Chapter 11
Reeva
“Shaurya?” My lips tremble, my heart lurching painfully inside my chest. “Please… tell me my baby is all right.”
“Our baby is fine,” he says at last.
My eyes flutter shut as relief rushes through me.
“Thank God,” I breathe.
“The doctors want to keep you under observation for a few more hours.”
“I am fine.” I shake my head weakly before meeting his gaze. “Please tell them I want to be discharged.”
He doesn’t acknowledge my request. Instead, his expression hardens. “So you knew you were pregnant.”
Every nerve in my body pulls taut. The relief vanishes, replaced by a cold wave of dread.
Damn. He knows.
The one truth I had been desperate to hide until our divorce was final is out, and the accusation burning in his eyes tells me there is no escaping what comes next.
“When were you planning to tell me?” he asks, every syllable edged with restrained fury.
I remain silent, my fingers tightening around the bedsheet as I lower my gaze. No explanation feels safe enough to voice. How can I admit that I wasn’t planning to tell him at all?
My silence stretches between us, becoming an answer of its own.
“Were you even planning to tell me that you were carrying our child, Reeva?” His voice rises sharply as he surges to his feet, sending the chair scraping across the floor. “Answer me, damn it!”
I flinch at the sudden force of his anger but force myself to meet his gaze.
“Will you please calm down? You’re scaring me.”
Shaurya drags a hand over his face before looking back at me. The anger in his eyes hasn’t disappeared, but when he speaks again, his voice is lower.
“You weren’t going to tell me, were you?”
I know I have to answer him. I cannot keep hiding behind my silence, not when the truth is already standing between us. But I refuse to let his anger intimidate me. I have to remain strong, for both myself and my baby.
Drawing in a shaky breath, I say, “I… didn’t think you had the right to know.”
His eyes narrow as he stares down at me. “The right? You are carrying my child, Reeva. How could you possibly decide that I had no right to know my own baby existed?”
“The same way you decided I had no right to know the truth about my own marriage,” I fire back. “So don’t stand there and demand the honesty you never gave me.”
“You’re right. I hid the truth from you.
I betrayed your trust.” Pain flickers across his face before disappearing beneath a mask of steel.
“But what I did to you does not justify what you were prepared to do to me. You were going to let me live my entire life without ever knowing that our child existed.”
I hold his gaze despite the pain tearing through my chest. “Enough, Shaurya. Stop accusing me as though I committed some unforgivable crime against you. If anything, I did you a favour.”
“A favour?” he repeats, visibly stunned. “You call hiding my child from me a favour?”
“Yes. A favour to both of us, in fact.” My fingers tighten around the hospital blanket. “You never wanted a child with me, Shaurya. You never even entered this marriage wanting a life with me. I was simply the easiest means of reclaiming what belonged to your family.”
Tears burn my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall.
“So I removed myself from your life before this baby could become another obligation binding you to a woman you chose as part of a strategy rather than love. And as for me, I couldn’t return to a marriage where I no longer believed a single word you said.
More than anything, I refused to let my child grow up surrounded by lies, resentment, and bitterness. ”
My voice fractures as I lower my gaze to my trembling hands.
“This baby deserves better than two parents who can no longer trust each other.” I lift my eyes and meet his.
“You once told me that I was simply caught in the crossfire of your revenge. I will not allow my child to become collateral damage in a marriage where love has already been destroyed.” Tears sting my eyes, but I refuse to look away.
“You failed to honour the promises you made as a husband, so forgive me if I cannot blindly trust that you will keep the ones you make as a father.” My fingers tighten around the blanket.
“So yes, Shaurya, by keeping my pregnancy from you, I was doing both of us a favour and protecting my child from being raised in the ruins of the marriage you destroyed.”
“Our baby,” he corrects, his voice low but fierce. “Ours.”
His gaze drops to my stomach before lifting back to my face.
“You may believe our marriage is beyond saving, but that does not give you the right to plan our child’s future as though I don’t exist. Yes, I failed you as a husband, Reeva, but you sure as hell don’t get to decide that I will fail as a father before you have even given me the chance to become one. ”
His eyes burn into mine as he steps closer and leans over me, bracing his hands against the mattress on either side of my body and caging me between his arms. “I am this child’s father, and you have no right to take that away from me, no matter how deeply I hurt you.”
“Yes, you are the father, and I cannot change that. But it doesn’t change the fact that we will soon be divorced.
Your mother has already made it clear that she intends to find you another wife, someone she believes is worthy of you.
You can build a new life with her and have all the children you want.
” I close my eyes briefly, no longer possessing the strength to keep fighting.
“But please stop arguing with me and accept that you no longer have a place in either of our lives.”
“Didn’t you hear me? There will be no other wife,” he says, his voice dropping to a possessive growl.
“No other woman. No replacement family. And no future child could ever make me forget the one we created.” His eyes burn into mine.
“Get one thing straight. Neither my mother nor you gets to decide who stands beside me. Only I do. You are my wife, Reeva. This is our child. Neither of you can ever be replaced.” He exhales harshly.
“So don’t confuse our broken marriage with my place in our child’s life.
I will not walk away from our baby.” He straightens but remains beside the bed, his voice falling into a lethal calm.
“And as for the divorce you’re so certain about, there will be no fucking divorce either. ”
His declaration sends my heart slamming painfully against my ribs.
“You… you signed the papers,” I stammer.
