Chapter 46 #4
Shaurya didn't want to talk to Akansha or even hear her out anymore. In his eyes, she had once again become the reason behind Aakriti's condition. Aakriti was right, he had fallen in love with the very woman who destroyed her peace.
A few weeks passed, but Shaurya's anger only intensified. A part of him wanted to hurt Akansha the same way Aakriti had suffered because of her stubbornness and lack of empathy. Yet every single time, his love for Akansha restrained him, tying his hands before he could act on that rage.
But all his anger was momentarily pushed aside the day he received Akash's call. His mother wanted Akansha to marry a man nearly ten years older than her, only because society had started taunting them for getting the younger daughter married before the elder one.
That very day, Shaurya went to speak with Akansha's parents. Vasant readily agreed. Though Shaurya was never overly expressive about his feelings, Vasant could clearly see how deeply he loved Akansha. Somehow, he even managed to convince Jaya.
Akansha, however, was furious with her father for agreeing so easily.
After speaking to her parents, Shaurya went to meet her.
The moment he saw her, his eyes darkened with fury again, memories of Aakriti's condition flashing before him.
Though he had decided to marry Akansha to pull her out of the hell she called home, that particular day, a darker part of him wanted her to suffer for what she had done to his sister.
Akansha tried to reason with him, tried to tell him this marriage was a terrible idea, but he refused to listen. That night, it wasn't Shaurya speaking to her, but Shaurya Singh Shekhawat.
"Marry me," he muttered, gripping her arms harshly, pure fury burning in his eyes.
"You hate me," Akansha whispered, fear and determination clashing in her eyes at once. Fear, because she had never seen him this dangerous before.
"I do," Shaurya answered coldly. "And retribution is my right."
"And I have the right to a chance to justify myself," she shot back, her voice cracking slightly at the increasing hatred in his tone.
She wanted to tell him everything, how she had no idea about Aakriti's innocence when she lashed out at her in the hospital, how she didn't even know Aakriti was present when Suman created that entire scene in the hospital recently.
But Shaurya gave her no opportunity to speak.
At that moment, she cursed herself for not revealing the truth earlier when he had actually given her a chance.
"Like hell I will," he spat bitterly. "You destroyed my sister, and now it's your turn to get ruined." His jaw tightened before he added mercilessly, "You will marry me, or watch your family die."
Shaurya had never been like this before, but that night Akansha witnessed an entirely different man. Little did either of them know that this darkness would soon become their reality.
"I will," she finally whispered, losing the battle.
Then she looked straight into his eyes and added, "One last thing, Mr. Shekhawat... the day you learn the truth, you will regret doing this to me."
Shaurya merely shook his head and walked away. There were too many misunderstandings between them.
Akansha believed he continued pursuing her only for revenge, while Shaurya desperately wanted to tell her that he stayed because he loved her.
If revenge had truly been his motive, he would have given up long ago or hired someone else against her.
But she never gave him a proper chance to explain, and later, circumstances became far crueler than either of them anticipated.
On the night of their marriage, Shaurya had decided to tell her the truth. He wanted to admit that he married her out of love, not revenge, though he still needed time to forgive her regarding everything connected to Aakriti.
He also knew Akansha would need time to forgive him for betraying her trust. He wanted to apologize for the fury he showed while forcing her into marriage and explain that it came from the trauma of Aakriti's suicide attempt. More than anything, he wanted answers from her.
But before he could even enter their room, everything changed.
His father's P.A. had asked him to attend a meeting on Virendar's behalf and mentioned that the details were saved in his father's work phone. While checking it, Shaurya accidentally played a voice note he was never supposed to hear.
What followed chilled his blood.
Without wasting another second, he stormed towards the basement of their ancestral mansion, a place his father had never allowed him to enter. But after hearing that voice note, he had no choice.
There, he witnessed his parents brutally murdering a man.
Not just any man, but the personal assistant of a highly popular former MLA from their own party. That MLA had supposedly died of cardiac arrest years ago, after which Shaurya was made to contest the by-elections and win.
Listening to their conversation shattered him completely.
