Chapter 30
Reeva
It has been two days since my fall. Dr. Kapoor told us yesterday that I was stable enough to be discharged, but Shaurya insisted upon one more night of observation. After taking one look at the terror he was attempting to conceal, she agreed.
So here I am, still in the hospital.
“The bleeding has stopped, the subchorionic haemorrhage has not increased in size, and the baby’s heartbeat remains strong,” Dr. Kapoor assures us as she reviews my latest results.
“So they’re both safe?” Shaurya asks, his entire body still tense beside my bed.
“At present, yes.” Dr. Kapoor looks at me.
“But Reeva must take things slowly for the next few weeks. She should avoid strenuous exercise, heavy lifting, and unnecessary travel until her follow-up appointment.” Her expression turns serious.
“If she experiences fresh bleeding, severe cramping, increasing dizziness, unusual pain, a worsening headache, or vomiting, bring her back immediately.”
“Thank you, Doctor.” Relief surges through me. “I cannot wait to go home.”
“Are you absolutely certain she is ready to leave?” Shaurya asks, ignoring my declaration entirely.
Dr. Kapoor’s lips twitch with restrained amusement. “Yes, Mr. Rajvansh. There is no medical reason to keep your wife in the hospital any longer.”
“I am going home, Shaurya,” I declare.
He releases a resigned breath before looking down at me. “Fine.”
Dr. Kapoor leaves after assuring us that a nurse will bring the discharge paperwork shortly.
Shaurya sinks into the chair beside me and takes my hand in his.
“You’re certain you feel all right?” His gaze searches mine, and the dark shadows beneath his eyes reveal how little he has slept over the past two nights.
“Yes.” I offer him a reassuring smile. “I am all right.”
He lifts my hand and presses a lingering kiss to my knuckles.
“I believe you,” I whisper.
His lips still against my skin. Slowly, his startled eyes rise to meet mine.
I learned the truth after waking. Shaurya told me everything. How his mother had commissioned the custody papers without his knowledge and deliberately made me believe they had come from him. He offered to prove it. He wanted to call Mr. Mehta so I could question him myself.
But I stopped him. This time, I had chosen to give our marriage another chance, and that choice had to mean something. If I truly trusted Shaurya again, then his word had to be enough.
“I know you didn’t lie to me,” I repeat, just as I have several times since he told me the truth.
His jaw tightens. “But my mother did. I should never have taken you back into that house. I should have protected you.”
“You couldn’t have protected me from something neither of us saw coming.”
His eyes close briefly. “I saw enough. I knew she had not accepted you, yet I convinced myself it was safe to take you there.”
There is no point arguing with guilt. I know that better than anyone.
“I am alive,” I whisper instead. “And our baby is alive. That is what matters now.”
He raises my hand to his lips once more and presses a trembling kiss against my knuckles. “I cannot lose you, Reeva.”
“You won’t.” I tighten my fingers around his. “I am not going anywhere.”
The fear in his eyes does not disappear, but before he can respond, a nurse arrives carrying my discharge papers and pushing a wheelchair.
Shaurya immediately frowns. “She should be taken out on a stretcher.”
The nurse blinks at him.
I close my eyes. “Shaurya.”
“She suffered a head injury and had bleeding.”
“And she no longer requires a stretcher,” the nurse explains with admirable patience. “The wheelchair is merely a precaution. She is medically fit to walk short distances.”
It takes several minutes and repeated assurances from both the nurse and me to convince him that a wheelchair is sufficient. Even after reluctantly conceding, he remains beside me with one protective hand resting upon my shoulder, watching every movement.
When we reach the hospital entrance, he helps me rise and keeps one arm firmly around my waist during the few steps towards his car.
He opens the passenger door and waits until I am safely seated before placing a cushion behind my back and fastening my seat belt, carefully positioning the lower strap across my hips.
Only after studying my face one final time does he close the door and take his place behind the wheel.
Throughout the drive, Shaurya continues glancing towards me to ensure I am comfortable. He slows before every turn and carefully steers around even the smallest pothole, as though the slightest jolt might endanger me or our baby.
For once, I do not tease him about being overprotective.
I simply rest one hand over our child and place the other upon his arm, silently reminding him that we are both still here.
The moment the car stops outside Bhai’s house, I find him waiting near the entrance.
His business trip ended the instant Meena Aunty told him about my fall.
