Chapter 28 #2
“Mumma is eating... Hele(here),” his innocent daughter chirped happily.
Before he could react, Siya tilted the phone in such a way that he could see Akansha clearly.
The little girl simply wanted her mumma and her Sholya to become friends.
She had no idea how much her mother currently despised talking to her father.
“Mumma... talk to Sholya... Me sussu...(I need to go toilet),” Siya declared before shoving the phone into Akansha’s hand and rushing away.
Shaurya tried to appear composed. But Akansha could clearly see the nervousness hidden beneath his calm expression.
And the moment she looked at him, an unwanted memory flashed through her mind.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Shaurya finally asked after nearly fifteen minutes of nervously shaking his leg beneath the table.
She was the only woman capable of making him nervous. Because he was terrified of losing whatever fragile chance he still had with her.
They were still dating.
Though he had already confessed that he liked her, she had never openly expressed her feelings for him. Yet he was happy enough that she continued meeting him and was at least considering giving him a chance.
Ironically, despite his original motive of making her suffer the same pain his sister had endured, the thought of hurting Akansha had never brought him peace.
It only worsened his inner turmoil and robbed him of every bit of calm whenever he thought of actually carrying out his revenge.
“Now you know how uncomfortable you made me feel when you used to sit at the corner table in my college cafeteria and stare at me,” Akansha replied, making him break into a wide smile.
“So you knew I used to come there frequently just to catch a glimpse of you?” he asked softly, holding her hand across the table.
She nodded with a small smile.
Yes, she had noticed everything.
She knew how he still managed to visit her college canteen despite his impossibly tight schedule. She knew how his eyes constantly followed her every movement for however long he stayed there.
“Then why didn’t you ever look at me?” he asked, staring directly into her eyes. “You acted as if I didn’t even exist. You know, even one accidental glance from you would have made my entire day... Why did you pretend to be so unaffected?”
He wasn’t exaggerating. Back then, even the smallest acknowledgment from her was enough to brighten his whole day. But she had ignored him completely.
“Because I never intended to give in to your efforts,” Akansha admitted honestly. “Your constant staring used to create havoc inside me. You made me nervous all the time. I thought ignoring you would eventually make you back off, but instead, it only made you more persistent.”
Then she paused for a moment before asking softly,
“I still don’t understand something... Why were you so adamant about pursuing me? What exactly did you see in me that made you want me as your girlfriend so badly, Shaurya?”
“Everything,” he answered without hesitation. “Everything about you attracts me. It feels as if every part of you belongs only with me.”
His fingers tightened slightly around her hand.
“Even these stares you are giving me right now are making me so nervous that my legs won’t stop shaking. I’m scared, Akansha... scared that you won’t find me worthy enough for you. Scared that I won’t become your choice.”
His voice softened further.
“You, Akansha Dikshit, are carving yourself deep into my heart... and I can’t stop it. God knows how badly I want to.”
His eyes spoke far more than his words ever could.
Under normal circumstances, she would never have believed a man so easily. Her life experiences had taught her that she could never hold real importance in anyone’s life. But strangely, she believed him.
Because the honesty in his beautiful eyes was impossible to fake.
“Akansha... please tell me what’s bothering you.” Shaurya’s voice pulled her out of the painful memory abruptly.
The moment reality crashed back into her senses, Akansha immediately disconnected the call and inhaled deeply, trying to steady herself.
That man did not deserve space in her thoughts anymore. Her brain reminded her sharply and she agreed with it.
Quickly finishing her dinner, she made Siya sleep before opening her laptop and preparing the stupid tracker Shaurya had demanded.
Though she knew very well that his actual reason for summoning her had nothing to do with work, she still prepared it sincerely because she genuinely wanted to avoid handling the demonstration and PPT responsibilities.
It wasn’t the workload she feared. It was him.
These constant interactions with Shaurya were disturbing her mental peace far more than she was willing to admit, and she could not allow that to continue.
After finally finishing her work, she laid down beside her sleeping daughter. Sleep took pity on her after a long struggle and eventually claimed her exhausted mind.
But the same mercy never reached the man who loved her deeply and yet had wounded her beyond repair.