“We made a deal. I gave you Rajmahal in exchange for my freedom. You don’t get to take that freedom away from me now.
” I press a protective hand over my stomach as panic coils inside me.
“And I will not let you use this baby as another chain to keep me trapped in a marriage that has already shattered me.”
“Watch me.” His expression turns terrifyingly cold as he folds his arms across his chest. “I will call my lawyers this minute, withdraw my consent, and contest the divorce. And if I have to stand in family court every day to stop you from cutting me out of our child’s life, then that is exactly where I will be. ”
A shiver races through me. “You wouldn’t dare.”
His gaze doesn’t waver. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do for our child.”
“Then prove it by choosing peace,” I plead, my voice trembling despite my attempt to remain strong.
“Let me raise our baby without turning an innocent child into the final battlefield in the war between us.” My hand presses more firmly against my stomach.
“If you truly want what is best for our baby, then you must understand that growing up in one peaceful home with one loving parent is far better than watching both parents destroy each other inside a broken marriage.”
“Our baby will not grow up without a father,” he grits out.
“And don’t you dare tell me that being raised by one parent is what is best. You told me yourself how deeply you missed having your parents while growing up.
You said that when we had children, you would make certain they knew the love of both a mother and a father. ”
“Don’t use the loss of my parents against me.” I swallow past the ache closing around my throat. “Yes, I wanted my child to have both parents, but that was before I discovered the truth about your intentions.”
“Too bad, Reeva,” he says with terrifying finality. “We are not getting divorced, and our child will grow up with both parents under the same roof.”
A broken sound escapes me, half sob, half anguished groan.
“You cannot force me to remain married to you. That is insane, Shaurya.”
“Insane is hiding your pregnancy from the father of your child.” He throws his hands up. “Hell, Reeva, did you honestly believe I would never find out?”
“How exactly would you have found out?” I fire back. “The only reason you know is because I collapsed. If that hadn’t happened, you would never have known.”
His entire body goes rigid. “I don’t even know why I am surprised. My mother was right about you after all. You are Arvind Singhania’s daughter. Deception really does run in your blood.”
My mouth falls open as fury surges through me. “Think whatever the hell you want about me. But I will not remain married to you.”
“I will not lose my child.” He leans over me again, and before I can react, his palm settles against my still-flat stomach.
His eyes lock with mine. “If you remain determined to divorce me and cut me out of our baby’s life, then the moment this child is born, I will fight you for full custody.
I will use every lawyer, every resource, and every rupee I possess to win. ”
“H-how can you even say that?” I stammer, horror stealing my breath. “No court would take a baby away from its mother without reason.”
His expression turns chillingly cold. “Do you know who I am, Reeva?”
A shiver races down my spine as adrenaline floods my body.
“You have no idea how far I am willing to go to protect my place in our child’s life,” he continues.
“I will not rest while you attempt to erase me. If you try to disappear with our baby, I will find you. I will tear apart every plan you make to keep me away, and I will not stop until our child is under my roof and my protection.” His hand remains firmly over my stomach.
“Understand this, Reeva. I am not a man you can shut out of his own child’s life. ”
I stare at him with wide eyes as fear floods every part of me.
Is he right? Could he actually take my baby away from me?
No. I need to speak to a lawyer. I need to find a way to ensure he can never take my child from me.
“You can choose to raise this baby with me, or you can force me to fight for the right to raise our child myself,” he says coldly.
“But taking my child and disappearing is no longer an option. So choose wisely, Reeva. Don’t force me to become an enemy you will spend the rest of your life regretting. ”
My entire body trembles. Before I can think, my hand flies across his face.
The sharp crack of the slap echoes through the room, snapping his head to the side as a red mark begins to bloom across his cheek.
“How dare you threaten to take my baby away from me?” My voice shakes with fury.
Shaurya slowly turns his face back towards me, the red imprint of my hand stark against his cheek. “I told you, there is nothing I won’t do for my child.”
“If you so much as try to force me into staying with you, I will challenge the transfer of Rajmahal,” I warn. Tears spill down my cheeks, but I wipe them away angrily, refusing to let him see how terrified I am.
“You think I want Rajmahal more than I want my child?” His eyes narrow, dangerous anger burning within them.
“Yes,” I answer without hesitation. “You are so obsessed with reclaiming that place that you have abandoned every trace of human decency.”
“You’re right,” he says, straightening. “But know this, I may have allowed my obsession with Rajmahal to cost me my wife, but I will not allow it to cost me my child too.” His gaze hardens. “The rules of the game changed the moment I learned about our baby.”
“Our baby is not a game, Shaurya,” I say fiercely. “This child is not another piece you can move across a chessboard to secure your victory.”
“No, our baby is not a pawn. What I am saying is that Rajmahal no longer gives you any leverage over me. Challenge the transfer if you want. It changes nothing. Our child will inherit the palace from whichever of us owns it.” His expression hardens.
“Rajmahal will return to the Rajvansh family one way or another. But for the first time in my life, that is no longer my primary concern. Ensuring that I have a place in our child’s life is. ”
I grind my teeth together. “Of course. You have everything worked out, don’t you?”
“No,” he says bitterly. “I have nothing figured out where you and I are concerned, Reeva. But I know one thing. I will not lose my child.”
His words settle around me like invisible chains. I had believed those signed papers would finally give me my freedom. But now, carrying his child, I realise there is no document in the world powerful enough to make Shaurya let me go.