21.
"Where is he?" Vedansh Shekhawat asked, his voice low but commanding. Vayu was perched on his lap, legs swinging freely, his little hands gripping the arm of the chair. Vedansh's hand rested protectively on the boy's shoulder as he ruffled his hair with gentleness.
"Uh... he's resting," Ravi said, hesitant.
"Dadu! Big Papa's been sleeping forever!" Vayu pouted dramatically, crossing his arms.
Vedansh chuckled. "Haan haan, your Big Papa is so annoying, right? Go wake him up, jao bachcha," he said, patting Vayu's back.
Vayu bolted off, feet thumping as he ran toward Shaurya's room.
As the boy disappeared down the hallway, Vedansh's smile faded. He turned toward Ravi and Roy, his expression turning expectant.
"So... what is it you two want to tell me?" he asked.
Roy elbowed Ravi, who cleared his throat and hesitantly pulled out his phone. "Sir, I wanted to show you something first."
He tapped the screen and handed it over. Vedansh watched silently as the video played—Aarav, storming forward, fire in his eyes... and then the infamous, unceremonious kick to Shaurya's groin.
Silence fell again.
Vedansh finally leaned back with a smirk. "What. A.Great. Shot," he said, tone filled with something close to pride.
Roy and Ravi exchanged startled glances. That was not the reaction they'd expected.
"Um... sir," Roy ventured next. "There's more. Just a picture. Today, when I was with Vayu at the event, I saw a little girl. She looked—well, she looked like Shaurya Sir."
He handed the phone over.
Vedansh studied the photo briefly before passing it to Ravi. A still image of a young girl—big expressive eyes, a familiar sharpness to her jawline, hair curled like Shaurya's as a child.
"She looks exactly like him," Ravi murmured.
"I know, right?" Roy said, scratching his head. "And the woman with her—I recognize her. Wasn't she the surrogate Aarav had been talking to years ago?"
There was a long pause before realization dawned on Ravi.
"Wait—are you saying Aarav hid Shaurya's daughter from him?"
He almost shouted, but Vedansh lifted a hand, silencing him with a calm but unmistakable warning.
"Yes and no," Vedansh said, lighting a cigarette. He took a long drag, then exhaled slowly, as if preparing them for what came next. "Yes, Aarav kept the girl a secret from all of us. But no—she is not Shaurya's daughter. She is Aarav's. Not by blood but by soul."
Stunned silence.
"I've met her," Vedansh added quietly. "On this visit."
Roy blinked. "So... are you going to tell Shaurya, sir? He'll lose it if he finds out we knew and didn't—"
"I won't. And neither will you." Vedansh's voice dropped an octave. "Ravi knows exactly what I mean".
Ravi gave a tight nod.
"Mujhe bhi koi samjha do," Roy whispered near Ravi's ear.
Just then, footsteps echoed in the hallway. Shaurya emerged—shirtless, disheveled, his eyes sunken and bloodshot. There was something fragile about the way he moved, as if exhaustion clung to his bones.
Vedansh's gaze narrowed as he took in the sight of his son. Shaurya didn't look like the man who once commanded the world— the world full of monsters- he looked just like a shadow of himself now. Not Shaurya Shekhawat.
He has been holding himself in front of Vayu. Everyone knows that. Both Ravi and Roy looked down with a sympathetic face.
Shaurya sat down beside his father, but Vedansh immediately stood up.
"Ravi," Vedansh called. "Get the car ready. I've got a meeting at seven."
Ravi nodded and left the room with Roy close behind.
Once they were gone, Vedansh turned to Shaurya, his voice sharp with quiet fury. "Just look at yourself."
Shaurya didn't answer. He stared at the floor, rubbing his temples in slow, exhausted circles.
"I'll get straight to it," Vedansh said. "Don't try to ruin Aarav's life again. Let him go. End this madness."
His words cut sharper than they should've.
"Humein garv tha," Vedansh continued bitterly, "ki agar pyaar humare paas nahi hai, toh koi baat nahi—hamara beta toh hamare saath hai. Par usse bhi humne chhe saal pehle kho diya. Usse bhi bhagwan ne humse cheen liya."
