Chapter 59
Shaurya and Akansha returned home along with Akash and Shaurya's personal team.
Dev wanted to accompany them, but he didn't want to raise unnecessary suspicions in anyone's mind, even if the staff were trustworthy.
He knew very well that when people encountered difficult times, even trustworthy individuals started feeding stories to the media for popularity, money, or whatever benefit they could gain.
He didn't want to risk either his image or Shaurya's because of that.
Moreover, Dev was upset with Shaurya, and he didn't want to burden his friend further with his emotions. So instead, he kept coordinating with Akansha to know about Shaurya's condition.
He also regretted the way he spoke earlier about Shaurya's love for Akansha. He knew his words might have hurt her.
Truthfully, Dev never had any issue with Akansha. He loved her like family. His only issue was Shaurya's complete lack of caution whenever it came to her.
That man could throw himself under a bus for her without a second thought.
The things that usually mattered the most to Shaurya stopped mattering the moment Akansha entered the picture — his career, state development, people... even Dev, for that matter.
Shaurya stepped inside the house only to find the hall decorated with unicorn balloons and toys, while the welcome board was covered with unicorn stickers from top to bottom.
A chuckle escaped him at his daughter's obsession with unicorns, and somewhere along the way, he himself had started loving them too.
"Dadda.... Welcome home ????", Siya cheered excitedly, and just like she had instructed earlier, the househelp, along with Mrs. Sudha, blasted the party poppers, making Shaurya smile widely.
Mrs. Sudha performed his 'Aarti' before he entered properly.
Shaurya pulled Siya into his arms and thanked her for the surprise, earning a proud grin from the little girl when he praised the arrangements.
Soon, the father and daughter settled on the sofa while Siya excitedly narrated who all had helped her with the decorations, and Shaurya listened to every single detail carefully.
Akansha silently smiled watching them.
She was glad Siya had inherited Shaurya's habit of acknowledging everyone's efforts. The little girl never took sole credit for someone else's hard work, and she had clearly learnt that from her father.
"He is coming back from the hospital where he got admitted because of his own negligence in the first place, but look at his daughter welcoming him as if he returned after winning a war", Dev muttered over the video call.
Akansha couldn't agree more.
"Exactly what I wanted to say. I seriously can't tolerate these two anymore", she muttered back.
Dev was on a video call with Akansha because Ishaan and Ivaan desperately wanted to see how Siya welcomed Shaurya home. The kids had apparently been planning this for days.
"And you know what these idiots told me when I asked why they were so interested in seeing Siya welcome her Dadda?", Dev continued, irritation evident in his tone.
Akansha already started smiling.
"They said they wanted to learn how to welcome me whenever I return from the hospital. My idiot sons literally want me hospitalized so they can decorate the house like Siya did."
Akansha burst out laughing hearing him.
"Woman! You are bl**dy laughing? They are your students, teach them some manners", Dev complained irritably.
Shaurya looked at her in amusement as her laughter filled the hall.
Only then did Akansha realize they weren't alone in the room and that several staff members were still around.
She cleared her throat immediately.
"Okay, I'll talk to you later. And yes, try solving your problems yourself.
It's not good to complain to your children's teacher all the time.
Ultimately, teaching manners to your children is your responsibility", Akansha replied smugly before disconnecting the call, fully satisfied after seeing Dev's annoyed face.
She walked over and sat beside Shaurya and Siya while the staff dispersed after Shaurya thanked them for helping Siya with the arrangements.
"Dadda... that doctor uncle again tloubled you?", Siya asked worriedly.
"Why do you ask that, baby?", Shaurya questioned instead.
"He said he would send you in the molning, but you came in the aftlnon. It's 2:30, I already ate my lunch too", Siya pointed out while looking at the clock proudly.
They were supposed to return home in the morning itself, but after Shaurya's headache got triggered again, Dr. Chauhan suggested a few additional tests before discharging him, and that delayed everything.
Akansha dared Shaurya to say anything against the doctor, and he visibly gulped before immediately deciding to change the topic.
"Impressive. You got the time right. Who taught you that?", Shaurya asked.
His daughter couldn't read the clock earlier.
