Chapter 57 #4
"Shaurya... please don't..." she whispered, rubbing his back gently while he pressed his lips against her shoulder, trying to stop himself from speaking further.
Akansha continued rubbing his back quietly while he held her tighter, almost afraid she'd disappear if he loosened his grip.
One hug from her felt like healing to him. But the peace didn't last.
The images from that morning — those men falling at Akansha's feet, her trembling voice while describing what happened five years ago — returned violently to his mind again.
She had suffered so much.
She was right in hating him.
He didn't deserve the peace he found in her arms.
He didn't—
"Shaurya... shhh..." Akansha calmed him softly the moment she sensed his breathing turning uneven again.
She slowly broke the hug and settled in front of him on the bed, but he still refused to let go of her hand. Instead, he tightened his grip around her fingers while she rubbed his palm reassuringly.
"Shaurya..." she began quietly. "We need to find a solution to our problem. This can't continue forever." He looked at her silently. "Every problem has a solution. Every situation eventually reaches closure. I believe ours does too. We just need to figure it out."
Her voice softened further.
"Living separately or raising Siya like single parents is no longer an option. I could've happily raised her alone if you were a horrible father like Dilip Gandhi... but you aren't. You're an excellent father, Shaurya."
That alone made his eyes well up again.
"I want Siya's parents to raise her together. Neither you nor I grew up with loving parents. I don't want our daughter growing up the same way."
She looked down briefly before continuing.
"Right now she's only five. She hasn't fully noticed the distance between us yet... but soon she will. And I don't want her childhood filled with memories of bitterness between her parents."
Her voice turned thoughtful.
"Our problems won't disappear magically. They're complicated. I don't know how I'll even start thinking about solutions when I've never truly considered forgiving you before..." she admitted honestly. "But I know I need to stop holding onto my stubbornness and start thinking about real solutions—"
Shaurya cut her off immediately. Not because he disliked her words.
But because he hated hearing her call herself stubborn — as though her pain, her reactions, or her anger had ever been unreasonable.
"You were never stubborn. If anything, you were far too kind and generous", Shaurya said softly, his fingers tightening around hers.
"After everything I did, even letting me near Siya was a huge favor.
Your anger, hatred... every reaction of yours was justified.
You were never wrong in my case. If anyone destroyed our relationship, it was me. "
Akansha sighed deeply.
"Maybe my reactions were justified, maybe my complaints against you were too.
.. but even after learning truths I didn't know before, I still forced myself to hold onto my hatred for you.
Even after understanding the reasons behind your behavior, I didn't let my anger fade.
I kept reminding myself of my struggles and comparing them with yours, just so that anger wouldn't disappear with time. And yes... that was my stubbornness."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"I'm not whitewashing your sins, Shaurya.
What happened to me was wrong, and I won't ignore that.
But at the same time, I can't ignore why you did what you did either.
And don't think I'm saying all this now only because you got sick.
No... these thoughts have been running in my head for quite some time. "
She paused, wanting to see his reaction. But Shaurya simply stared at her with moist eyes.
Hope.
For the first time in years, he could hear hope in her voice regarding their future together, and it overwhelmed him so much that he couldn't even speak. He had stopped himself from dreaming of such a possibility long ago, terrified reality would crush him again.
Akansha pressed his palm gently, understanding exactly what he was feeling.
"We both still have a lot to think about, understand, and resolve before we can go back to how things once were. Maybe it will take years... maybe we may never fully become what we used to be. But we will try, Shaurya. We have to."
His throat tightened painfully.
"We still have our whole life ahead of us. We are too young to give up on happiness. And we need to live for ourselves too, not only for Siya."
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"We both have guilt to deal with. It won't be easy, but at least we're together in this now."
Shaurya silently urged her to continue with his eyes because he knew the moment he tried speaking, his voice would betray him.
"You know what I think?" she asked softly.
He raised his brows attentively.
"I think guilt lessens only when we try making the life of the person we hurt happier. For me... that's Aakriti." Her voice turned heavy. "I still can't digest the fact that a girl tried to commit s**cide because of my actions."
For the first time, she opened up fully about her guilt.
"Until then, I had never encountered someone as soft-hearted as Aakriti. People used to say my harsh words hurt them, but I never realized words could wound someone so deeply that they would think of ending their life."
