Chapter 9 #3
He paused, his gaze steady on hers. “We all knew this day would come. And I’m so sorry, Shauna.
But think back… I never once told you, by word or by action, that Sehgal Media would one day be yours.
” He sighed. “All of us, over the years, tried to make you consider an option other than Sehgal Media. But we all failed.”
“Because I believed it could be mine. That Sehgal Media would be my destiny,” Shauna said, her voice wavering.
He continued, “You are so talented, Shauna. You’ve worked so hard, and you are very good at what you do.
Our channel and studios have been flourishing under your leadership and guidance.
You’ve achieved so much at such a young age, and if you want to start your own media company, I’ll stand behind you.
I’ll give you every resource, every connection, everything you need.
” He paused, his voice lowering with regret.
“But Sehgal Media is not mine to give you, Shauna. It never was.”
Her throat tightened painfully. She tried to swallow, but the ache wouldn’t budge.
“You should have told me,” she whispered, her voice trembling despite her attempts to steady it. “You should have told me before I dreamed of a future around this.”
He cupped her cheek, brushing away the tear she’d missed. “I couldn’t tell you. I was bound by the promises I made to Dhiraj and to Akash.”
Shauna looked away, blinking rapidly as more tears threatened. A sudden thought struck her, cracking through the heaviness in her chest. A fragile hope rose inside her.
“But… I know Global View News was originally what Dhiraj Mishra founded,” she said, leaning forward.
“The rest—the studios, SEHVA—they exist because of you, Grandfather. Because of your vision, your work. Why can’t you split the business between us?
Akash gets his grandfather’s legacy… and I get yours. ”
For a moment, silence stretched between them. Then his expression changed from shock to something close to horror.
“No, Shauna.” His voice was firm. “Absolutely not.”
“Why not?” she asked, feeling excited. “It works beautifully for Akash and me.”
“No. The board would never agree to a split,” he said, shaking his head again.
“And even if they did, I would not. I built the new companies because GVN succeeded. Without Dhiraj’s legacy, without that foundation, none of the rest would’ve been possible.
I didn’t build this empire alone, and I didn’t create it for myself. ”
His gaze softened, but his conviction didn’t waver. “I created all of this for my friend’s grandchildren. For Keya. For Akash. It was my way of honoring a promise to Dhiraj. Hence, I will never split the business. Not while I am alive.”
The words hit her like a cold wind. She swallowed hard, feeling the hope drain out of her as quickly as it had come. Her chest tightened, a mix of hurt, disappointment, and disbelief twisting inside her.
And beneath it all, something darker unfurled.
A sudden wave of hot, blinding anger rose in her.
Anger at the unfairness of it all. Anger at herself for never listening to her family when they tried to dissuade her from pinning all her hopes on Sehgal Media.
Anger at the years she’d spent dreaming of a future she’d never been allowed to reach.
And … anger at Akash because he now stood where she’d always imagined herself standing.
He’d stolen her lifelong dream from her, and the bitterness of it burned through her like acid.
“No matter what I did,” she said, “I was never going to be part of any of it.”
Her grandfather looked at her with quiet sadness, the answer etched into every line of his face. There was nothing she could say, nothing she could do to change it. Hope withered, and despair sank deep into her bones.
“So Akash is now ready to take over,” Shauna stated.
“Yes.”
“What exactly does that entail?”
“For starters, we will need to tell that board and make a formal announcement about this.”
“Doesn’t the board already know?” Shauna asked him. “I mean, it was rather obvious that Suveer Malhotra knew.”
He shrugged. “He and a few others in the board have always known this day would come. But we need to make it official. Which means I will take a backseat, and Akash will completely take over for me. Of course, he’s asked me to handhold him for a few months.
But I know he will do a fabulous job and take Sehgal Media to even greater heights. ”
Hearing her grandfather’s utter faith in Akash twisted the dagger further inside her chest.
“You can continue in your current role,” he said. “In my mind, no one is better suited for that job. That doesn’t need to change.”
Except she would be reporting to Akash. Every instinct in her rebelled, and a cold dread crept up her spine. If she stayed at Sehgal Media, this outcome was inevitable, and given their complicated history, the idea of working under him felt like a nightmare.
She swallowed.
No. She couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t.
Which meant walking away from the one place she had always believed was hers. The ache that followed was sharp, almost physical, but there was no escaping it now. Sehgal Media would never belong to her. It was Akash’s.
And in that moment, she hated him even more for claiming the one thing she’d always coveted.