Shaurya cursed himself for still becoming nervous around her. Especially when she silently stared at him the way she did tonight. Her gaze had always made him lose control over himself.
And the expression on her face before she abruptly disconnected the call — that painful ache flashing in her eyes as if the memory itself had crushed her heart — got etched into his soul forever.
Another addition to the countless hurt-filled expressions of hers that had haunted him for years.
He already knew sleep would never come to him tonight. And honestly, he was afraid to even try.
Because every time he slept, the nightmares returned viciously enough to leave him mentally wrecked the following day.
So instead, he buried himself in work.
Even then, the thought of facing Akansha the next morning only intensified his nervousness further.
But for now, he forcefully pushed those thoughts aside and tried to focus on the files lying before him.
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His cabin door flew open with enough force to announce her fury, though not enough to damage anything.
He didn’t even need to look up to know it was his wife.
Shaurya glanced at the clock.
Five minutes early.
Since his previous appointment had ended ahead of schedule, Shweta must have allowed Akansha in before her allotted time.
“Here is the tracker and—” Akansha began sharply.
“Relax... please sit down first. Have some water,” he interrupted softly, offering her a glass.
The sight of his calmness only fueled her anger further.
She wanted nothing more than to snatch the glass from his hand and smash it against the floor.
But she restrained herself.
Seeing the murderous glare she directed at the glass, Shaurya quietly placed it back on the table without another word.
“When are you going to stop these games, Shaurya?” she asked coldly, getting straight to the point.
“When you stop forcing me to drag out what’s bothering you,” he replied calmly. “At least when it concerns Siya.”
He added the last line before she could throw the familiar taunt at him — that he didn’t deserve to know anything about her life.
“Nothing you should know,” she replied instantly.
He inhaled deeply.
“The news about Meera Pathak...” he began carefully. “I know it was difficult for you to hear, and yes, your concerns are valid. But trust me, I’ll handle it. I genuinely didn’t expect things to spread like this, otherwise I would’ve taken proper measures beforehand.”
The hatred in her eyes made his voice falter. His words died midway as he stared at the sheer disgust directed toward him. A painful lump formed in his throat, forcing him to swallow repeatedly.
“Why did you stop?” she asked bitterly. “Go on. You always claim you’ll ‘handle things.’ You keep asking me to trust you, but how exactly am I supposed to do that when all you’ve ever done is shatter that trust?”
Her voice rose with every word.
“This time it wasn’t about me, Shaurya. It was about my daughter. Do you even realize what would happen if this entire thing came out publicly? People would assume Meera Pathak was your first choice and I was the other woman.”
Her eyes welled with fury.
“I don’t care what they call me anymore... but my daughter? What would they call her? How much more humiliation should Siya and I suffer because of you?”
Shaurya’s Adam’s apple bobbed painfully as he kept swallowing against the ache burning through his throat.
“I... I’m sorry,” he whispered hoarsely. “I’ll fix this.”
“You’ll try?” she laughed bitterly. “You think my daughter’s life is some trial-and-error project, Shaurya Singh Shekhawat?” Her words sliced through him mercilessly.
“If you wanted to help Meera Pathak, then you should’ve done it discreetly. Not openly. Especially when people already knew her father once approached your family with a marriage proposal.”
She stepped closer.
“This entire mess wouldn’t have happened if you had been careful. How long are you planning to remain the reason behind every misery in my life? How long?”
Shaurya sat there silently, forcing himself to endure every accusation.
Because somewhere deep down, he believed he deserved every single one.
Maybe, initially, hurting her had truly been part of the plan.
He had approached Akansha to avenge his sister.
To calm the fire of revenge burning inside his sister’s broken soul. To stop her from destroying herself.
But even then, he had never been fully committed to deceiving Akansha. Something about it had always felt wrong. And the moment he actually met her, everything inside him began collapsing.
The strings in his heart — whose existence he had never even acknowledged before — started pulling toward her uncontrollably.
Every step he took into her life only brought her deeper into his own heart. Ironically, while his intention had been to enter her heart and eventually destroy it, he ended up surrendering his own instead.
Without realizing it, he had fallen deeply in love with her.