His parents had murdered that leader and disguised it as a heart attack, only to create a by-election in the one constituency their party could still win despite its corruption scandals and terrible reputation. Shaurya stood frozen, unable to process how monstrous his parents truly were.
And then came the final blow.
He heard his father planning Akansha's murder.
Virendar calmly discussed getting Akansha killed and marrying Shaurya off to Meera Pathak afterward. He even mentioned how Shaurya had secretly been sabotaging them for years in revenge for killing his sister. Shaurya stood there stunned, realizing his father already knew everything.
He had underestimated his parents terribly. They were far more dangerous than he had ever imagined.
Virendar further warned Shoba that if Shaurya rebelled after Akansha's death, they could simply threaten Aakriti's life. And if he still refused to obey, they would kill her too.
To them, Aakriti was merely Shaurya's Rakhi sister. But they knew how deeply he cared for her. They believed his silent truce with Dev Bisht who was his political Rival existed only because of Aakriti, making her his biggest weakness.
That very night, Shaurya formed a plan. And the next morning, he executed it.
He couldn't even tell Akansha the truth.
That same night, he had discovered that his parents had planted secret microphones all across the mansion.
CCTV cameras already existed everywhere except the bedrooms. If he acted normally with Akansha or accidentally showed affection toward her, it could cost her life.
So he made the hardest decision of his life. He decided to hide everything from her until he could destroy the threat around them.
For the first time, Shaurya hated himself for marrying her. Had he discovered his parents' real faces a few hours earlier, he would never have brought Akansha into that hell. He would have kept her far away from all of it.
The next day, he approached his father and deliberately told him that he married Akansha for revenge.
"Accept this marriage and let me avenge my sister's pain. Maybe that will lessen some of your sins," Shaurya said coldly, shocking both his parents. "For me, Aakriti is like my own sister, and I am punishing the woman who destroyed her."
Virendar didn't trust his son that easily. Especially not a son who had anonymously ruined several of his plans over the years. It had taken him nearly a decade to realize Shaurya was the mastermind behind many of his troubles.
So he got the entire story verified.
Fortunately for Shaurya, everything aligned perfectly. Everyone genuinely believed he had betrayed Akansha in revenge for Aakriti. Since Virendar and Shoba considered Shaurya their future political shield, they agreed to accept the marriage.
That night, Shaurya entered his room trying to appear detached and heartless before Akansha.
Earlier, he could have at least confessed that he loved her despite marrying her for revenge.
But now he couldn't even risk that. One moment of weakness, one affectionate glance caught by the cameras or overheard through hidden microphones, and Akansha's life would be over.
Every second inside that mansion suffocated him.
"I know you married me for revenge," Akansha said quietly the moment he entered.
"To satisfy your ego and prove to your sister that you avenged her pain by hurting me.
But marriage isn't a joke for me, Shaurya.
Since you married me, you have responsibilities towards this relationship.
I will fulfill mine too. It's better we sort out these differences between us. "
Shaurya immediately tried to walk away, but Akansha grabbed his hand, stopping him.
"I'm talking to you, Shaurya!" she snapped.
"You already know why I married you," he replied, his voice rough with restrained pain. "And what's wrong with you? You should hate me. Hate me all you want. Live your life and let me live mine."
Even while saying those words, he hated himself for how weak he sounded. He needed to become stronger.
"Yes, I should hate you," Akansha admitted softly. "But the amount of love you had... or maybe still have for me... isn't letting me forget my own love for you." Keeping aside every ounce of ego, she stepped closer. "Please, let's sort this out. We can still have a beautiful life together."
Shaurya closed his eyes briefly. If only she knew how desperately he wanted the same.
"Sleep, it's late," he muttered instead. "I brought snacks for you. Eat them if you feel hungry at night."
And with that, he walked away to freshen up. Akansha stared at the snack packet left on the bed. He still remembered that she often got hungry late at night because she always had early dinners.
That was what confused her the most. One moment he acted distant and cruel, and the next moment he cared for her as if every little thing related to her still mattered deeply to him.