Chapter 72 #2
As he entered the living room, he saw his sister sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, popcorn in hand, curiosity in her eyes, while the TV was switched off. What was she watching then? He got his answer immediately when he saw his wife standing tall, arms crossed, staring at him with anger.
"Hi Akansha... had your dinner?" Shaurya asked, trying to stay calm and composed.
"No, her dinner was giving a press conference, so she had to stay hungry till now. Since you're here, she'll have it now," Aakriti responded, earning a glare from her brother, which she ignored completely as she continued munching her popcorn.
"If you're done with your pathetic jokes, why don't you take your popcorn tub and get out of here, bacha?" Shaurya told his sister, ending with a forced smile.
"No, I'm here to watch my lioness sister-in-law unleash her anger," Aakriti said, and Shaurya let out a sigh.
"Jaan, I'm so sorry, it just slipped out of my tongue... I...", Shaurya said, but Akansha glared at him so strongly that he fumbled and shut his eyes.
"Fine, I accept, it wasn't sudden but not planned either.
You and Mr. Subramanian are asking me to place myself as a husband material, so that it establishes my family man image, I didn't want to do it but then I gave it a thought and decided to give it a shot.
I thought of bringing up something that improves my image but whatever I said wasn't planned.
The reporters were many and I knew the session would extend but you strictly asked me to sleep for four hours at least and I promised you I would do it, and just like that, the words left my mouth, I tried damage control but it slipped out of my control, I panicked," Shaurya explained.
Aakriti laughed, but earning a glare from her brother, she shut up.
She kept wondering how her calm and composed brother, Shaurya, could panic even at the thought of potentially hurting his wife.
It was as if he had done something forbidden, and because of that, he always stayed alert, on his toes.
She saw it as his love for his wife, and it only made her feel more guilty about what she had done.
She had kept her brother away from this kind of love for five years, all because of her childish antics.
And after knowing Akansha closely now, she realized that Akansha had suffered more than Shaurya, and she couldn't forgive herself for it.
She knew her guilt wouldn't end anytime soon—maybe it was there to stay for life—but she had learned to use it to become a better person.
"Yes, I told you to improve your family man image, that doesn't mean you damage mine. You showed people as if I were a demon who tortures you", Akansha said.
"No bacha... no one would think so. You are nothing like that.
All those reels, captions—they are for fun.
Don't let them bother you. I'll warn the content creators strictly, and I'll make sure this clip doesn't circulate anymore", Shaurya said and that 'bacha' sure flipped her heart but she didn't let him see that.
"So you did see all of them... Huh?" Akansha asked.
"Some of them, Suraj showed it on our way back", Shaurya answered.
"What was your favorite one?" Akansha asked, and Shaurya was left confused. But seeing the little smirk on her face, he understood she was just joking, and he sighed in relief.
"Huh! You scared me, Akansha." Shaurya sighed in relief.
"Trust me, my intention was never to demonize you or anything like that.
I just couldn't control my reactions. The comment 'I will be in serious trouble' was made on a lighter note.
I didn't think it would blow up to this extent," Shaurya said.
"It's fine, Shaurya. These are all harmless jokes; they don't bother me. In fact, I'm enjoying them, so tell me—which one was your favorite?" Akansha asked, and Aakriti laughed at her brother's face, which still held some fear, thinking Akansha was hurt.
Shaurya snatched the popcorn tub and threw all the popcorn on her head, making her angry, and in response, Aakriti started pulling Shaurya's hair.
"Ah! It's hurting, bacha, let go. Aakriti, leave my hair," Shaurya said, whereas Akansha was busy recording these moments so that Shaurya could watch them later when Aakriti returned to her place.
Earlier, they had considered revealing the truth to Aakriti, but Shaurya didn't want to give her pain by telling her.
He decided not to tell her the truth when he saw how much Aakriti hated even the fact that Shaurya was the son of a man like Virendar Shekhawat.
He had told the same thing to Rajnath and Dev as well.
Though Rajnath was upset thinking about Shaurya, he was happy in his own way.
He didn't want to lose Aakriti—he loved her as his own.
After losing his wife, he had raised Aakriti like a princess, and even a single tear in her eyes burned his heart.
That was how much he loved her. And the thought that Aakriti would one day know she wasn't his biological daughter kept him awake at night.
Suman, who walked there to fetch water, laughed at the siblings.
