Chapter 45 #3
"I won't let her stay with them." His answer came without hesitation.
"My parents mostly stay in the capital or at the ancestral palace.
Akansha will stay with me at the city residence.
Even if Father loses power after the elections, which is highly likely because of the multiple scams his government was involved in, they'll shift there while we continue to stay separately. "
His tone was confident enough to reassure Akash. But fate had already planned something far crueler for all of them.
Because Shaurya himself didn't know yet that circumstances would soon trap him so badly that his helplessness would force Akansha to live under the same roof as the very people he once promised to protect her from.
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Aakriti slowly entered her recovery phase, all thanks to the love, care, and protection Shaurya, Dev, and Rajnath showered on her constantly.
But more than anything else, what slowly pulled her out of her suicidal thoughts was the knowledge that Shaurya had fulfilled her wish for revenge against Akansha. She believed his love was merely an act to make Akansha feel the same betrayal and heartbreak she once felt.
What Aakriti didn't know, however, was that somewhere along the way, Shaurya had truly fallen in love with Akansha.
When Shaurya informed Rajnath and Dev about his decision to marry Akansha soon, Rajnath immediately decided to take Aakriti to the US for a while. He knew she wouldn't be able to handle the news. She would feel betrayed again, this time by Shaurya himself.
Both Rajnath and Dev tried convincing Shaurya to delay his decision, at least until things settled emotionally, but Shaurya refused firmly. He couldn't watch Akansha suffer anymore.
Day by day she was losing herself. The poison her mother and sister kept throwing at her had finally started affecting her deeply, and Shaurya hated seeing that change in her. He wanted his Akansha back — the strong woman who once never allowed anyone's opinions to define her worth.
Before leaving for the US, Aakriti decided to meet Akansha once. A part of her still wanted Akansha to feel the same pain she herself had endured. So she told Akansha everything. She revealed how she had asked Shaurya to pretend to love Akansha as revenge and how he fulfilled that wish.
"Dev Bisht is my brother, but Shaurya loves me even more than Dev does," Aakriti said, her voice trembling slightly.
"I know what I asked for was wrong, but at that time I was consumed by your betrayal, Dilip's provoking words, and the way you mocked me so mercilessly.
I was already broken, but you showed no empathy toward my pain.
So I wanted you to feel the same betrayal and heartbreak.
Maybe you aren't weak like me to attempt suicide, but you still have a heart. .. and I can see it breaking."
Akansha stood there silently, holding herself together with every ounce of strength she had. Yes, her heart had shattered into a million pieces. But she refused to break visibly in front of anyone. Because she wasn't weak.
"Yes, it broke my heart... if that satisfies you," Akansha finally said calmly. "But know this — I was genuinely sorry for how I spoke to you. Even at the hospital, I wasn't aware of your actual condition. I was made to believe you were pretending."
For the first time, Aakriti's anger softened slightly hearing that explanation. Was it true? Was Akansha manipulated too? A strange guilt slowly crept into her heart, and before she could weaken emotionally again, she quietly left from there.
Akansha remained seated on the same bench for hours afterward. The same bench that once belonged to her and Shaurya. The same place where his arms always became her safest shelter. His love was never fake. She knew that with complete certainty.
His intentions at the beginning may have been wrong, but his feelings definitely weren't an act. She wasn't foolish enough to fall for fake emotions. The way he prioritized her, cared for her, stood beside her through everything... none of that could ever be fabricated.
But could she forgive his betrayal? That question destroyed her from within.
Akansha had always been an extremely practical person.
She handled pain logically, controlled emotions, and forced herself to move forward.
But for the first time in her life, she wished she had been more emotional.
Because if she were emotional instead of practical, maybe she would've started hating Shaurya by now.
Instead, despite her bleeding heart, her love for him still remained.
Meanwhile, Shaurya grew restless when he couldn't find Aakriti anywhere at home while their flight departure was only a few hours away. Just then, Aakriti walked inside.
"Where were you? You're getting late for your flight," Shaurya started saying, but before he could continue, Aakriti hugged him tightly. "What happened beta? Is everything alright?" he asked softly while ruffling her hair.
"Thank you for everything, Shaurya," she whispered emotionally.
