their private battle with his mother.
"Why are you really here?" she asked quietly.
"To see for myself," Sumitra said, sitting down. "To see whether the woman who turned my son's world upside down is worth it."
Aanya stood frozen for a moment. Then, like muscle memory, she made tea.
---
Later that evening, Arjun appeared at her doorstep—out of breath, his hair messier than usual.
"You met her," he said, eyes darting inside the flat.
Aanya crossed her arms. "You didn't think of warning me?"
"I didn't know until her plane landed," he said, exasperated. "She said she needed time away. I didn't think she meant *here*."
Sumitra emerged from the kitchen, sipping tea.
"Hello, beta," she said to her son. "You still take after your father when you're nervous."
Arjun looked like a schoolboy caught cheating.
Aanya watched him, wondering how this man—confident, possessive, commanding—could look so small in front of his mother.
"We'll talk later," she told him, and closed the door behind her.
---
For two days, Sumitra stayed at Aanya's flat. She refused to move to a hotel. "Too impersonal," she'd said.
She watched Aanya's routines, commented on her cooking (or lack of it), raised an eyebrow at her dressing sense, and asked questions about her MBA program in that classic, passive-aggressive tone mothers-in-law had perfected.
But one night, after dinner, she finally said something unexpected.
"You know, I used to think no woman would ever be good enough for Arjun," she murmured, stirring her tea. "Until he started smiling at texts. Laughing again. Talking about someone other than work."
Aanya stayed silent.
"I resented you," Sumitra admitted. "Still do, some days. You took my son away from me. But now I think… maybe you gave him something more than I ever could."
Aanya blinked. "I… I don't know what to say."
"Then don't say anything. Just think about what kind of man follows a woman across continents without knowing if she'll even look at him again."
---
Meanwhile, back at Arjun's coworking space in London, **Raj** and a few of the team were talking about him behind his back—but with the warmest tones.
"He's different here," Raj said during lunch. "Focused, but… calmer."
"He still stares at his phone a lot though," joked one employee.
"Yeah," Raj chuckled, "But at least now it's not to yell at someone."
They laughed, but the affection was clear. Everyone could see Arjun was trying. For the first time, he wasn't running a company *to escape something*—but to *build something alongside someone.*
Even if she didn't see it yet.
---
Across the ocean, Aanya's brother **Nikhil** was having a very different conversation with Neeta.
"I don't trust him," Nikhil said.
"You've never liked him," Neeta replied.
"Exactly. He always came off… controlling. Obsessive."
Neeta sat down, brushing her hand over her baby bump. "But people can change. And I think he is."
Nikhil frowned. "Still, I worry for Aanya."
"She's smarter than all of us combined," Neeta reminded him. "She'll make the right decision. But whatever it is, we have to support her."
Nikhil nodded. He loved his sister too much to argue further.
---
Back in London, Arjun did something he'd never done before.
He gave Aanya space.
Even though his mother kept pushing, even though his team had questions, even though every cell in his body wanted to hold her again—he stayed away.
Until one rainy afternoon, she texted him.
**Aanya**: *I want to talk. Not at my flat. Neutral ground.*
**Arjun**: *Anywhere. Anytime.*
They met at a quiet book café near the university.
Aanya ordered chamomile tea. Arjun ordered black coffee, no sugar.
When they sat down, she studied him carefully.
"I've been thinking," she began. "About the past. The choices we made. The way you behaved. The way I shut you out."
Arjun said nothing.
"I still don't know if this can be fixed," she said. "But you're showing me a version of you I didn't think existed. And… I don't hate it."
His eyes lit up—hope, cautious and restrained.
"But," she added quickly, "it doesn't erase everything."
"I know," he said softly. "And I don't want to erase it. I just want to build something better on top of it."
She looked at him, long and hard.
Then, to his utter shock, she smiled.
"You're not as unbearable as I thought."
He laughed. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
She chuckled too, and for the first time in a long time, their laughter didn't feel forced.
It felt like the beginning of something.
---
**End of Chapter 30**