Page 103 of Strictly Solo

His hand came up to cover hers.

“You are not taking me away from her. My love for her and my love for you are not mutually exclusive. I can love you both, and I will fight to make her see that.”

Naina relented for now. But deep inside, she knew this was just the beginning of a long battle.

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A week later

A week had passed since Ryma’s return to UAE, where she’d left with a promise to come back for Ruhaan’s wedding. Despite her best efforts to reason with their mother before departing, Kaushalya remained unmoved in her opposition to the marriage.

The silence in their home had taken on a physical presence. Kaushalya spoke to Ruhaan only when absolutely necessary. Their comfortable routine had fractured, leaving awkward spaces where easy conversation used to flow.

One evening, Ruhaan found his mother frantically searching through drawers in the living room.

“Where did I keep those reading glasses?” she muttered to herself, deliberately ignoring his presence.

“They’re probably in the kitchen,” he offered gently. “You were reading the newspaper there this morning.”

“I don’t need your help,” she replied curtly, but Ruhaan was already heading to the kitchen. He returned moments later with her glasses.

Kaushalya accepted them without a word, but he didn’t move away. “Mom, how long are you going to keep this up?”

“Keep what up?” she asked, suddenly very interested in cleaning her glasses with her dupatta.

“This silence. This coldness. You barely look at me anymore.”

“What else do you expect?” she finally met his eyes. “My son makes life-changing decisions without consulting his mother, and I’m supposed to smile and pretend everything is fine?”

“I’m not asking you to pretend,” he said softly. “I’m asking you to try to understand. To get to know Naina and Neil.”

“Get to know them?” Her voice rose slightly. “At the moment I think I don’t knowmyson at all, the one whomIraised.”

Before Ruhaan could respond to his mother, his phone rang. The device lay on the table near Kaushalya, and she couldn’t help but see Naina’s name lighting up the screen. Her face darkened instantly, as she looked away.

“Hello?” Ruhaan answered.

“Did I call at a bad time?” Naina picked up on his subdued tone.

He cleared his throat, consciously trying to sound more normal.

“No, you can call me anytime. What’s up?”

“Well, Neil was asking if you could come with me to pick him up from school today.” She rushed to add, “I told him you might be busy, so...”

He smiled at the thought of picking up Neil from school. His eyes drifted to his mother’s rigid posture, and his heart ached that she was choosing to exclude herself from these precious moments.

“I’ll pick you up from your office,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady. “We can go together from there.”

Naina happily agreed. As he ended the call, he turned to Kaushalya, but she was already rising from the couch.

“Don’t waste time trying to convince me,” she said coldly. “You might be late picking up your new family.”

The word‘family’fell from her lips like ice, and she walked away before he could respond, leaving Ruhaan standing alone with his phone still in his hand.

‘I have to find a way to fix this’, he thought, running a hand through his hair in frustration.‘But how do I make her see that loving them doesn’t mean loving her less?’The answer eluded him as he grabbed his keys, heading out to meet Naina.

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