It should have been a perfectly normal morning. Anjali, as usual, woke up first. She prepared breakfast for her husband, tidied up the kitchen, put away her clothes, and then hurried off to the office.

She was the one who woke up first every day—cooking, cleaning, and handling everything quietly so as not to disturb anyone.

Her husband, Rahul, worked for a private company, where working late into the night was common.

That morning, as Anjali had just reached Delhi’s Ring Road, her heart suddenly began pounding.

A thought flashed through her mind—

“Did I turn off the gas?”

She remembered that her mobile phone had rung while she was frying eggs. She had quickly turned off the stove…

But had she really turned it off completely?

There was no time to think further.

Anjali suddenly turned her scooter around and hurried back to her home in Ghaziabad.

As soon as she reached home, she felt something strange.

The main gate was closed…

But the lights were on inside the house.

“That’s strange… Rahul must have left for office…”

Her steps automatically slowed. There was a slight trembling in her knees. Her heart was pounding.

As she approached the kitchen door, her anxiety grew.

She grabbed the door handle.

It was still hot…

She opened the door slightly—just a tiny crack—

…and instantly she was stunned.

Her body seemed to turn to stone. She couldn’t even move.

As the door opened slightly, Anjali’s breath stopped.

A strong smell of gas wafted through the kitchen.

The pan on the stove was still burning.

A faint smoke was rising toward the ceiling.

But what really scared her…
were the muddy footprints on the floor.

Those footprints led straight to the storeroom.

Anjali whispered to herself,

“This…how could this be?”

Her hands started shaking.

She immediately called Rahul.

“Switched off.”

“No…no…”

Suddenly—

There was the sound of something falling from inside the storeroom.

Anjali shuddered.

She leaned against the wall and asked softly,

“W…who’s there?”

There was no answer.

Only the sound of her heavy breathing.

Then—

Shit…

The storeroom door opened.

Anjali’s scream was choked in her throat.

Because the one standing in front of her…

wasn’t a thief.

It was—

her mother-in-law, Shobha Devi.

She was holding a box of matches.

Sweat on her forehead.

Fear in her eyes.

Anjali stammered, “Mom… you?”

Shobha Devi immediately said, “Turn off the gas first!”
Anjali quickly ran to the stove.

Turned the knob.

As soon as the gas was turned off—
both breathed a sigh of relief.

No one spoke for a few moments.

Then Anjali asked, “Why did you come here so early in the morning?”

Shobha Devi’s voice became heavy.

“If I hadn’t come…

this house might not have survived today.”

Anjali’s heart pounded.

“What do you mean?”

Shobha Devi sat down on the chair.

Speaking softly,

“Rahul called this morning.”

“He was very nervous.”

“He said, ‘Mom, I think Anjali didn’t turn off the gas properly.
I’ve left for work.
Please go home and check.’”

Tears welled up in Anjali’s eyes.

“So Rahul was worried…”

Then she said, startled, “But why is his phone off now?”

Shobha Devi bowed her head.

“Because he’s in the hospital.”

“What?!”

Anjali stood up.

“What happened to him?”

“He was driving fast in panic.

He slipped.

“The injury isn’t serious,

It’s just that the phone broke.”

Anjali burst into tears.

“It’s all my fault…”

Shobha Devi, for the first time,
put her hand on her head.

“Humans make mistakes, daughter.”

“But if this gas had stayed lit today…”

Her voice also choked.

Just then—
there was a loud knock on the door.

“Anjali ji! Is everything alright?”

It was Vikram, the neighbor.

He had seen the smoke.

After explaining everything, Vikram said,

“You guys are very lucky.

One small spark…

and it’s all over.”

Rahul returned home in the evening.

His hand was bandaged.

Anjali burst into tears as soon as she saw him.

“Forgive me…”

Rahul held her tightly.

“If you want to apologize,

then I should.”

That night—
Shobha Devi said in front of everyone,

“Today I understood…”

“There is no difference between a daughter-in-law and a daughter.”

“Today Anjali saved all of our lives.”

Anjali was stunned.

The relationship that had been held for years,
broke apart in one morning.

A few days later, the police came.

It turned out—
a gang that had been stealing from nearby houses had been caught.

The footprints in the storeroom were theirs.

After that day,
a gas alarm was installed in the house.

Security cameras were installed.

But the biggest change came in hearts.

Now every morning, Rahul
checked the gas twice.

Shobha Devi
would have tea with Anjali.

And Anjali—
when leaving the house,
she always looked for three things:

Gas.

The door.

And relationships.

Because he had learned—
sometimes the biggest disasters
arise not from carelessness,
but from distance from loved ones.