Chapter 73 #4
Soon, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom in the penthouse. He moved effortlessly, easing her earlier doubts, though she didn't correct her earlier statement. He, however, understood exactly what she was thinking.
"You still have doubts about me getting old? If so, I can prove otherwise," he said, placing her gently on the bed and hovering over her.
"No... you don't need to prove anything. But that doesn't mean I changed my opinion," she said.
"Liar," he said and started tickling her.
"Hahaha... Shaurya... please... okay... okay I agree!" she said between laughter and breathlessness.
"What? Say it," he insisted, still tickling her but slightly easing up.
"Okay... okay... you're not old... not old!" she finally gave in.
He stopped.
He moved slightly away, realizing he was on top of her and putting his weight on her, but she held his forearms.
"I'm also not old yet... I can bear your weight," she said with a small smile.
He leaned his forehead against hers and gently kissed her again. Her hands fisted his hair while his hands rested softly on her upper body.
After a few minutes, he broke the kiss slowly and lay beside her, ruffling her hair gently. He looked at her, and her eyes were filled with love—for him.
"I love you, Akansha... I always have," he said.
"I know... I always have," she replied, pulling him into a hug, holding him through his emotional rush.
They then talked about general things. Shaurya asked if she was managing the CR committee well along with her workload as his political advisor and her coordination with Mr. Subramanian.
Akansha nodded and assured him that with Mr. Subramanian and Aakriti handling most of the work, she was able to manage the CR committee properly.
-----------
Days passed.
Akansha was feeding Siya while Suman fed Harsh. The room was calm until Akansha's phone rang. The number looked like a public telephone. She frowned slightly and picked it up.
The moment she heard the voice, her expression changed instantly.
"Ak... Akansha aunty..."
She straightened up at once. She recognized it immediately.
"Sneha... how are you? Is everything alright?" Akansha asked, her tone softening.
"Yes aunty... Mumma and I are fine. I didn't know if your number still works, so I thought I'd try..."
"Oh! I didn't change my number, Sneha. You can call me anytime on this number," Akansha said gently.
"Yes aunty..." Sneha replied.
Akansha could sense it immediately—hesitation. The girl was holding something back.
"Sneha... how is school? And... is your mumma working?" she asked.
There was a pause.
Sneha understood the intent behind the question.
"Akash uncle came home a few months after Shekhar was arrested," Sneha said.
Akansha's expression tightened slightly. The way Sneha referred to her own father by name instead of "dad" told her everything she needed to know. She silently acknowledged the strength it took for a child to speak like that.
"Uncle said he escaped the police, and because it happened due to negligence from the police department, they've sanctioned a fixed amount for us until he is found. So... we don't face financial difficulties," Sneha continued.
"That's good," Akansha said. "Don't worry. Even after he is found, he will go behind bars for what he did to you and your mumma."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, aunty..." Sneha said slowly.
Akansha's grip on the phone tightened slightly.
"I... I wanted to know if he will ever return. If the police will ever find him," Sneha asked.
There was something in her tone—she already knew more than she was saying.
"Sneha?" Akansha called carefully. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm not stupid, aunty," Sneha said quietly. "I saw how protective the CM sir became about you at the police station that day. I didn't understand it then because I was scared... but later, when I found out you're his wife, I understood everything."
Akansha didn't interrupt.
"I just want to know... is my father ever coming back? Will I ever see him again?" Sneha asked.
There was a long pause.
"Do you want to?" Akansha asked finally.
The answer came immediately.
"No. Never, aunty."
The hatred in that single sentence was sharp enough to cut through the silence.
Akansha closed her eyes for a moment, absorbing it.
"Go home, Sneha," she said gently. "Take care of yourself and your mumma. You'll be fine. I'll make sure of that. I'll come meet you soon."
"Okay aunty... bye."
The call ended.
Akansha sat still for a moment, the weight of it settling in her mind.
Where was Shekhar?
That question refused to leave her head.
She knew exactly who could answer it—but she didn't want to call him. So she called her bother instead.
Akash picked up after several rings.
"Di?"
"Where is Shekhar?", Akansha came directly to the point.
"What? Who?", Akash pretended
"Don't lie to me," Akansha said immediately. "I know what you're doing."
"Yaar di... what are you talking about?" he replied, attempting innocence.
"Listen carefully. I will find out the truth soon. And if I find out you know where Shekhar is, and you're hiding it from me, I swear I will end you."
There was a pause.
"Di... now you're using this kind of language with your little brother?" Akash tried to joke.
"My little brother is not so little anymore," she shot back. "He's grown up enough to help his brother-in-law kidnap people."
"Yaar di—don't say that out loud, people will think it's true," he said quickly. "Trust me, I don't know where Shekhar is."
Akansha didn't respond.
She hung up.
Frustration lingered in her expression as the call ended.
-----------
Shaurya came home, and he was in a surprisingly good mood despite his hectic schedule.
Things between him and his wife had been going too well lately.
These days, she no longer got angry or upset with him in the usual sense—yes, she still spoke rudely to him, gave him commands, but he enjoyed all of it.
In fact, he would find it alarming if she stopped doing any of that.
"Hey! I'm back early today! How was your day? Did the kids sleep? Where are Suman, Aakriti and others?" Shaurya asked as he walked into their room and saw Akansha sitting on the sofa, scrolling her phone.
These days, whenever she had free time, she kept scrolling through her phone from different accounts, monitoring public response—a habit she had picked up from Mr. Subramanian.
"Shaurya..." she yelled angrily.
"It's 10:30 at night, what's with that energy? Slow down... and ask questions you actually need answers to, not casual ones. I'm in no mood to entertain your stupid questions," she said.
Shaurya nodded immediately, lowering his energy.
He had expected this outburst. It was normal for them.
They often bantered like this, and whenever he threw a rapid series of questions at her—especially at night—she got irritated.
At night, Akansha usually remained in a calm, focused state, often on calls or reviewing things, while he, being a politician, remained active and high-energy even at late hours, which sometimes irritated her.
"Did the kids sleep?" he asked again, more carefully.
"Yes," she replied. "Siya and Harsh wanted to wait for you.
They made some crafts today—teacher told them to.
They wanted to show you, but I made them sleep.
After freshening up, have your dinner, and then I'll show you their crafts.
Write a note for them about how you liked it—they'll be thrilled. "
"Woah! How come you're this smart... I love you ????," he said, sending her a flying kiss.
"If you don't lower your energy, I might kill you the next second," she replied.
He immediately nodded.
He already knew Suman would be in her room working on her bakery plans. These days she was busy selecting interiors after her loan got approved, and the groundwork was about to begin soon.
Aakriti was likely asleep by now after working the entire day. He had spoken to her in the afternoon when she sent him a post she had made about women empowerment initiatives taken by his government.
Akansha's parents were also probably asleep at this hour.
So he didn't ask anything he already knew the answers to.
But there was one question he thought he knew the answer to—but didn't.
How was her day?
He freshened up, had dinner, saw the crafts Siya and Harsh had made, and wrote notes for them.
Then he went to their room and kissed them on their foreheads carefully, trying not to wake them.
Harsh was a deep sleeper, but Siya was a light sleeper like him, so he literally had to just gently blow air in place of a kiss, worried she might wake up.
He returned to their room and got into bed, ready for some quiet chitchat with his wife before sleep.
"Come... let's sleep..." he said.
She glared at him.
Warning bells rang in his head—but he ignored them.
"Where is Shekhar?" she finally asked that one question that's eating her from that afternoon.