Chapter 45
Shaurya got his daughter ready for school and carried her downstairs in his arms.
"I'm sorry for the delay, Mr. Sharma. We can continue in the kitchen," Shaurya said while walking toward the kitchen to prepare pancakes for Siya.
Mr. Sharma followed him, continuing the discussion while simultaneously getting signatures on the required files as Shaurya cooked.
"Dadda..." Siya walked into the kitchen holding her plate.
"Siya? Why did you come here, bacha? I asked you to sit at the dining table, didn't I? I'll come there," Shaurya said softly, but she shook her head stubbornly.
"No Dadda... Feed me. I am hungly(hungry)," Siya said, making him smile apologetically.
"I'm so sorry... Give me two minutes. Come, sit here."
He lifted her onto the cozy kitchen counter and quickly finished preparing the pancakes before starting to feed her.
"Siya, Dadda has some work. Can I keep working while feeding you?" he asked gently.
He knew his daughter wanted to keep talking to him while eating, but his schedule was packed and the pending matters needed to be finalized before noon.
"Yes... I won't distub you. I am a good unicon," Siya declared proudly while eating another bite.
"Um... Tasty," she added, making Shaurya kiss her forehead.
"I know you are my magical unicorn, my best kiddo," he said, kissing her cheek before feeding her another piece.
Then he looked toward Mr. Sharma.
"Now tell me, what were you saying?"
Mr. Sharma resumed the discussion while secretly admiring how effortlessly Shaurya balanced both worlds. One second he was a loving father feeding his daughter, and the next second he seamlessly shifted back into the role of a sharp, focused Chief Minister.
"Sir, regarding the dam construction... the neighboring state has sent us notices demanding we stop the work immediately. The mail just came in. We need to handle this before the media escalates it," Mr. Sharma informed him.
Shaurya frowned slightly.
"We signed the agreement and secured all necessary permissions during the previous government. Tell me one thing — does the new government even have the authority to cancel it?"
"No sir. In fact, if they revoke the permissions now, legally they'll have to compensate our state for the losses with interest."
Shaurya leaned back calmly as though it wasn't a major issue, though both of them knew how politically sensitive the matter was, especially before elections.
"Their state is already dependent on central funds to survive financially.
They cannot afford compensation. This is pure vote-bank politics," Shaurya said coldly.
"They built their campaign by spreading fear among farmers, claiming we were stealing their water with support from the previous government. Fine. Then we'll counter it."
Mr. Sharma immediately straightened.
"Gather the SMM team. Start a parallel campaign anonymously highlighting how their own farmers would benefit from the project without investing a single rupee since we are covering the costs.
Simultaneously push data regarding their state's debt and how much financial damage cancellation would cause them. "
Mr. Sharma nodded while taking notes.
"But sir, all this will take time. What do we do immediately?"
"Fix a meeting with their Chief Minister after two days. By then I want the digital campaign running aggressively, especially targeting the youth demographic."
"This is risky, sir. If our involvement gets exposed—"
"It won't," Shaurya interrupted calmly.
"And even if they suspect it, they won't have enough proof to accuse us directly.
This project benefits both states. Unfortunately, some politicians are willing to sacrifice public welfare for personal politics.
" He paused briefly before continuing. "Draft a response to their notice and get it approved by me today itself. "
While speaking, he absentmindedly wiped Siya's mouth and made her drink water, multitasking so naturally that even Mr. Sharma found it impressive.
"Dadda..." Siya called softly after observing him for a while.
"Hm?"
"Aapko kishine daata?(Did someone scold you?) Tell me. Siya will punch them with hel magical powers," she declared seriously, making Shaurya laugh.
"No bacha... Who would dare trouble me when my magical unicorn protects me?"
"Then why mood bad?" Siya asked suspiciously while narrowing her eyes at him.
Shaurya laughed again at her tiny detective instincts.
"My little Sherlock... Dadda is not in a bad mood."
But Siya shook her head immediately.
"Mama bear said you nevel get angly... but I should not distub you when thich comes," she said while pointing toward the faint lines on his forehead formed due to frowning.
Shaurya grinned hearing that. He carried her to the dining table and sat down with his breakfast. He asked Mr. Sharma to join him for breakfast, but he said he had already eaten and left to attend to other work.
