Chapter 56
The next morning, Akansha was having breakfast when Shaurya hurried into the dining area. One glance at him and she understood he was already late for work.
"Are you alright?", Akansha asked immediately.
"Yeah... I'm alright. Thanks... and sorry for yesterday", he replied softly, guilt evident in his tone.
"For?", she asked, raising her brows while helping him fill his plate.
"For my tone, Akansha. I shouldn't have—"
"That's completely fine, Shaurya", she cut him off calmly.
She genuinely didn't mind it. She spoke sharply to him all the time, and he never once complained. If he lost his temper for a moment, couldn't she understand that much? Besides, he hadn't even been rude... just irritated.
"You woke up late today? Everything okay?", she asked again.
The concern in her voice warmed his heart. No matter how much she tried hiding it, she worried for him constantly.
"Yeah... I wasn't feeling sleepy, so I took a pill", he answered. It wasn't entirely a lie.
The previous night, his headache had taken hours to subside, and by the time he finally returned to bed, Akansha had already fallen asleep. He hadn't gotten the chance to apologize then.
The two continued eating in silence, but it was comfortable silence.
"Is Siya awake?", Shaurya asked after a while.
"Yes", Akansha answered curtly, instantly making him suspicious.
"Where is she? You usually bring her downstairs after getting her ready", he asked carefully.
"If you want to ask about your daughter, then better don't open your mouth", Akansha warned.
Shaurya immediately understood Siya had done something mischievous again.
"Akansha... she's just four. She doesn't know—" he began defending his daughter instinctively.
"You didn't even ask what she did... Oh God, don't tell me you knew all this time", Akansha narrowed her eyes while he awkwardly looked elsewhere.
"It's okay... I got a few new pairs anyway. I'll manage", Shaurya muttered.
Akansha frowned.
His daughter had used the tiny scissors from her play set to cut almost all his socks into pieces. Luckily, he had a few unused pairs stored in another room. He had quietly disposed of the evidence before Akansha found out.
Siya had apologized sweetly, and naturally, he forgave her within seconds. Then she requested him not to tell her mother, and he had immediately agreed. Exposing his little mischief-maker had never been part of his plan.
"Wait... pairs? What are you talking about?", Akansha asked suspiciously.
The moment the words left her mouth, Shaurya realized he had accidentally thrown his daughter straight into the lioness' den.
"What are you talking about? I was talking about the same thing", Shaurya tried confusing her with his words, but even he knew that wouldn't work.
"Shaurya! Quit the game", Akansha warned.
"What game? Akansha, what are you saying?" he asked innocently, making her huff.
"I was talking about what Siya did with the paints and watercolors you bought for her last week. God, this girl has become so mischievous", Akansha complained.
Shaurya internally froze. So she had discovered the wall.
After Siya colored a portion of their bedroom wall, he had quickly covered it with curtains and shifted a large decorative piece there so Akansha wouldn't notice. But apparently, his genius plan had failed.
What she didn't know yet was that after the wall incident, Siya had also ruined a few of his shirts, cut his socks, and lost several of his cufflinks while decorating her Barbies with them.
"Yeah... what I meant was, I have some paint left in the garage. Siya and I can repaint the wall together. Maybe she'll learn her lesson that way", he said weakly, only to realize from Akansha's expression that he had once again made things worse.
"What wall?", she asked slowly. "Did Siya paint the wall too?"
Shaurya's face paled. His little cub was definitely never forgiving him for this betrayal.
"Ah... no... not Siya. I... I was working with colors and—"
"What work do you have with colors? Were you signing files with paint brushes instead of pens?" Akansha deadpanned.
"No, I—"
"Cut the crap and tell me the entire story behind these new pairs and the wall", she ordered sternly.
Shaurya knew there was no escape now. He was already late, but his wife clearly wasn't letting him leave without answers.
"While coloring... Siya accidentally got a little paint on the wall", he stressed heavily on little.
Akansha narrowed her eyes further.
"Ohhh... so that's why the curtain suddenly appeared there and the showpiece shifted. I was wondering which idiot puts curtains over a wall unless he has completely lost it. Now I can clearly see that idiot sitting here shamelessly eating Upma", she taunted.
Shaurya instantly choked on the Upma in his mouth. Akansha calmly forwarded him the water glass while he coughed.
"The paint on the wall was fading anyway. I was thinking of repainting the room soon, so it's fine", he defended weakly.