"Akansha... it wasn't completely your—"
"I know", she interrupted gently. "I know it wasn't completely my fault. Dilip Gandhi manipulated everything. But I was still one of the reasons, Shaurya."
Her eyes lowered.
"Aakriti would've never been left so heartbroken if I had explained things calmly instead of dismissing her rudely.
And the way I spoke about her character in the hospital.
.." guilt instantly filled her voice, "I misunderstood her intentions, but that still didn't give me the right to degrade another woman like that. "
She swallowed hard.
"She was finally recovering. Slowly coming out of her su**idal thoughts. So imagine how deeply my words must have cut her for her to go back to wanting to end her life again."
Shaurya quietly listened.
"Honestly, if I were in Aakriti's place, I don't think I would've forgiven myself.
Yet that girl not only forgave me, she showered so much love on me and Siya.
She kept apologizing to me for asking you to deceive me.
Yes, what she did was childish and wrong, but I couldn't ignore my own mistakes either. "
Akansha looked at him steadily.
"Every time I saw you suffering because of Aakriti's health, it hurt me too. That's why I easily believed you when you said you were marrying me for revenge. Because if someone had hurt my siblings the way I hurt Aakriti, maybe I'd have also wanted to hurt them back in that moment."
She sighed heavily.
"What happened to me was wrong, and I will always seek justice for that. But at the same time, I won't run away from acknowledging my own mistakes."
Shaurya looked at her with overwhelming affection.
"There hasn't been even a single second where I regretted loving you", he said honestly. "You're incredible, Akansha."
His thumb brushed softly against her fingers.
"Yes, you should've handled Aakriti calmly. Yes, I hated how you misunderstood her and spoke about her. But I also can't ignore that you saved her from falling completely into Dilip Gandhi's trap."
A soft smile appeared on his lips while speaking about his sister.
"And Aakriti isn't the same fragile girl she once was. My sister has grown so much in these five years, and I'm proud of the woman she has become. She realized how wrong it was to ask her brother to deceive another woman, and she's genuinely guilty about it."
He paused briefly.
"And regarding the things you said about her.
.. she now understands that Dilip Gandhi created that image of her in your mind.
Then she herself came and revealed the truth about the revenge plan to you, which only worsened your opinion of her.
She understands all that now. She forgave you long ago, Akansha. "
His gaze softened further.
"And honestly? More than you, Dev, Rajnath uncle, and I are her real culprits. In our overprotectiveness, we raised her like glass. We shielded her from every difficulty and made it easy for someone like Dilip Gandhi to manipulate and break her."
A bitter smile appeared on his lips.
"We learned our lesson... just in the hardest possible way."
Akansha quietly absorbed his words before one thought resurfaced in her mind again.
"Then why didn't you or Dev go after Dilip Gandhi?"
Shaurya looked visibly taken aback. And instantly, Akansha understood there was a reason behind it. One she probably wouldn't like hearing.
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"Shaurya, sleep now", Akansha finally scolded after glancing at the time. "We've been talking for two hours."
But Shaurya looked nowhere near ready to stop.
"Please... five more minutes?" he requested almost like a child.
After six long years, she had finally spoken to him without bitterness poisoning every word, and he was terrified this softness would disappear once morning arrived. He wanted to hold onto this moment for as long as possible.
"Your five minutes have already become one hundred and twenty minutes", Akansha glared at him. "Sleep."
He instantly understood he wouldn't survive if he pushed her further right now.
"I'm not sleepy", he muttered while staring at her dupatta lying nearby.
Akansha rolled her eyes immediately.
"Grow up, Shaurya."
He simply kept staring at her until she sighed dramatically and threw the dupatta at him. A grin instantly appeared on his face as he pulled it close and inhaled her scent deeply.
"Stop showing your teeth and close your eyes", she scolded.
He obediently did exactly that. And within minutes, he was asleep. Akansha stared at him in disbelief.
"He was sleepy all along..." she muttered internally. "Drama king."
Just then her phone buzzed with Rachna's call, and panic immediately hit her.
Siya.
She quickly answered while walking slightly away so the ringing wouldn't disturb Shaurya.
"Rachna? Is Siya alright?"
"Yeah, she's fine... just refusing to sleep. Completely hyperactive. We tried everything, but nothing worked. I'm video calling you, just see this yourself."
