CHAPTER 6
Singh’s Residence
Anand Malhotra and his wife, Kyle, stepped into the Singh residence unannounced. Aanya and Navya, who had been immersed in a loud round of video games, froze mid-action, their gazes darting toward the unexpected visitors. Aanya immediately turned off the console and stood up, stunned.
“Dad, hi,” she greeted, brushing her hands on her shorts. “If you’re here to see Navya’s parents, they’re not home yet.”
Kyle remained stoic. It was Anand who clarified their intent.
“We know that. We’re here to see you.”
Navya barely stifled a laugh as she rose from the couch.
“Please, have a seat, Uncle, Aunty… oops, Kyle,” she said awkwardly, then bit her lip.
Kyle didn’t react. Courtesy from Aanya or her friends had never been expected or offered.
“You two came all the way here just to meet me? Why?” Aanya asked, folding her arms across her chest.
“We want to know whether you plan on apologizing to your husband,” Kyle said bluntly, wasting no time revealing their true purpose.
“My husband?” Aanya scoffed. “Or your potential prestigious client?”
Anand stepped forward and grabbed Aanya’s arm. His grip firm was but not painful.
“Aanya, try to understand. Reyansh isn’t someone we can afford to mess with. He matters to us, both, personally and professionally. We can’t risk this.”
“Of course. My dignity is dispensable, but the son-in-law’s ego must be preserved at all costs,” she snapped.
Kyle, finally losing her patience, stepped in.
“Dignity?” she hissed. “You lost that on your own terms, Aanya. Don’t expect others to respect you when you’ve done nothing to respect yourself or others. Stop demanding what you haven’t earned.”
The words pierced deep, but Aanya didn’t let them show.
“Powerful words, Kyle. Where did you learn them? I’d enrol and take a few lessons myself.”
Anand groaned and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
“Enough, both of you! Can’t we have one civilized conversation in this family?”
Kyle looked away. Aanya, unwilling to prolong the argument, cut to the chase.
“Give me twenty-four hours, Dad. I’ve already spoken to Reyansh. We’re… working on something.”
Her words caught them both off guard. Kyle’s brows arched.
“What did you talk about?” she asked, suspicion laced in her tone.
Aanya grinned.
“That’s personal. We’ve agreed not to share it with outsiders.”
She nearly winked out of habit but stopped herself. Oddly enough, because Reyansh had once told her to quit that habit. She couldn’t explain why she obeyed, but it stuck.
Anand redirected her attention.
“Aanya, it’s good you and Reyansh are building a rapport.”
“For your precious business deal, Dad. Don’t expect anything permanent,” she interrupted flatly.
Anand sighed. Somewhere deep down, he still held onto hope.
Aanya picked up the TV remote, clearly signalling that their conversation had come to an end.
“Reyansh will call you tomorrow to talk business. That’s a promise.”
Kyle observed her carefully. Something was off with her. Aanya had never been this… sure.
“I hope you keep your word,” Kyle said tightly. “Come, Anand. You’ve got that meeting with the Chinese delegates in an hour.”
Anand hesitated, casting one last hopeful look at his daughter.
“Will you come stay with us?”
“I don’t think so,” Aanya said coldly. “I’m happy here.”
The rejection drained the colour from his face, but he didn’t argue. He gently brushed her head with his palm before turning to leave with Kyle.
As they exited, Aanya felt a lump rise in her throat.
Was this the same father who once convinced her for every little thing as a child?
Who wouldn’t rest until she said yes? She wished he had tried a little harder.
Even though she was staying at her best friend’s house, she felt like a drifter with no place she could truly call home.
Chopra Mansion
Reyansh sat at the breakfast table, sipping his coffee while his grandmother watched him closely. She had been waiting for the right moment to speak.
“Have you spoken to her?”
Reyansh looked up, confused.
“About her stay here during Radhika’s visit?” she clarified.
“Yes. Not directly, but I’m seeing her tonight. We’ll talk then.”
Nani looked unconvinced.
“Reyansh, think this through. Radhika’s happiness is important, but Aanya is not the kind of girl who belongs here. I won’t tolerate her tantrums or her blatant disrespect. Who’s going to handle her?”
Reyansh reached across the table and placed his hand gently on hers.
“ I will. Aanya will stay within her limits. Radhika will never know it’s all just a charade.”
“But what happens after Radhika leaves? She might want to talk to Aanya again… see you two together. What excuse will you give then?”
“We’ll say it didn’t work out,” he replied simply. “It might sting Di, but at least she’ll know we tried.”
