Chapter 54
Shaurya and Akansha decided to prepare the cake Siya would cut at midnight themselves.
Every year, it had always been her, Richa and Akash who prepared it together.
Akansha missed her brother and best friend beside her, but at the same time, she knew she couldn't involve Richa much, considering her obsession with Shaurya's destruction.
Akansha and Shaurya had barely started preparing the cake when—
"Hope I'm not late", Akash announced, barging into the kitchen.
"You are. Now cut those fruits", Shaurya replied without even looking up from his work.
Akansha looked at her brother in surprise.
"Oh, so we're making Siya's favorite fruit cake?", Akash asked excitedly, already walking toward the counter.
"What are you doing here?", Akansha questioned suspiciously.
"My reporting boss summoned me here to help him with his daughter's birthday preparations and unfortunately, I couldn't deny him, you know", Akash replied dramatically.
Akansha rolled her eyes while Shaurya shot him a flat glare.
"It's literally a crime for any MLA, MP, minister or political representative to use an IAS officer for personal work. Do you want my political career destroyed?", Shaurya asked dryly.
Akash chuckled hearing him.
"Stop laughing and correct that statement immediately", Shaurya warned sternly.
Akash instantly raised both his hands in surrender.
"Fine. I'm here for my niece, Di", he corrected obediently.
"Better", Shaurya said with satisfaction, making the Dixit siblings smile at his cautious nature.
He was fiercely protective of his political career... the same career he had once been ready to sacrifice for her and their daughter.
Sometimes, Akansha genuinely failed to understand how effortlessly Shaurya placed her and Siya above everything else in his life without pausing for even a second.
Not everyone could walk away from a career they had built with years of relentless hard work for someone else, even if that someone was their spouse or child.
She knew she wouldn't have done that.
She wouldn't have abandoned the career she worked so hard for, not even for her spouse. A relationship demanding sacrifices that massive never felt healthy to her.
Ironically, she herself had to let go of her career as a psychologist before it could even properly begin — not because of Shaurya, but to keep herself and her daughter hidden from him.
That was the difference between them, she realized.
Even though she loved him just as deeply, she would've thought a thousand times before sacrificing her career for him... whereas Shaurya would've done it without hesitation.
But then again, she would've never deceived him the way he deceived her.
Maybe that was the cost of being loved by someone like Shaurya Singh Shekhawat. His love came vast, unconditional and terrifyingly self-destructive.
Akash started cutting the fruits but none of the pieces were of equal size and Shaurya, being the perfectionist he was, frowned almost immediately.
Without a word, he took the knife from Akash's hand and handed him the bowl of cream, tasking him to whip the cream instead.
Akash sighed dramatically, already understanding the reason.
"I really should've seen this coming the moment you said you wanted my help", Akash muttered under his breath.
Shaurya narrowed his eyes at him.
"Excuse me? What exactly do you mean by that?", he asked, still holding the knife.
"What I mean is, you're basically a master chef. You don't need either me or Di here. Why don't you prepare the cake yourself while we peacefully sit and watch TV?", Akash proposed innocently.
"If you're done uttering nonsense, start working", Shaurya replied flatly.
Akash huffed loudly.
"You used to be sweet with me. You never scolded me before. But ever since you reunited with my sister, you've slowly started becoming exactly like her", Akash complained.
Akansha instantly smacked the back of his head lightly. Akash immediately looked at her.
"Sorry Di", he apologized quickly, making her shake her head.
Shaurya leaned slightly toward him while continuing to cut the fruits.
"You hid my wife from me for five years. You knew where she was. You even knew about my daughter and still didn't tell me a single thing, despite me practically begging you. This is the punishment for all you've done", Shaurya whispered near Akash's ear.
Akash's face paled briefly before he quickly composed himself again.
He knew Shaurya would probably hold that against him forever... but he also knew he had done what was right for his sister and he didn't regret it.
"But thank you", Shaurya added quietly after a pause. Akash looked at him. "For standing beside her. I know she's your sister and whatever you did was out of love for her... still, I'll remain indebted to everyone who stood with my wife and daughter when they needed someone."
The sincerity in his tone made Akash's expression soften slightly.