"Acha? So you asked mumma about this?" he asked knowingly.
Siya nodded enthusiastically while trying to feed him with her spoon.
"What else did mumma say?" he asked while helping her hold the spoon properly.
"Mumma said you ale good... you love me a lot... and you will nevel scold me. But when you ale upset... I should not distub you."
The entire time she kept trying to multitask exactly like him, feeding him while talking, just the way he had fed her while discussing work with Mr. Sharma earlier. Shaurya chuckled at her efforts.
"Awe... So Mama bear and Siya bear think so much about Dadda huh? I love you both so much."
"Mama bear and Siya bear love you too Dadda," Siya replied proudly, making him unexpectedly emotional. He loved how his daughter always said "I love you" on behalf of both herself and her mother.
He quickly finished his breakfast, pushing aside his emotions as both he and his daughter were getting late. As the Chief Minister, it wouldn't look good if he got late dropping his daughter off at school.
"Chalo bacha(Let's go), I'll drop you at school and then go to work."
Soon the father-daughter duo left together, with Shaurya carrying her school bag and water bottle himself.
After dropping Siya at school, he headed toward the Secretariat and resumed work immediately.
A stack of files already waited for him on his desk, organized carefully by Shweta based on priority. While checking them, he came across the nomination list and instantly remembered Akansha's warning from the previous night.
It took him nearly ten minutes to gather enough courage before finally signing the approval. The moment he signed it, he immediately remembered how hurried and stressed Akansha looked that morning.
He texted her.
"All good now?"
A few minutes later her reply came.
"Yes. Fixing it."
Just that small reply brought an involuntary smile to his face.
"What happened btw?"
"Boss is not supposed to know that. We as a team are fixing it," she replied with a stern emoticon.
"Who said boss wants to know? It was Shaurya asking casually."
He badly wanted to type husband instead of his name, but stopped himself knowing it would irritate her.
"Just issues with some numbers. We used wrong data while conducting statistical tests, so now we have to redo them. Seven extra days of work got added."
"You can use my help. You know I'm good with numbers. Maybe I can help you find a shortcut. Send me the details once. If it still doesn't work, we'll try extending the deadline."
Almost instantly her reply came.
"Why is suddenly my boss talking about extending deadlines and all? I explained the issue to Shaurya."
He smiled at the screen.
"Sorry, my bad. Tell me the issue."
This time Akansha didn't refuse immediately because he was right. They couldn't afford delays, especially with elections approaching.
The CR Committee members were rushing to complete at least three phases before elections because if the government changed, there was a possibility the new administration might scrap the project entirely and return to the old system.
What they didn't know, however, was that Dev too worked for public welfare just like Shaurya.
Their methods and opinions differed sometimes, but their broader vision remained the same.
Unfortunately, Somya Arora and the other CR members were unaware of the reality behind Shaurya and Dev's hidden alliance, which was why they were desperately trying to secure the project's future before elections changed everything.
Akansha explained the issue in detail and Shaurya immediately realized the situation was far more serious than they initially assumed. Without wasting another minute, he summoned the entire CR core team to his office.
"Dr. Akansha... Did you tell CM sir about this?" Mrs. Arora asked in surprise after receiving the sudden summons.
"Yes Mrs. Arora," Akansha replied calmly.
"I know you might feel the step was unnecessary, but the discrepancy is serious enough to delay the entire project.
Completing three phases before elections would become nearly impossible if we don't resolve this immediately.
Shaurya's strong hold on numbers can definitely help us. "
Samuel looked slightly hesitant.
"Maybe... but Sir already has too many important things to handle," he said carefully.
"This is also part of his responsibility as the Education Minister," Akansha responded firmly.
Soon the team reached Shaurya's office and waited outside while he finished an urgent meeting with the Irrigation Minister regarding the escalating tension with the neighboring state over the dam project.
Once the meeting ended, they were called inside. Shaurya had already gone through the files by then.
"I studied the data," he said while looking at the reports spread before him, "and this is definitely a major mishap."
"Sorry sir," Mr. Rashid apologized immediately.
Mrs. Arora too stepped forward.
"I should have verified the data more thoroughly before giving approval. The mistake happened under my supervision, sir. I apologize."