Nani still looked troubled.
“I hope this plan of yours works, Reyansh. I don’t trust that girl. She’ll ruin everything.”
“I said I’ll handle it,” he repeated firmly.
Satisfied for now, Nani dropped the subject. But there was one last question she had kept buried for too long. She asked it now.
“Why haven’t you divorced her yet?”
Reyansh froze, the spoon halfway to his mouth.
“It’s not necessary,” he muttered.
“Why not? Cut this farce and be done with it.”
He swallowed hard. Farce? Perhaps. But when the Malhotras had first proposed the match, he’d been eager to say yes for reasons that seemed less relevant now, but were very real then. Still, breaking the marriage had never occurred to him.
“Reyansh, how long were you planning to keep dragging it?” Nani demanded.
“You’re wasting your life. Why cling to a relationship that’s already hollow?
End it before it swallows more of your years.
And don’t tell me you intend to live like a bachelor while still being legally tied to a woman who neither fits you nor understands you.
Our family needs an heir...someone to carry the legacy forward.
You need a partner, Reyansh. A true companion who’ll stand by you in your rise and fall.
Aanya is not that woman. She never was. She’s simply not your kind. ”
The words echoed in his mind for long.
He remained silent for a long moment, the ache in his temples matching the pressure building in his chest.
“Alright,” he finally muttered, his voice tight. “I’ll think about it.”
That one line was enough for Nani. She saw the flicker of hope she needed and said nothing more.
Reyansh returned to his breakfast in silence again, pushing down the turmoil her words had stirred. Once done, he rose from the table and left for the office.
The moment he reached his office he called out to Sunny.
“Find the best disco in town.”
Sunny blinked in confusion but didn’t dare ask questions. Within minutes, he brought forward a curated list. Reyansh scanned the options, selected one without hesitation, and typed out a message on his phone.
“See you at 07:00 p.m.”
He hit send.
Aanya burst into laughter the moment she read his message.
“Disco starts after 10:00 p.m. Shame you didn’t know!!” She texted it back with wicked delight.
Reyansh felt like someone had taken a direct shot at his ego. His fingers moved fast on the screen.
“I have better things to do than memorize disco timings. I can pick you up at 09:45 if you want.”
Aanya arched a brow and replied:
“I prefer a drop back. I might be too drunk to find a ride later.”
Reyansh, who had momentarily shifted his focus back to the meeting, clenched his jaw. The words on the projector screen blurred as his attention diverted once more. With one hand under the table, he quickly typed a reply, ignoring the curious glances from the people around.
“NO DRINKS TONIGHT.”
Another message followed almost immediately.
“I want a healthy, uninterrupted conversation. You need to be sober to understand my terms and conditions. I don’t want your hand trembling while signing the contract.”
He stared at his phone, waiting. When no reply came within a minute, he jabbed out another message.
“???”
Still no response. His patience thinned. He typed again, this time firmer.
“AANYA, REPLY, DAMMIT.”
Finally, her reply landed with a ping.
“I had gone to pee!! Just saw your desperate little thread of messages. OMG, are you serious? No drinks?? A dry disco?? Not my scene. And didn’t I explicitly tell you not to bring your lawyers or legal paperwork there?
Whatever I have to sign, I’ll do it in your office tomorrow.
TONIGHT IS OUR NIGHT. No paperwork! Can we please reconsider the no-drinks rule? I’M POUTING!!”
Reyansh coughed lightly at the first line. No woman had ever dared be this unfiltered with him. Maybe only a wife could pull that off. His lips twitched as he texted back, careful not to attract more attention.
“We’ll decide that when we meet.
P.S. Your pouts don’t melt my heart.”
His eyes flicked back to the screen, though his thoughts remained tangled in her sass. The phone buzzed again.
“Who said I want to melt just your heart? I want to melt ALL OF YOU.”
She added a winking emoji at the end. Reyansh choked on nothing. His throat itched, his self-control wavered. She was toying with him. And damn it, it was working.
The meeting concluded, and the others waited for him to speak. He had nothing. No opinion. No feedback. Just Aanya on his mind.
“Good,” he muttered. “Give me time to think over it. Sunny will follow up with my response.”
He strode out, with Sunny scrambling after him.
As soon as they reached the corridor, Reyansh whipped out his phone and typed:
“Stop hallucinating. That’s never going to happen. I have a metal heart.”
He had no clue why this teasing game continued. They hadn’t exchanged so many words in all their marriage. Now, it felt like they were... friends? Lovers? Whatever!
Her reply came with heat.
“And I’m fire.”