Chapter 29
Akansha and Siya returned from the mall, but Siya barely enjoyed her time in the game zone, something that had never happened before.
Sensing her daughter's mood, Akansha brought her home early, fed her dinner, and soon lulled her to sleep.
Siya quietly drifted off, leaving her mother alone with a storm of thoughts crowding her mind.
Now that Siya was asleep, Akansha decided to reply to Shaurya's messages that had been popping up on her phone every now and then.
She knew he must be distraught right now, so instead of informing him about something this crucial through text, she chose to call him directly.
His impatience had already become painfully obvious, and she felt it was time to put a stop to it.
"Akansha... what happened to my daughter?"
The question came the very instant she dialed his number. He picked up within half a ring. The rightfulness in his tone splashed her with a flood of memories.
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"You say you love me the most, right?" she asked, leaning her head against his shoulder.
"Koi shak?" he teased lightly.
"No... stupid... I can doubt anything, but never your love for me or your loyalty..." she replied, and he smiled before pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"You are right," he said softly. "I love you truly... I can never look at any other woman. I may hurt you intentionally or unintentionally sometimes... and you can punish me however you want for it, but never doubt my love for you, Akansha..."
For a fleeting second, she caught guilt flickering in his eyes, making her brows knit together slightly.
But he covered it up almost instantly with a smile.
"Now ask me what you were about to ask," he prompted gently, and she brushed away the strange guilt she thought she saw.
"Will you love me any less after your daughter?" she finally asked.
The question had been gnawing at her ever since he expressed his desire to have a daughter and she witnessed the overwhelming adoration in his eyes whenever he spoke about his future child.
It sounded absurd. What kind of mother felt jealous of her own future daughter?
But when it came to him, Akansha was terrified of losing his love — the most precious thing she possessed in her life.
She cherished him and their relationship more than anything else, which was exactly why the truth later carved such a brutal scar into her heart.
"No... I'll love you the same," he answered softly. "But I'll love my daughter more..."
She glared at him, but within seconds, a reluctant smile tugged at her lips.
"What if you come back from work and find your daughter upset? Would you scold me or question me about it?" Akansha asked curiously.
"Scold you?" he laughed softly. "Do you really think I have the courage to scold you?"
Then his expression softened.
"But yes, I would definitely question you. Seeing my daughter sad would terrify me. I can't bear to see her upset... and I would question you rightfully... because..."
He slowly pulled her closer, his lips hovering dangerously near hers.
"By then, you would have become my wife... Akansha Shaurya Singh Shekhawat," he whispered before kissing her.
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This version of Shaurya had never been seen by anyone else.
That impatient, emotionally restless side of him seemed to exist only for his daughter.
"I told Siya about you... now she knows you are her father," Akansha said calmly, as if she had merely stated something ordinary, while the ground beneath Shaurya disappeared.
"You told her?" he whispered in disbelief. "I... I requested you to do that in my presence, didn't I? Then why..."
His voice trailed off softly, but the distress in it was impossible to miss.
"She is my daughter... my wish," Akansha answered in her usual cold tone.
But both of them knew the truth.
She simply did not want him to witness Siya pulling away from him.
"I... I can take it, Akansha," he replied quietly, his heart pounding wildly at her concern despite everything. "You don't have to worry about me."
For once, she did not deny it. Because she knew it was pointless. He already understood why she had done it.
"Siya needed time to process this," Akansha explained softly. "So I thought she should have the whole Saturday before meeting you on Sunday."
"What was her reaction?" Shaurya asked anxiously.
"She wasn't completely against it, Shaurya... but she seems confused and upset about something. She still hasn't opened up, though I hope she will soon," Akansha admitted honestly.
"She didn't tell you? And you just left it like that?" he asked immediately, panic slipping into his voice. "My daughter might be suffering internally because of all this, Akansha. You should have made her tell you what's bothering her."
His words instantly ignited her temper.
"You really think I should force words out of her?" she snapped sharply. "She is just four years old, Shaurya, in case you have forgotten."
He fell silent.
"She herself probably doesn't even know how to explain what she is feeling right now," Akansha continued angrily.