Akansha immediately connected her Bluetooth before answering the call.
The moment the video connected, Rachna flipped the camera toward the hall where Siya was running around wildly while Dev chased her helplessly.
"He caught her five times already and took her to bed every single time, but she escapes and runs away again. Honestly, it's hilarious watching Dev suffer like this, but it's too late now, and I got worried for Siya."
Akansha burst out laughing seeing Dev almost dying after running behind a five-year-old.
"Hm... do one thing. Cover her with my scarf. I left it there earlier."
Rachna blinked. "What?"
"Trust me. It'll work."
Rachna still looked doubtful but nodded anyway.
Dev finally caught Siya again and carried her dramatically toward the children's room where Ishaan and Ivaan were already sleeping peacefully.
"Look at your sons sleeping peacefully while this devil of mine...", Akansha said
"You're lucky you're not on speaker", Rachna said dryly. "Otherwise, Dev would've started another war for calling Siya a devil."
Akansha laughed.
"I'm genuinely scared of their protectiveness towards her", Akansha admitted quietly.
Rachna's expression softened instantly because she understood exactly what she meant.
"Don't be. They learned their lesson."
Akansha nodded silently.
Dev placed Siya on the bed, but the second she tried getting up again, Rachna showed Akansha.
The moment Siya saw her mother, she froze.
"Sorry mumma..." she said quickly before lying back down obediently.
Rachna covered her with Akansha's scarf.
Dev instantly frowned.
"What is this? Use the unicorn blanket I got for my little princess."
"Shut up", Rachna snapped immediately.
Within minutes, Siya clutched the scarf tightly and fell asleep peacefully.
Both Dev and Rachna stared in shock.
"Wah", Dev pointed suspiciously at the scarf. "Is there chloroform in this?"
Rachna glared at him.
"What in the actual hell just happened?" she asked Akansha. "We've been struggling for three hours!"
Akansha chuckled softly.
"She falls asleep inhaling my scent. She's been like that since she was a baby."
"Woah..." Rachna grinned teasingly. "Where did she get such a weird habit from? Don't tell me you were like that too when you were little."
Without replying, Akansha quietly flipped the camera toward Shaurya. Rachna went speechless.
Shaurya was sleeping peacefully while clutching Akansha's dupatta tightly against his chest and face.
"That is..." Rachna blinked dramatically. "Woah. Woman, that's so intim... I mean beautiful."
Akansha quickly flipped the camera back toward herself while her cheeks turned slightly pink under Rachna's shameless teasing.
"What?" Dev immediately asked suspiciously.
Akansha instantly shook her head at Rachna, warning her not to reveal anything. If Dev learned this, Shaurya would never hear the end of it. And strangely... she wanted to protect this vulnerable little habit of his.
"It's nothing you should know... Now go, sleep", Rachna dismissed Dev immediately.
Dev nodded, rolling his eyes at his wife, who always turned bossy whenever she spoke to Akansha.
"This is why I tell you to stay away from that woman", Dev muttered before leaving dramatically.
"What did he say? Idiot..." Akansha muttered.
Rachna ignored that completely.
"No seriously, he looked so cute clutching your dupatta like that", she gushed shamelessly. "I already knew Shaurya was madly in love with you, but this is next-level obsession."
Akansha rolled her eyes.
"If he's this crazy about your dupatta, then I seriously want details about how passionately he—"
"That's enough, Rachna Bisht", Akansha cut her off immediately. "No more details for you. Go to your husband before he falls asleep."
Rachna gasped dramatically.
"Oh really? Diverting the topic now?" she teased shamelessly. "Fine. But I'll definitely get all the juicy details later."
Akansha hung up immediately before hearing anything further. After the call ended, she quietly looked toward Shaurya again.
He was still sleeping while clutching her dupatta tightly.
For a few moments, she simply stared at him before finally giving in to the urge she'd been suppressing for years.
She slowly walked toward him and gently ran her fingers through his soft hair.
The moment her fingers touched him—
"Jaan..." he muttered sleepily in his husky voice.
Akansha instantly pulled her hand back in shock. A small smile appeared on her lips. Even in sleep, he recognized her touch.
She quietly returned to her bed, lay down comfortably, and for the first time in years, sleep came to her peacefully too.