Aakriti left Shaurya's hair, and Akansha brought dinner for Shaurya while the three ladies enjoyed their ice cream.
Everyone sat on the sofa, and their entertainment while they ate was the reels people made on Shaurya's press conference playing on the big screen.
Whenever they found a funny reel, they opened the comment section and laughed even more while reading them.
"Haha look at these comments... 'Bro feared the wrong opposition??' ", Aakriti read.
"Look at the 4th comment. 'He runs the state but reports at home ??' ", Suman read. "Looks like this person has CCTV cameras installed in our home, said as if he watched Jiju reporting to di," she added, earning a glare from Shaurya and Akansha.
"Haha true... Hey Suman, read this one..." Aakriti said, pointing toward the screen...
"Which one?" Suman asked.
"Scroll down, the 7th comment" Aakriti said.
"'He didn't fear controversy... he feared consequences ??' ", Shaurya read and sighed, while Suman and Aakriti burst out laughing. Shaurya glared at them, and Akansha too laughed looking at his face.
"'Bro asked media to cut it, but forgot the internet exists??'
'That 'don't telecast' had pure survival instinct ??' ", Akansha read the two comments and chuckled.
"Who are these people?" Shaurya wondered, holding his head.
"I wish Dev bhai were here, it would be so much fun..." Aakriti said.
"I agree," Suman said.
"Okay, it's late. Go to your rooms and sleep," Shaurya said, switching off the TV.
"Haw... Did you take your manager's approval before turning off the TV, jiju?" Suman asked, and Aakriti laughed, giving a hi-fi to Suman.
"Okay! Enough of your hehehe... Go and sleep," Shaurya said, and they both got up, still looking into their phones for more interesting reels, and Aakriti found one.
"Wait! What is this?" Aakriti wondered and soon started laughing...
"What?" Akansha asked...
"Haha Bhabhi... You have to see this. I'm sending it to your account, and Shaurya's account as well," Aakriti said and sent it.
Akansha watched it and started laughing out loud.
"Hey, someone show me..." Suman asked.
"Let's see this on the big screen..." Akansha said... "Shaurya, give me your phone, I'll cast it."
Shaurya quickly handed it to his wife, not knowing he would facepalm in embarrassment in the next two seconds.
On the screen was a reel with 'Why This Kolaveri Di' playing in the background.
It showed the clip of Shaurya giving his 'Home Minister' statement, followed by a clip of him sleeping on the road with alcohol in his hand, along with other pictures suggesting that Akansha didn't let him come home.
This was made using AI, with a disclaimer from the creator to comply with laws.
The three women burst out laughing while he facepalmed.
"God! Someone ask these people to stop," Shaurya said. "Okay, I'm going to freshen up. You too go and sleep," he added and walked away before they could tease him further.
Akansha also got up with a smile and asked them to sleep early. Saying this, she too dispersed to their room.
Suman and Aakriti left as well, since Suman had to go to the bank for her loan approval. She refused to let Shaurya or Akash invest in her bakery. She wanted to build it on her own, saying that if she succeeded, she would definitely take their help for expansion.
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The next two days went in work for Shaurya, as well as Mr. Subramanian, Akansha, and Aakriti.
With their efforts and the press conference, especially Shaurya's confident answers backing his policies, they had helped him regain people's trust. Everyone could see a significant shift in people's support—the negativity Shaurya had received over the past few weeks was now fading away.
It was Shaurya's birthday, and he cut the cake in front of the family at 12:00 AM midnight.
Rajnath, Dev, and Rachna came there for the cake cutting.
Akansha's family was already staying there with Shaurya.
Akansha decided to have a family dinner in the evening, and everyone agreed to give their gifts to Shaurya then.
But little Siya couldn't control her excitement and handed her gift to Shaurya at midnight.
"Is this for me? Thank you so much, my unicorn..." Shaurya said, accepting the gift from his little one's hands. His eyes shone with excitement and happiness. Even the smallest gesture from his daughter made him extremely happy.
"Dadda... Happy Birthday... I love you..." Siya said, hugging Shaurya, who took his little girl into his arms and kissed her head multiple times. Every time he held her, it felt like a miracle. Shaurya wiped his slightly wet eyes before putting his daughter down.
"Dadda... open the gift... abhi... (right now)" Siya said, followed by Harsh. "Halsh bhai helped me prepare this," she added.