"I know you never wanted to betray a woman's trust, but you still did it for me. But you don't have to continue this act anymore. I'm fine now." Shaurya frowned slightly.
"I thought seeing Akansha ma'am broken would make me happy," Aakriti continued slowly. "But I didn't feel happy at all. Instead... I felt guilty. So please leave all this now."
The moment those words left her mouth, Shaurya's heartbeat accelerated dangerously. Something felt terribly wrong.
"W... where did you go?" he asked, his voice unsteady now.
"I went to meet Akansha ma'am," Aakriti replied honestly. "I told her about my wish... and how you fulfilled it."
Shaurya froze. His heartbeat turned violent. Sweat immediately formed on his forehead as horrifying thoughts rushed into his mind. Akansha knew. She knew everything. And all he could think about was the unimaginable pain she must be going through right now.
"WHY DID YOU DO IT?" Shaurya shouted for the first time ever at Aakriti, glaring at her furiously, startling her completely.
Rajnath and Dev rushed there immediately after hearing Shaurya's raised voice — something almost unheard of. Before either of them could ask anything, Shaurya stormed out of the house. He had to see Akansha.
Right now. He originally thought of making her experience the same betrayal his sister felt... at least for a few hours.
But now, even imagining Akansha in pain for a single minute was enough to destroy him completely.
Without wasting another second, he drove toward her house.
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A few days passed, and after considering several factors and evaluations, they finally selected the best performers among the nominees. Mrs. Arora, along with Mr. Khanna and Samuel, began arranging the award ceremony.
As per Shaurya's instructions, the function was kept internal. Only the employees working under the education department wing of the Secretariat were invited to attend.
Originally, these awards were supposed to be distributed publicly along with the awards of other departments in front of the entire Secretariat staff. But Shaurya purposely avoided such a huge gathering.
Partly because of security concerns. Mostly because he was terrified of his wife's warning. So, to at least reduce the intensity of Akansha's anger later, he limited the audience as much as possible. Unfortunately for him, fate clearly had other plans.
At the last minute, an urgent issue came up, and Shaurya informed Mrs. Arora that he wouldn't be able to attend. He asked them to continue the ceremony without him, but the entire team respected and admired him far too much to agree. They wanted to receive the awards from his hands only.
So Mrs. Arora conducted a quick discussion among the CR committee members regarding whether the ceremony should happen in Shaurya's absence or be postponed until he was available. Almost ninety-eight percent voted to postpone it.
The problem, however, was that the next available date clashed with the main Secretariat award ceremony involving all departments. Since holding it afterward wasn't possible, Mrs. Arora finally merged their event with the main function.
According to her, she was helping Shaurya by saving his time. Little did she know she was actually pushing him directly toward hell. And that hell began the moment he stepped inside the house.
"What do you think? I don't know you purposely skipped today's event?" Akansha blasted at him the second he entered. "Shaurya... I will kill you."
"Can you please ask Mrs. Sudha to serve dinner?" he asked calmly. "I haven't eaten anything since morning."
Akansha immediately paused, taking a deep breath to calm herself.
"Fine. I'll set the table. No need to disturb her at this hour. Freshen up and come in fifteen minutes," she said before walking toward the kitchen.
Shaurya sighed in relief. He had successfully bought himself fifteen extra minutes of survival.
He purposely mentioned being hungry because he knew Akansha well enough to understand that no matter how angry she was, she would never let him stay hungry.
Shaurya freshened up, changed his clothes, kissed his sleeping daughter's forehead softly, and then walked downstairs.
He quietly started eating dinner, practically swallowing both fear and food together.
"So, Shaurya..." Akansha began coldly. "Will you tell me why exactly you didn't come today?" But before he could answer, she continued. "I know you did it intentionally just to trouble me. You are seriously sick, Shaurya—"
"There was a security breach," he interrupted quietly.
Akansha stopped mid-sentence.
"There was another planned attack on me," he continued seriously.
"And according to Suraj, this doesn't look like opposition party activists anymore. Dev and I suspect my father's involvement. I had to attend an emergency meeting."
Akansha's face immediately lost color.
"Attack... again?" she asked slowly.