Shaurya's fingers stilled. But he didn't lift his head.
"Jiss bhagwan pe aapne bharosa rakhne ko kaha tha, woh hume dhokha de diye. Aapke liye main aapke bhagwan ke saamne jhoog gaya. Kaise bhi ho Aarav ho humare paas le aaye".
"You think this is love?" Vedansh said, voice rising now. "This isn't love. It's obsession. Admit it. You never loved him. Aur Bhagwan bhi kuch nahi kr sakte, agar tum khud nahi sudhar jaate."
Shaurya let out a breath. "I told you not to meet him."
Vedansh's eyes flashed. "You don't get to decide who I meet. Main tumhara baap hoon. Tum mere nahi."
The silence after those words was ice-cold.
"If you have even an ounce of decency left," Vedansh said, pulling on his jacket, "meet him one last time. End this for good. Let him live—not under your shadow."
He paused at the door.
"And if you ever hurt him again... the gates of the Shekhawat will be closed for you. Forever."
He left without looking back.
Shaurya sat in the silence of the room, his temples throbbing with more than pain. His hand trembled.
If I see his eyes again, I'm afraid of what I'll become.
But my heart... my heart can't take without meeting him one last time. I'll die peacefully after hearing my name from his mouth one last time. Just one last time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aarav stood by the doorway of Aarya's room.
The glow of the television flickered across the walls in gentle pulses.
Aarya was curled up in bed, wrapped in her favorite yellow blanket, her little hands tucked under her chin as she watched cartoons.
She looked peaceful—safe. For a moment, it calmed him.
Then his eyes drifted to the pictures on the wall.
He had picked them carefully—frames of laughter, sunlit park days, messy cake faces, sleepy shoulders. Himself. Aarya. Yug. Eve.
All smiles.
But no Shaurya.
Not a single trace of him.
He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
He stepped closer, leaned a hand on the wall next to the frames, and let his forehead rest gently beside it. His fingers brushed against a photo where Aarya's tiny hand clutched his thumb. That day had been overwhelming—the first time she called him "Papa" out loud.
A sudden ache rose from his chest.
Shaurya...
A snap in his mind.
A memory slammed into him like a wave.
He remembered sitting bare on the throne armchair in the palace—Shaurya kneeling in front of him, dark gaze filled with reverence and hunger.
Shaurya had gently lifted Aarav's feet and placed them on his chest, like a silent vow of surrender.
He had kissed his legs, his thighs, as if worshiping something he couldn't name aloud.
Aarav remembered the way he had shivered—not from the cold—but from the way he felt... seen. The way the devil was worshipping him.
Then the memory shifted. Harder now.
Waking up alone. Every single time.
A cold, wrinkled pillow beside him.
The side of the bed untouched. He used to reach for Shaurya without opening his eyes—hope lingering like dust in the morning sun.
But he was never there. Not once. Not when Aarya used to cry at nights and Aarav felt hopeless.
Another memory hit.
Rain pouring from a night sky. Aarav had pulled Shaurya into the street, laughing, wild, free. They had danced, soaked, twirling in puddles.
It was the day of their first kiss.
The next memory was darker.
A room. A fight. Aarav had yelled something cruel—too cruel.
Without none of them realizing, Shaurya gripped Aarav's neck tightly.
Vedansh had walked in. Shaurya had let go. But his hands were shaking as his eyes faced the ground unable to reach Aarav's eyes.
And the next moment, Shaurya asked Aarav to leave. And Aarav screamed never to show his face again since he was in immense pain but Aarav deep down knew Shaurya obeyed his every word. He thus never showed up.
It made Aarav wonder if he actually loved him. Because the Shaurya didn't make any efforts. Didn't even think of meeting Aarav after he left for Udaipur, didn't think of meeting him when Suryaraj Singh Chauhan passed away.
Aarav still wonders. What really happened between them? What really happened to his husband that night?