"At times like this, children need space to process information, understand it, and then react to it.
She needs time to arrange her emotions into words and figure out what exactly is bothering her before expressing it.
If this truth is troubling her, she first needs to understand why.
" Her voice softened slightly despite her irritation.
Then the irritation returned in full force.
"I can't pressure my daughter just because her father is impatient, impulsive, and overly protective," Akansha snapped.
"I'm sorry... I was just worried for her.
.." Shaurya said quietly. "Akansha... Siya is a blend of both of us, but when it comes to things like this.
.. she tends to push troubling thoughts away until they become unavoidable.
And the longer she delays facing them, the more painful it becomes.
.. I don't want that for my daughter. I.
.. I don't know if I'm making sense or not, but.
.. you understand what I mean, right?" he fumbled, unable to frame his thoughts properly.
Akansha smiled faintly at the concern overflowing in his voice for their daughter.
Yes, he was right.
Siya had the exact same habit as him. Whenever something troubled her emotionally, she pushed it to the back of her mind until someone or something forced her to confront it. Just like her father.
And that very habit of Shaurya's had once become the bane of her life, destroying it completely.
"I understand, Shaurya..." Akansha replied softly. "I'm not giving Siya enough time to avoid this truth... just enough time to process it properly and express what exactly is bothering her."
"Okay..." he answered, though the anxiety in his voice remained unchanged. "Can I see her?" he asked hesitantly.
"Hm... wait," Akansha replied before disconnecting the call, only to video call him a minute later.
He picked up instantly.
The camera showed Siya sleeping peacefully beside her mother, but Shaurya's sharp eyes still caught the distress lingering on his little girl's face even in sleep.
"She might be overwhelmed by all the revelations..." he whispered anxiously.
"Shaurya... she will be fine. I'll talk to her tomorrow," Akansha assured him before ending the call, though she knew her reassurance had done absolutely nothing to calm him down.
And she was right.
The entire next day, Shaurya kept texting her repeatedly, asking only one thing.
"How is Siya?"
Siya looked better compared to the previous night, but she remained unusually quiet about the entire matter. Akansha waited patiently for her daughter to bring up Shaurya or ask questions herself, but not a single word came from her mouth. Finally, Akansha decided to raise the topic herself.
"Siya... after dinner, we'll pack our bags, okay?" Akansha asked gently.
"Why mumma? Are we going picnic?" Siya asked, sounding slightly excited, though nowhere close to her usual cheerful self.
"No baby... tomorrow is Sunday. Did you forget? We have to go to Shaurya's home," Akansha reminded softly.
The dullness that immediately crossed Siya's face made Akansha's heart sink.
"Mamabear... I don't want to go," Siya said quietly, shocking her mother.
"Why baby?" Akansha asked carefully.
But Siya only shook her head stubbornly.
Akansha instantly understood what was happening.
Siya had identified the problem in her head, but now she had slipped into the exact avoidance phase both she and Shaurya feared.
"But we already decided, na? Mumma promised we would visit his place every other Sunday..." Akansha tried patiently.
"No... I don't want to go," Siya repeated, stomping her little feet stubbornly, startling Akansha further.
"Okay... we'll think about it later. Now come, let's prepare dinner. What does my Siyabear want to eat?" Akansha asked gently.
But Siya merely shrugged and continued playing silently with the doll Shaurya had gifted her.
Akansha shook her head helplessly at her stubborn daughter and walked into the kitchen. At that moment, she genuinely thanked her stars that she only had to deal with one stubborn person right now instead of both father and daughter together.
Unfortunately, it seemed she expressed her gratitude a little too early.
"How is Siya?"
Shaurya's message popped up yet again.
At this point, it would have been easier for him to simply copy-paste the same text because he had sent it at least a hundred times that day.
"Shaurya... I answered this question ten minutes ago," Akansha replied.
"Yes... but I thought there might have been a change in her mood within those ten minutes," he replied instantly, making her release a deep sigh.
Deciding not to drag things further, she finally informed him about what had happened.
"Yes... there is a change in your daughter's mood, but unfortunately, not in your favor," Akansha texted.