Akansha looked at the two men suspiciously from the other side of the counter. She couldn't hear what they were talking about and that only deepened her suspicion further.
"Enough with the time pass, both of you", she scolded, already fed up with them.
The two men obediently returned to work.
When Akash stepped outside to bring baking paper, Akansha slowly walked toward Shaurya, who was cutting fruits with such intense concentration as if he were discovering an entirely new chemical element and would soon be awarded a Nobel Prize for it.
"Shaurya...", she called softly.
"Hm...", he hummed absentmindedly, his eyes still fixed on the chopping board.
"Thank you."
His hand froze mid-air. He slowly looked at her, genuine shock reflecting in his eyes. She knew exactly why he looked so startled.
Every year, it had always been her, Akash and Richa preparing Siya's birthday cake together at midnight. She genuinely believed she would miss that tradition this year.
But Shaurya had quietly made sure she didn't.
She also understood why Richa wasn't there and honestly, she couldn't blame him for it.
Why would he willingly invite into his home a woman who openly wished for his destruction?
Giving Richa access to his personal space was practically handing her the sword to destroy him and Akansha didn't want that either.
"What?", he asked softly, still visibly stunned.
The expression on his face irritated her slightly.
"You're reacting as if I never said 'thank you' to you before", she muttered.
He simply stared at her silently and realization slowly dawned across her face.
"I actually didn't..."
A faint, painful smile appeared on his lips.
Truthfully, he never wanted a 'thank you' from her. Neither gratitude nor apologies. But hearing it now... hearing the sincerity in her tone... softened something inside him painfully.
The shift in her behavior toward him was tiny, almost invisible to others... but for a man starved for her affection, even this much felt enough to bring peace to his battered heart.
"That's because I never gave you a reason to say it. The only thing I truly gave you was pain... enough to deserve thousands of apologies from me. Maybe you won't forgive me, but you still deserve every single apology, Akansha... and far more than that", he said softly.
"There are many things for which you deserved a thank you but I never really felt the need to say it. Maybe because... I never saw us as separate people", she admitted quietly.
His smile deepened painfully. That was how deeply she had loved him once. For her, they were never two separate individuals... they were one. And he had shattered a woman who loved him that selflessly.
"You still don't need to thank me", he whispered before adding carefully, "And... I'm sorry I couldn't get Richa here. I invited her, but she couldn't make it because of work."
Akansha stared at him in disbelief.
"You invited Richa?", she asked, completely shocked.
The fact that he would even think of doing something like that genuinely stunned her.
"Shaurya... you don't have to do things like this."
Why would he take such risks for temporary happiness?
If Richa found something she wasn't supposed to, his destruction would be brutal... and that destruction wouldn't just affect him, it would affect Siya too.
"It's okay. I would've taken preventive measures if she were to come", he replied casually.
Akansha let out an exasperated breath.
"No amount of preventive measures can stop a journalist from finding breaking news once they're allowed inside your kitchen, Shaurya. Are you out of your mind?", she reprimanded sharply.
Before he could answer, her phone buzzed with a message from Dev.
"Your dear husband invited Richa Upadhyay for Siya's midnight birthday celebration.
You have no idea what Dad and I had to do to stop her from attending.
People say even the smartest men become fools in love and now I'm witnessing it live.
Control your husband before even Dad and I become powerless to save his a**. "
Akansha instantly typed back:
"What do you mean by 'save his a**'? You're not doing him a favor, Dev. Recollect how many times Shaurya saved yours."
"Woman! Stop being offensive for one second and bring out that controlling devil side of yours. Your husband needs chains. Immediately." Dev texted back "I can't sacrifice one of my possessions again for that idiot"
Akansha rolled her eyes.
"What exactly did you sacrifice that you're crying as if you're hit with period cramps???", she typed back irritably.
"Only a breaking news can lure Richa Upadhyay away from the invitation your husband sent. Since no breaking news was available, I had to leak one from my saved collection against my enemies."
Akansha sighed reading that.
If Dev was whining this much, then the news he sacrificed must've genuinely been valuable.
While Akansha remained busy glaring at her phone, Shaurya stood there staring at her openly once again.