He abandoned his remaining meetings and boarded the first flight home, arriving only minutes before us.
He had wanted to come straight to the hospital, but I convinced him to wait after assuring him that I had already been discharged and was on my way home.
Bhai says nothing as he opens the passenger door just as Shaurya reaches my side. The two men position themselves on either side of me, each taking one of my arms as though I cannot manage a single step without their support.
“I can walk,” I protest.
“No,” they answer simultaneously.
I glance between them but decide that neither man is currently capable of listening to reason.
Meena Aunty opens the front door and follows us as they escort me to my bedroom, one on either side of me.
Together, they settle me carefully onto the bed while Meena Aunty arranges the pillows behind my back and pulls the blanket over my legs.
By the time everyone is satisfied that I am comfortable, I let out a huff.
Meena Aunty notices the tension tightening Bhai’s face and gently touches Shaurya’s arm. “Give them a few minutes alone, beta. Rudra needs to speak to his sister.”
Shaurya’s gaze immediately shifts to me, reluctance darkening his expression. I offer him a small, reassuring nod. After a long moment, he exhales, bends to press a lingering kiss to my forehead, and hesitates before following Meena Aunty out of the room.
The moment the door closes behind him, Bhai begins pacing.
His shirt sleeves are rolled to his elbows, his tie hangs loose around his neck, and exhaustion sharpens every line of his face.
“Bhai—”
“You are never stepping inside that house again.”
The force of his declaration does not surprise me. I have expected this reaction from the moment I learned he was coming home.
“Please calm down.”
“Calm down?” He stops abruptly and turns towards me. “Do not ask me to calm down, Ree. I warned you that the Rajvansh family would hurt you again, yet you still walked back into that house.”
“Shaurya did not do this.”
Bhai glares at me. “You are still protecting him. After everything that man has done to you, I cannot understand why.”
I draw in a deep breath. There is no point delaying the truth any longer.
“Because I love him.”
The confession falls heavily between us, silencing him completely.
Several long seconds pass before he drags both hands over his face. “After everything that has happened, do you still believe he is worth this?”
I stare at the brother who has spent his entire life protecting me. He deserves an honest answer, not the one that would be easiest for him to hear.
“Yes.”
He stares at me as though he no longer recognises the sister sitting before him.
“I am not saying what Shaurya did was acceptable. It wasn’t.
” My fingers move instinctively to the mangalsutra resting against my throat.
“But he returned Rajmahal without asking for anything in exchange. Since learning about our baby, he has spent every day proving that he truly loves me and wants my happiness, even when that happiness might not include him.” I hold Bhai’s gaze.
“He is choosing me now, and I have chosen to believe in the man he is trying to become.”
“And if he hurts you again?”
“Then I will leave.” My voice remains steady. “Loving him does not mean I have forgotten what he did, and it does not mean I have forgotten how to protect myself. It means I am choosing to give him another chance with my eyes open.”
The bedroom door opens, and Shaurya stands at the threshold. His gaze moves from my tear-filled eyes to Bhai’s rigid expression, and every part of him hardens.
He walks into the room and lowers himself onto the edge of my bed. His hand closes gently around mine, the tenderness of his touch contrasting sharply with the steel in his expression.
“I know you have every reason to be furious with me,” he tells Bhai as he turns to him. “But from now on, I will protect my wife, even if that means standing against my own family.”
Bhai points a warning finger at him. “You made that promise once before, and you failed her. Why should I believe you now?”
“You shouldn’t.” Shaurya holds his gaze without flinching. “Not yet. Reeva has chosen to trust me again, but you haven’t, and I will not demand something I have not earned.”
Bhai’s eyes narrow. “If she sheds one more tear because of you—”
“It will never again be because I hurt her,” Shaurya cuts in. “I may frustrate her. I may argue with her.” His fingers tighten gently around mine. “But I will never deceive her again. I will never make her question my love or doubt that she and our child are the centre of my life.”
“She will not set foot inside the Rajvansh mansion again,” Bhai declares.
“She won’t,” Shaurya agrees without hesitation.
I turn towards him in shock. “Shaurya—”
He does not look at me and keeps his gaze fixed on Bhai. “I have already begun looking for another house. A home for my wife and our child.”
My breath catches. He says the words so simply, yet I understand what they cost him.
Bhai studies him for a long moment. “Until you find one, Reeva remains here.”