Akansha gave him a long look.
"Beti ke pyar mein andhe ho chuke ho(you've gone blind in your daughter's love). Your lies have no limit now. Which part of this house looks faded to you? Every wall looks freshly painted except the ones your daughter put her destructive hands on", she scolded.
"She's just four years old..." he replied softly.
"Five. She turned five a few weeks ago, if you remember. And instead of reprimanding her, you're protecting her? How long have you been hiding this from me?"
Shaurya immediately avoided eye contact. No... he definitely couldn't answer that.
"I'm getting late. Can we discuss this tonight?" he asked, trying to escape.
"You're going nowhere until you answer me", Akansha said firmly.
Defeated, Shaurya slowly sat back down.
"Please..." he tried one last time.
But instead of getting angry, Akansha suddenly burst into laughter at his miserable expression. He looked as though he was betraying his daughter in the worst possible way.
"Akansha... not funny", he muttered, though a smile still tugged at his lips. Truthfully, he could spend an entire lifetime being laughed at by her and still consider himself lucky.
"Exactly. Not funny. So stop looking as if I'm asking you the toughest question in history and tell me. What did she spoil this time? Shirts? Ties? Socks? Shoes?"
"Um... why isn't Siya here yet? Isn't she going to school today? Did you punish her?" he quickly diverted the topic.
"Yes, I did. I asked her to write down good things she should do and mischievous things she shouldn't do. I'll check once this interrogation with you is over", Akansha replied.
"Don't you think that's too harsh? She'll learn with time", he defended gently.
"This is harsh? I didn't even raise my voice at her, Shaurya."
"You don't need to. Your murderous look alone scares the sh*t out of her", he muttered under his breath.
"Sorry?"
"I asked what she did to deserve that punishment", he corrected quickly.
Akansha shook her head at him.
"She colored all over the Phase 2 approval papers you signed. She has become unbelievably mischievous, and it's all because of you", she blamed at the end like always.
That line had practically become her signature dialogue now.
Everything somehow became his fault. The other day Siya accidentally spilled milk in the kitchen, and Akansha had still blamed him despite him being nowhere near the scene.
Did he complain? Never. He had waited five long years and countless sleepless nights for this domestic chaos.
"Oh... send me the final Phase 2 documents. I'll print them again, sign them, and file everything for you", he offered immediately.
"You'll redo the entire work but still won't scold your daughter? Unbelievable", Akansha huffed.
"Mumma... I'm done", Siya descended the stairs with her head hanging low.
Shaurya instantly pitied his daughter.
"Okay. I'll check. Till then sit beside Dadda and have breakfast", Akansha said.
The moment Siya heard "Dadda", she looked up and rushed toward him. Shaurya lifted her instantly, and she buried her face into his neck, sobbing quietly.
His heart physically ached every time his daughter cried, no matter how small the reason.
"Dadda... Mumma punished me... Siya is sad...", she sobbed dramatically.
"It's okay, bacha. First stop crying", Shaurya soothed her gently.
"You're getting late. Go, I'll handle her", Akansha said.
But Siya tightened her grip around his collar and crumpled his shirt while crying harder.
"No... Dadda don't go..."
"Okay, okay. I'm not going anywhere. Stop crying first", he calmed her patiently.
"Why don't you get ready for school? I'll feed her meanwhile and drop you later", Shaurya suggested to Akansha.
"No, I'll go with Jasmeet. You're already late. Leave Siya at home today. Sudha aunty will take care of her", Akansha replied before walking away.
After Siya calmed down, Shaurya slowly started feeding her breakfast.
"By punishment... did Mumma scold you?" he asked softly.
It was important he explained things properly to her. He didn't want Siya growing up viewing Akansha as the bad parent just because Shaurya never scolded her. Akansha was the best mother their daughter could ever have, and he wanted Siya to always know that.
"No Dadda... Mumma only asked me to write good things and bad things", Siya sniffled.
"Then how is that punishment? That's just an activity Mumma gave you, and see, you completed it so nicely", Shaurya explained patiently.
"But Mumma was angry because I spoiled her papers..." His little one explained why that's a punishment...
"See, because you spoiled the papers, Mumma now has to prepare everything again and get signatures from her boss. She already does so much for us, yet she didn't scold you. She only gave you an activity. Did you even say sorry properly?"
"Yes", Siya answered softly.
"Did you mean it?"
She slowly shook her head.