Chapter 49 #2
He might not have possessed the courage to stand against her mother openly, but he had always shared her pain silently. Every time she suffered, he suffered alongside her while hating himself for being weak.
Yes, he had been weak. And because of that weakness, she had been forced to become strong. But despite everything, he was still her father. The man who had loved her unconditionally since childhood. The only light she truly had while growing up.
Then why had she punished him so mercilessly?
Shaurya sat down on the floor beside Akansha while she remained seated on the bed, her legs hanging loosely at the edge.
"What happened?", he asked softly, gently adjusting the anklet chain around her right ankle.
Akansha shut her eyes briefly at the feel of his fingers brushing against her skin. His touch always weakened her.
No matter how rigid or guarded she tried to remain around him, moments like these shattered her defenses effortlessly.
"Papa..." she whispered. "Papa was unwell.
.. He suffered a stroke and I didn't even know about it.
Akash told me today." Her voice cracked slightly.
"Shaurya... I feel like I was unfair to him.
He didn't know the truth. He didn't know you were marrying me for revenge.
He only thought about my welfare. He couldn't watch Ma torture me every day and force me to marry—"
She abruptly stopped mid-sentence. She suddenly remembered that he didn't know about that alliance. But Shaurya quietly completed it for her.
"To marry Rajat Sharma, who was ten years older than you."
Akansha looked at him sharply.
"You knew..."
It wasn't a question. Shaurya finally looked up at her.
"I didn't marry you for revenge, Akansha", he said quietly. "I married you out of love."
The words sounded heavier than he had imagined. A truth buried inside him for years had finally escaped. And strangely, the very next second, he felt lighter.
Finally.
He had said it.
For years, he had feared he would never get the chance to tell her this truth. He hated himself for making her feel unworthy, for making her believe he married her only to punish her.
He knew how deeply insulting and humiliating that must have felt for her. Akansha immediately shook her head.
"No... no. You married me for your bl**dy revenge. I know that." Her breathing turned uneven. "Don't lie to me now. Aakriti attempted su**ide again after hearing me and Suman talking in the hospital. You hated me for hurting your sister." Her eyes filled painfully.
"You told me yourself, Shaurya. You told me you were marrying me for your retribution. You said retribution was your right."
Her voice trembled.
"Don't play with me now."
Shaurya shut his eyes painfully. He had destroyed her so deeply that even the truth now sounded like manipulation to her.
For years, Akansha had cursed herself for trying to save their marriage despite believing he had married her for revenge. Not a single day had passed without her wondering if she should've walked away much earlier.
She had stayed in a marriage where she believed there was no respect for her. And now he was claiming none of it had been true?
"And that was my biggest mistake", Shaurya admitted. "Not telling you my real reason behind the marriage." He looked at her with raw regret.
"I'm sorry... so sorry that I claimed I was marrying you for revenge when that wasn't the truth. Yes, I was furious after what happened with Aakriti. But if you remember carefully, I didn't approach your family immediately after that incident."
Akansha quietly listened.
"When I came to know what happened with Aakriti, I wanted to confront you.
I wanted to ask why you did it. I wanted to hear your side too.
" He exhaled shakily. "But I was furious.
Aakriti's condition was horrible then. Every single day I watched her suffer panic attacks. She was on life support for days."
His eyes turned glassy remembering those nights.
"There were days when doctors literally told us to let her go."
Akansha felt the pain in his voice.
She genuinely couldn't understand how someone could love another person this deeply without even sharing blood with them. She had heard about such bonds before, but this was the first time she had witnessed one this intense. For Shaurya, Aakriti was everything.
Maybe even more than what her own siblings were to her.
"I was shattered", he continued. "And angry. But I didn't want to confront you while I wasn't in my senses because I knew I would hurt you. But one day, I received Akash's call."
Akansha looked up immediately.
"He told me your mother was forcing you to marry a man ten years older than you. The moment I heard what you were going through, I stopped thinking only as an angry brother."
His voice deepened emotionally.
"I was furious at your mother. That very moment I decided I wanted to get you out of that house. The day I came to ask your parents for your hand, I came there out of love. Yes, I was hurt and angry, but for some time, I wanted to keep all of that aside and think only about us."