"Hehe, thank you, Dadda. Dev uncle taught me", Siya replied proudly.
Shaurya nodded with a smile, but it dimmed slightly as his recent unpleasant conversation with Dev flashed in his mind.
"Dadda, tell me na... did Doctor uncle tlouble you?", Siya asked again.
Shaurya immediately looked at Akansha. He badly wanted to complain to his daughter, but unfortunately, he feared his wife far more.
"Oh, Totli, first learn the correct pronunciation. It's trouble, morning, and afternoon", Akansha corrected teasingly.
Siya instantly pouted at her mother for making fun of her.
Akansha chuckled at her daughter's offended expression before pulling her into her arms and kissing her cheeks lovingly.
"My baby... my Siya bear, doctor uncle didn't trouble Dadda. Like I told you earlier, he is only taking care of Dadda so that he never falls sick again and can play with you for a very long time", Akansha explained softly.
"Ohhh! Then doctor uncle is nice, mamabear", Siya concluded seriously.
Shaurya immediately gave Akansha a betrayed look.
The only person sympathizing with him in this house was Siya, and now even she had switched sides.
"Yes, baby, he is nice", Akansha replied deliberately.
Siya nodded in agreement.
After spending some more time in the hall, Akansha followed Mrs. Sudha to prepare soup for Shaurya as advised by the doctor.
Since he had already eaten lunch before leaving the hospital, she decided to give him some time before serving it.
While preparing the soup, she carefully explained Shaurya's dietary restrictions and meal preferences to Mrs. Sudha.
Meanwhile, Siya continued playing in the hall while Shaurya and Akash discussed work.
Mr. Sharma was present too, but the moment Akansha walked in carrying Shaurya's soup tray, Shaurya dismissed him for the day. Akash too stepped away with Mr. Sharma to discuss some pending work.
Administratively, Mr. Sharma was a superior to Akash, while functionally, he reported directly to Shaurya just like Mr. Sharma.
Shaurya quietly finished the soup while Akansha watched him carefully.
Once he was done, she asked him to go upstairs and rest, but Shaurya requested an hour to finish some urgent work.
Akansha sighed softly before nodding in defeat.
She knew very well that if he left his work incomplete, he would only end up stressing himself more, which was exactly what the doctor had warned against.
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After taking a detailed brief from Mr. Sharma, Shaurya connected with the respective department heads over calls whenever he noticed any red flags in the reports handed to him.
After assigning deadlines and instructing them to complete the pending work without further delays, he finally walked to his room to rest.
But even then, his mind refused to rest.
Shaurya lay there questioning his decision all over again.
They had messed up the work. Deadlines were missed, and some crucial projects in the state had already been affected within just three days of his absence.
If this was the condition when he was away only for a few days, then what would happen if he stepped away permanently?
Dev would definitely take time to understand the complete functioning of the administration, and until then, there would already be irreversible damage done.
Because of a few incompetent people, the state would lose the pace of development and progress it had achieved over the years.
And for the first time, Shaurya truly understood the governance gap they had unknowingly created.
He might have done a lot for the state. He might have accelerated growth, reduced unemployment to record levels, and transformed the state into one of the top performers in education, digitalization, industrialization, agriculture, and several other sectors.
But he was far from perfect. He never truly focused on institutional automation.
Yes, he had initiated procedures for it, but he never concentrated enough on implementing them completely. Even now, most departments remained heavily dependent him for every significant approval or push required to move projects ahead.
And that wasn't healthy governance.
If the Chief Minister stayed away from office for merely three days and projects started missing deadlines, then the system itself had failed somewhere.
And somewhere, that failure belonged to him too.
In his desperation to ensure perfection for the state, he had taken too many responsibilities onto his own shoulders. It yielded results, yes, but at what cost?
Everyone had become accustomed to depending on him — waiting for him to decide, approve, intervene, or take the final call.
And that would eventually make things difficult for whoever succeeded him.
Shaurya decided then and there that before anything else, he would work on reducing the system's dependency on him without compromising the quality of governance.
There were many competent officers in the administration, people far more knowledgeable and capable than him in their respective domains. He simply had to identify them properly and begin streamlining and automating governance.