Chapter 16
Shaurya
I finish my final video conference shortly after eight, step out of the guest room, and head down the corridor.
I have spent most of the day working behind its closed door, giving Reeva the space she so clearly needs and trying not to add to her stress.
Yet no matter how deeply I bury myself in meetings, contracts and reports, one question refuses to leave me alone.
How the hell is this arrangement between us supposed to work?
We are finally living beneath the same roof again, yet the distance between us is driving me fucking insane. And what unsettles me most is the fear that she intends to keep me at that distance forever.
I stop a few feet from the dining-room entrance and find Reeva and Rudra already seated at the table, talking, while Meena Aunty emerges from the kitchen with two members of staff carrying the remaining dishes.
Just as I am about to step inside, Reeva laughs. Her back is turned towards me, hiding her face from view, but the soft, carefree sound alone makes my heart quicken. I haven’t heard her laugh like that in what feels like months. God, how I’ve missed that sound.
“You’re getting carried away, Bhai,” Reeva says, shaking her head.
“I am being prepared,” Rudra replies from the head of the table.
“I am barely seven weeks pregnant,” she points out from the seat to his left.
“Which gives me approximately seven months to make everything perfect.”
“What exactly are you planning?” Meena Aunty asks as she settles into the chair beside Reeva and places a warm roti on her plate.
“The room next to Reeva’s has the best view of the garden,” Rudra explains. “We can convert it into a nursery. The windows need replacing, and I’ll have someone inspect the ventilation. We should use natural wooden furniture with rounded edges, nothing sharp.”
Reeva shakes her head. “The baby won’t even need a separate nursery immediately.”
“That doesn’t mean Junior Singhania shouldn’t have one waiting.”
The warmth her laughter stirred inside me vanishes beneath a sharp surge of irritation. This man certainly knows how to test my patience.
“Junior Rajvansh,” I correct as I step into the dining room.
Every head turns towards me. Rudra’s jaw tightens, Reeva’s smile disappears, and Meena Aunty releases a weary sigh as though she can already see the argument taking shape.
Ignoring their reactions, I claim the empty chair opposite Reeva.
Rudra leans back in his seat. “Do you always make a habit of eavesdropping?”
“If the conversation concerns my child, then yes.” I unfold the napkin beside my plate with deliberate calm.
“Our child,” Reeva corrects, narrowing her eyes at me.
I hold her gaze. “Our child.”
“I believe we’ve already made ourselves clear,” Rudra adds coldly. “The baby will be born beneath this roof and raised here, surrounded by the Singhania family. That makes this child a Singhania.”
My grip tightens around the napkin. “I haven’t agreed to any of that. I moved into this house so I could remain present throughout the pregnancy. I did not agree that our child would be born beneath this roof, much less raised here.”
“Bhai,” Reeva warns.
Rudra ignores her, his stare fixed on me. “Don’t mistake my allowing you into this house for acceptance. I am already looking for a way to remove you from my sister’s life permanently.”
“You can try all you want, but you’re fighting a battle you cannot win.”
Rudra’s gaze hardens. Before he can respond, I continue.
“You really learned nothing from your father, did you? He took Rajmahal from my family and stamped the Singhania name on a legacy that belonged to the Rajvanshs. Now you’re trying to repeat that history with our child, erasing the Rajvansh name as though the baby’s father doesn’t exist.”
Reeva’s face drains of colour just as Rudra surges to his feet, sending his chair scraping across the marble floor.
“How dare you?” he hisses.
I rise and hold his furious gaze. “Your father succeeded once, but you will not repeat his victory through my child. I will not allow another Singhania to erase me from my own child’s life.”
“You really are a piece of shit,” he snarls, grabbing me by the collar.
“And you seem determined to bring out the worst in me,” I growl, wrenching his hands away hard enough to make him stagger back a step.
He immediately starts towards me again, but Reeva’s voice slices through the argument.
“Enough!”
Rudra and I both turn towards her.
She stands beside the table with one hand braced against its edge, anger burning through the exhaustion etched across her face.
“If either of you says one more word, I am leaving this table.”
“You need to eat,” I say immediately.
“Don’t tell me what I need.” Her eyes flash towards me before shifting to her brother. “And you… stop provoking him.”
“Reeva, he’s the one who dragged Dad into this,” Rudra argues.
“I don’t care who started it.” Tears glisten in her eyes as she looks between us. “I made myself clear yesterday, and I am saying it again now. I will not allow this baby to become another battlefield between our families.”
She draws in a deep breath and holds her brother’s gaze. “Shaurya is this baby’s father, Bhai. I may hate the way he is using this pregnancy to force his way back into my life, but that does not give either of us the right to erase him from our child’s future.”
Her defence catches all three of us by surprise.
Then she turns towards me. “And you… my father’s choices are not weapons you get to use against me or my brother whenever you’re angry. This stops now.”
“You’re right. I shouldn’t have said it,” I admit, forcing the apology past the pride lodged in my throat.
“This baby will carry the love of both families. That matters far more than which surname appears first on a piece of paper,” Meena Aunty says.
“Exactly,” Reeva agrees, dropping back into her chair. “No one is deciding anything tonight. Not the baby’s name, not the nursery, and certainly not which family has the greater claim.”
Rudra releases a frustrated breath and lowers himself into his chair. “Fine.”
I remain standing, still simmering as one maddening question circles my mind. How the hell am I supposed to face her brother every day without losing what little patience I possess?
Reeva arches an eyebrow. “That includes you.”
Reluctantly, I sit, reminding myself that if living beneath this roof is the price of staying close to Reeva and our child, I will find a way to tolerate Rudra, even if it kills me.