His lips curled into a painful smile.
"I thought we would resolve everything after marriage. Your father agreed despite your mother's objections. I went back to the hospital relieved, thinking I would speak to you properly the next day."
But his expression darkened again.
"That same night, Aakriti suffered another severe attack after hearing your name. The doctor told us to stop trying... to let her go because she wasn't improving. And then Dev told her I was marrying you for revenge."
Shaurya lowered his head.
"And I agreed to it."
Akansha froze.
"I thought I would continue the act till the wedding and tell you the truth afterwards.
I was foolish enough to think you deserved that punishment for one night.
.. for what happened to Aakriti. I didn't want to lose my sister, Akansha.
She had so much hatred for you at that time that the idea of making you suffer gave her hope to survive. "
He looked disgusted with himself.
"It was wrong... but at that point, I just wanted her alive. I would've done anything to give her hope. I'm sorry. I ruined your wedding memories."
Akansha sat there silently. The bitter memories came crashing back. That night when he proposed marriage, she had seen raw anger in his eyes. Even while taking wedding vows, she had prayed desperately for his love to win over his revenge.
All the tears she shed because of him. All for something she never intentionally did. At the same time, she could understand his pain too.
If she had been in his place and something similar happened to Akash or Suman, she would've reacted far more violently. She probably wouldn't have even tried being rational.
She had hated Shaurya too when she believed he falsely accused Dilip to stop Suman's marriage. She calmed down only after learning the truth later.
But then, if he was allowed to seek revenge for his foster sister, then why had he condemned her for trying to protect her sister ?
"You didn't even know the full truth about that day", Akansha said quietly. "Yes, I said terrible things about Aakriti and I shouldn't have... but I didn't know she was there listening to us. Suman manipulated me."
Her eyes lowered guiltily.
"I agree I should've been careful with my words, especially when I was blaming someone wrongly, but I genuinely believed you and Aakriti were trying to stop my sister's wedding by lying about those chats."
She looked at him again.
"Only after returning home that day did I learn the truth when I confronted Suman about intentionally hurting Aakriti."
Then her expression hardened slightly.
"But I have a question, Shaurya." He quietly waited.
"If you're allowed to seek revenge for your foster sister's pain, then why was I wrong for worrying about my own sister's marriage?
Why did you choose to betray me when all I was doing was protecting my sister's interests while also telling Aakriti the truth that Dilip wasn't right for her? "
Her voice trembled faintly.
"Why this hypocrisy, Shaurya? Why was it justified for you to protect someone you loved like a sister, but selfish when I tried protecting my real sister?"
Shaurya remained silent for a few moments.
"I'm not defending what I did", he admitted quietly. "I was wrong for betraying you." Then he looked at her carefully. "But there's something you need to know."
Akansha frowned slightly.
"Aakriti isn't Dev's biological sister. She's mine." Her eyes widened in shock. "I'm trusting you with this secret", Shaurya said seriously. "Except Rajnath uncle, Dev, and me, nobody knows this truth. Please keep it to yourself. If this leaks, Aakriti could be killed."
Akansha stared at him in disbelief.
"You mean... you're not Mr. Shekhawat's son? That explains his hatred towards you and all those heartless acts—"
"Akansha", Shaurya interrupted immediately, already knowing where her imagination was running. "You are genuinely terrible at connecting dots, so please stop trying."
Despite the seriousness, his wife truly had horrible guessing skills.
"I'm their son. And Aakriti is their daughter too."
Akansha looked even more confused now. Then slowly, Shaurya narrated everything. How his parents wanted to get rid of Aakriti for their selfish motives. How he had saved her. How he ran to Dev's house with an infant in his arms. And how Rajnath Bisht accepted her without hesitation.
Akansha instinctively covered her mouth in horror. If Shobha Shekhawat could try killing her own newborn daughter, then trying to harm her unborn grandchild suddenly didn't feel impossible anymore.
Her heart ached painfully for Shaurya. At such a young age, he had carried unimaginable trauma just to save his sister.
And Rajnath Bisht... The respect she felt for that man increased tenfold.