Chapter 25 #4
"Come on, Shaurya, it’s high time you settled down.
You’ve already established yourself as a successful Chief Minister.
Trust me, with the kind of work you’ve done in the past four years, you are going to remain CM for at least the next two or three terms. Career-wise, you are completely set.
So marriage should be next in line. What have you thought about it? " Meera asked.
"Meera…" Shaurya groaned quietly, suppressing his irritation. "I already have my priorities fixed in life, and there won’t be any changes to them."
For a brief second, his eyes shifted toward Akansha. Her indifferent expression killed him. As if the discussion about his marriage meant absolutely nothing to her.
"Hm… you still haven’t changed, huh?" Meera teased lightly. "If you had agreed at the right age, you would’ve been happily married by now—with a wonderful wife and beautiful children."
Akansha froze at her words. But only for a second.
Soon, she masked everything behind a cold, detached expression as if none of this affected her—which was far from the truth.
Shaurya wanted to tell Meera that he had married at the so-called right age.
And he had married the right woman.
He had simply destroyed his own chance at a happy ending through his stupidity.
But there was one thing he had achieved.
The beautiful children part. He had Siya. The sweetest little girl in the world.
A small smile unknowingly appeared on his lips at the thought of his daughter.
"Don’t tell me… you’re actually imagining a life with your wife and kids?" Meera teased, expecting him to deny it immediately.
Instead, his answer left her stunned.
"Yes," Shaurya said softly. "I am imagining a life with the woman I love as my wife… and children with her. A combination of our genes."
"You love someone?" Meera asked, her heartbeat quickening.
Whether Shaurya loved someone or not, she knew he would never marry her. He had made that clear numerous times.
Yet her hopes had never completely died. It wasn’t exactly love she felt for him. It was attraction.
To everything he was.
Powerful. Intelligent. Compassionate. Successful. Loving. Good-looking.
Shaurya Singh Shekhawat was easily the most desirable man in her circle.
Meera had never cared much about marriage. Her career had always come first. But if she ever married someone, she had always imagined it would be a man like Shaurya.
Someone worth the effort.
Worth the compromise.
Worth everything.
"We are done with the meeting, Meera. See you later," Shaurya said politely.
Meera understood the dismissal. She stood up, giving him a curt nod.
"Bye, Shaurya. Thanks once again," she said, shaking his hand.
Then she turned to Akansha with a fake smile.
Akansha returned one just as fake. Finally, Meera left.
The moment the door shut, both Shaurya and Akansha exhaled in relief.
But the peace lasted only for a second.
Akansha’s anger returned with double force.
The way he hid his marital status had made the entire nation perceive him as one of the most eligible bachelors.
If he never had the courage to announce her as his wife, then why the hell had he married her in the first place?
That too forcefully.
"How long are you going to take to read that?" Akansha asked irritably.
She didn’t want to stay near him anymore. Everything about this was becoming unbearable.
"As long as it takes for you to vent out your frustration," he replied calmly.
"It will never end if I start listing everything, but do you even deserve that? Definitely not. And honestly, I don’t want to waste my time on people like you anymore.
You barely hold any importance in my life now, so please finish reading and sign the papers.
Unlike you, I have a daughter waiting for me at home," Akansha said.
She knew exactly where to hit. And it landed perfectly.
The reminder of his daughter—and why she wasn’t with him—stabbed straight through his chest.
"Maybe I don’t deserve to hear your anger," he said quietly, looking deep into her eyes. "But you deserve to let it out. You can’t keep carrying so much bitterness inside you, Akansha."
Damn him.
His patience.
His controlled tone.
The way he remained calm even while drowning in emotions had always wreaked havoc inside her heart.
"Where should I even begin, Shaurya?" Akansha burst out. "Should I start with how foolish and worthless I felt just now? Don’t even get me started on the betrayal. Seeing that woman brought back every memory I tried to bury. It reminded me how stupid I was to believe everything you told me."
Her eyes burned with fury.
"I actually believed the reason you never announced me as your girlfriend was because you cared for me. Later, I realized it was never a relationship for you. It was all an act… a carefully planned trap for your retribution."
"What I told you that day was the truth," Shaurya said immediately. "The reason I never disclosed our relationship to Meera was solely because of your safety. Your parents didn’t know about us and—"
"You think I’ll trust your stories again?" she cut him off sharply.
"And what was that today? How dare you call me your wife in front of Shweta and Mr. Sharma? You didn’t have the courage to do that when I was actually your wife. Now you’ve lost that right completely. Don’t you dare spread false information about me again," she warned.
"You need to know something—" he started.
It was time.
He had delayed telling her the truth about their divorce for far too long.
"Yes, I do need to know something," Akansha snapped. "Tell me, Mr. Spineless Creature… how did you manage to stay silent when your father introduced your wife as a caretaker in front of your guest?"
Her voice trembled—not with weakness, but rage and hurt.
"How did you feel when your precious friend ordered me to get her coffee as if I was beneath even a caretaker? Did your silence come naturally, or did you carefully calculate the pros and cons before deciding whether your forcefully married wife was worth speaking up for?"
Every word cut through him mercilessly.
"You think I stayed silent because of some political benefit my father offered me?" Shaurya asked quietly, understanding exactly what she was implying.
"Might be. Who knows?" she shot back venomously. "You are capable of all that, Shaurya."
No.
She didn’t truly believe he was that kind of man.
Deep down, she knew he had principles. She knew he would never sell himself for money or political gain.
But she refused to admit that to him.
"You know I’m not that kind of man," Shaurya said softly, his eyes silently pleading with her to believe him.
But Akansha was too wounded to trust him again.
"Everything I thought I knew about you turned out to be wrong," she whispered bitterly. "You became a stranger to me… not the man I once loved."
The words shattered him.
Yet he accepted every bit of pain she threw at him because he knew he deserved it.
But acceptance didn’t lessen the hurt.
It only deepened the unbearable weight of regret already crushing his heart.