Meena Aunty gestures towards the food. “Now, let’s eat before everything turns cold. And if either of you starts another argument, I will throw both of you out of the dining room myself.”
Rudra mutters something under his breath.
“What was that?” she asks sharply.
“Nothing, Aunty.”
“Good.”
The rest of dinner passes in strained silence, broken only by the faint clink of cutlery against plates. When the meal finally ends, Reeva announces that she is calling it a night and walks away, with Meena Aunty following close behind.
I remain seated, staring at Reeva’s empty chair.
“Don’t mistake Reeva defending your place as the father for her choosing your side,” Rudra says, pulling my attention towards him. “She defended you because she is fair, not because she has forgiven you.”
“I know exactly what her defence meant and what it didn’t,” I reply as I rise to my feet. “I don’t need you interpreting my wife’s feelings for me.”
Before he can respond, I walk past him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of having the final word.
???
Sitting alone in my office, I stare at my phone and consider messaging Reeva. Has she eaten? Is the nausea worse today? Did she manage to sleep after dinner?
After last night’s argument, sleep had refused to come. I was awake before dawn and left Rudra’s house while everyone was still asleep, using an early meeting as an excuse to skip breakfast. The truth is, I didn’t trust myself to sit across from Rudra without reigniting the fight.
A soft knock interrupts my thoughts, and I lock the screen without sending a message.
Sujata steps into the cabin. “Sir, Rajeshwari ma’am is here.”
I lean back in my chair. “Tell her I am in a meeting.”
“She has Mr. Mehta with her.”
My brows draw together. Mom arriving unannounced with our lawyer can mean only one thing. She has something planned, and I am certain it will piss me off.
“Send them in.”
Sujata nods and walks out. A few moments later, Mom enters, followed by Mr. Mehta, who carries a leather folder beneath his arm.
“What is this about?” I ask as they take their seats opposite me.
“Your unborn child,” Mom answers.
Something cold settles inside me. “What about my child?”
Mom looks towards Mr. Mehta, silently prompting him to speak.
He places the folder on my desk. “Your mother asked me to examine the legal options available to you regarding custody once the baby is born.”
I stare at him. “Custody?”
“We need to be prepared, Shaurya,” Mom says. “Reeva may still intend to remove you from your child’s life. We cannot wait for her and Rudra to make the first move.”
My gaze drops to the folder before lifting to Mom.
A sick sense of recognition twists through me.
Not long ago, I hurled the same threat at Reeva in a hospital room, too consumed by fear to see how monstrous it made me sound.
Hearing that threat repeated now, coldly planned and reduced to legal documents, reveals its full ugliness.
“You’re proposing that we threaten my wife with a custody battle?” I ask.
“Yes,” she answers without hesitation. “I intend to ensure that my grandchild is raised within the Rajvansh family.”
“By tearing a baby away from its mother?” I slam both palms against my desk, making the folder jump.
Mom meets my glare with one of her own. “What exactly do you think will happen if the divorce goes through? Rudra will make certain you are reduced to nothing more than an occasional visitor. Your child will carry the Singhania name and grow up believing you are the villain who destroyed their mother.”
“I will fight for my rightful place in our child’s life,” I say through clenched teeth.
“But I will not destroy Reeva’s place in it to secure my own.
” I shift my gaze to Mr. Mehta. “There will be no attempt to seek sole custody. You will not prepare a single legal document concerning my wife or our child without my direct approval. When it comes to them, you take instructions from me, not my mother. Is that understood?”
Mr. Mehta nods tensely. “Perfectly.”
Mom’s eyes blaze. “Shaurya, you are making a mistake.”
I don’t answer her. Instead, I keep my gaze fixed on Mr. Mehta. “You can leave.”
He rises to his feet as though he has been waiting for permission to escape. “Of course.”
The door closes behind him, leaving Mom and me alone.
“You had no right to do this without consulting me,” I say, finally turning my gaze towards her.
“I am your mother. I am trying to protect your future.”
“My future is growing inside the woman you are deliberately trying to hurt.”
Mom draws in a sharp breath. “Shaurya, think for once about what will happen if she removes you from the baby’s life.”
“Then I will take whatever legal steps are necessary to protect my place as the father. But I will never try to erase Reeva’s place as the mother.” I hold her gaze. “And you will not attempt to do it on my behalf.”
She opens her mouth, but I raise one hand, silencing her.
“If you ever attempt to build a case against Reeva again, behind my back or otherwise, I will sever every tie between us.” My voice drops into a lethal calm. “You will lose your son long before you ever have the chance to claim my child. Do not test me.”
Pain flickers across her features. For one brief moment, I almost reach for her. Then I remember that every time I soften, she mistakes it for permission to continue hurting Reeva. If I fail to remain firm now, I may forever lose the wife and child I am fighting so desperately to protect.
“I won’t,” she says before rising to her feet and walking out without another word.
Once I am alone, I stare down at the custody papers for several seconds before tossing them into the bin. Then I reach for my phone and open my conversation with Reeva.
My fingers hover over the screen before I finally begin to type.
Me: Have you eaten?
Her reply arrives two minutes later.
Reeva: Yes.
A second message follows almost immediately.
Reeva: And before you ask, I took my vitamins too.
Despite the weight pressing against my chest, a faint smile touches my lips. Even after everything, she remains the only person capable of quieting the chaos inside me.
I type one final response.
Me: Good. I’ll be home in time for dinner.
I set my phone down and drag a hand over my face. Whatever happens between Reeva and me, I will fight for my place in our child’s life… but never by destroying hers.