Chapter 36 #4
"But today I have both power and influence. Today I can stand against you in every possible way."
His eyes darkened.
"So stop playing these dirty games... otherwise you won't even retain this namesake position of party chief."
With that final warning, Shaurya walked out.
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"Shaurya... you still haven't recovered completely. Why are you pushing yourself like this?" Dev asked in frustration, trying to stop him from overexerting himself physically.
Shaurya ignored him and continued the push-ups despite the strain visible on his face.
"You weren't there in my place that day, Dev", he said heavily between breaths. "The helplessness... the inability to protect my wife..."
His jaw clenched painfully.
"When I saw those men trying to leave to harm her, I stood there incapable of stopping them. I can't experience that again."
He finally stopped and looked at Dev.
"I don't just need political power anymore. I need physical strength too. I need to be capable of protecting my family... my wife."
Dev silently stared at his friend before watching him continue with strength training, followed by kickboxing and Taekwondo sessions despite his incomplete recovery.
Shaurya was pulled out of those memories by a phone call from Dev himself.
"Think of the devil", he muttered before getting into his vehicle and answering the call.
"Yes?" Shaurya answered calmly.
Meanwhile, Dev sounded ready to explode.
"What the hell did you do, Shaurya?" Dev snapped immediately.
"What exactly is going on in your head? You practically confessed before the entire party leadership that you abandoned your pregnant wife for politics!
Do you even realize how monstrous that sounds?
If this gets leaked, your image will be destroyed. "
"I didn't confess, Dev", Shaurya corrected calmly. "I only said that's what I plan to tell people."
"You think those idiots in that room had enough brains to understand the difference?
" Dev shot back. "And why are you taking the blame on yourself?
Akansha left you. Yes, your actions pushed her to that point, but you never intended to abandon her.
You were trying to protect her. You planned to tell her everything eventually and start over once you became powerful enough to control your parents. "
"Exactly", Shaurya replied quietly. "I planned it. I thought about it. But I never told her anything."
His voice turned heavy.
"So from her perspective, she did what she felt was right."
He leaned back against the seat.
"And now I will do whatever it takes to protect her, no matter the consequences. I will try minimizing the damage politically, but I won't let anyone blame my wife."
After a pause, he added,
"In the end, it's the people's choice. They can either remember the reforms and development I brought in the last five years... or judge me based on a personal life I hid from them."
Dev sighed heavily.
"Shaurya... no matter how much you try keeping Akansha away from this mess, eventually she'll have to face it. Even if normal people sympathize with her, what about your obsessive supporters and party workers? They'll blame her for damaging your image."
His tone turned serious.
"The only way to protect her completely is to make her stand beside you publicly. If she supports you, the people who sympathize with her will stand with you too. And your supporters will respect her instead of hating her."
Shaurya gave a tired smile.
"You think I haven't thought about that?" he asked softly. "But do you really think Akansha would willingly stand beside me after all the hatred she has carried for me?"
"Then tell her the truth now", Dev argued. "Your parents aren't a threat anymore."
For a few seconds, Shaurya stayed silent.
"Until a few days ago, I wanted to tell her", he admitted quietly. "I thought she might not forgive me immediately, but at least she would understand my love for her."
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
"But now... I know she won't even trust me enough to believe the truth."
Dev frowned immediately.
"What happened?"
Shaurya remembered the way Akansha had doubted the assassination attempt on him and assumed he fabricated it to manipulate her.
But he pushed the thought away.
"Nothing, Dev", he said calmly. "Things are just complicated between us."
Then he deliberately changed the topic.
"How are Rachna and the kids?"
Dev groaned loudly.
"Really? Your personal and political life are both burning to the ground and you're asking about my family?"
That finally made Shaurya chuckle softly.
"Things will get better", he said with quiet confidence. "They already became better the moment I found Akansha again. And they became the best when I found out about my daughter."
His expression softened.
"Everything else can be handled."
Dev smiled helplessly hearing him.
No matter how terrible the situation became, Shaurya always carried himself with impossible composure and strength.
The only time Dev had truly seen him broken...
...was when Akansha left him.
It had taken Shaurya months to pull himself together again while silently burying his pain beneath responsibility and power.
After talking a little longer, the friends finally hung up.
But Dev had already made up his mind.
No matter what happened, he would stand beside Shaurya till the very end.
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A few days later, Dev decided to pick up his son from school himself so that he could finally speak to Akansha.
"Papa!"
Little Ishaan ran toward him excitedly the moment Dev stepped out of the car. Dev's security team immediately followed behind them. Considering his influence as the opposition party leader and the CM candidate, security around him was unavoidable.
Dev walked inside the school premises to speak with Ishaan's teachers and understand how his younger son was adjusting after the sudden mid-year transfer.
At least, that was the reason he had given everyone.
Akansha, who was walking toward Siya's classroom to pick her up for the day, spotted Dev from a distance.
And instantly, she froze.
The past crashed into her with brutal force.