Chapter 140 - 139

Charan unbuttoned his cuffs and folded his sleeves to his elbows and entered the kitchen. He opened the shelf and took out the rice. He wanted to make some rice porridge. Since she was sick, it was not good for her to have anything spicy or oily. But then it was not going to be anything short of waging a war feeding her this. But then he thought he will cross that hurdle when the time comes.

For now, he just made the porridge and put the stove on simmer and went back to the bedroom. When he entered, he found her sleeping all over again. But this time around, she was sleeping straight with her head out of the blanket. He took the remote and slightly increased the air conditioner temperature.

He then felt her forehead against his palms. He found that she was running quite a bit of temperature. So he went to the bathroom and brought a bowl of cold water with a towel. He kept the water on the bedside table and dipped the towel in them and wiped Shreya's face with them first.

Shreya's stirred on her sleep and opened her eyes. When she saw Charan beside her, all her previous resentments poofed into thin air and she crawled on to his laps and snuggled in instantly.

Charan's lips twitched as he caressed her forehead gently. "Now come on. Get up. Let's get you cleaned up a little bit and then I will bring you something to eat…"

But of course, Shreya refused to move from her place. And Charan did not waste much effort in trying to coax her. He just picked her up and went straight to the bath and sat her on the counter. He then helped a very begrudged Shreya wash her mouth and face. And then brought her back the same fashion. Even though she was sulking for being manhandled, she still seemed reluctant to let him go this time around.

"I will be back okay… I am just going to bring you something to eat…" Charan said pecking her forehead and left the room. But as promised, he came back a few minutes later with a bowl of porridge, and Shreya's face instantly became sour.

"I am not hungry…" She said determined and laid back in bed facing away from Charan.

Charan let out a deep sigh and mentally prepared himself. But even after a lot of coaxing and sweet talking, she only had about 4 spoons worth of porridge. And at last, out of desperation, he resorted to threats, "Shreya, are you going to eat this now or should I leave??" he asked sternly.

Shreya instantly sat up with panicked eyes that made his heart twist.

"I will eat… I will eat… please just…" But she did not have the chance to complete that sentence since Charan spooned the porridge and delivered it straight to her mouth.

And thankfully she ate everything very obediently from thereon without a single voice of complaint. Once she was done eating, Charan went and brought her the tablet.

Shreya's gave it a look as if she was facing an ancestral enemy.

Charan chuckled but then gave her a stern look and said, "Shreya… Be good."

She looked at his with pitiful eyes begging but then still opened her mouth very obediently. Charan then tucked her in and gave a peck on her temple and said softly, "You get some sleep now okay?? I will just be outside. You need something, just holler okay??"

Shreya's eyes widened as she grabbed his hands sitting up and whined again, "You said you will stay if I ate everything obediently right?? Then why are you leaving now??"

Charan kept a hand over her head and explained, "I am not going anywhere Shreya. I am just going to be in the living room okay?? I still have some work to finish. If I stay here and do, you won't be able to rest properly. So, be good and sleep okay?? I will come once I am done with my work okay??"

Shreya made an aggrieved face and hugged his torso and said frantically, "You just work here… I won't disturb you. I will stay quiet. I will be obedient. Promise."

Charan relented without really having the heart to protest.

"Okay, I will go freshen up and get my things and come okay?? You lie down now…"

Shreya reluctantly let go and laid down. But she did not really close her eyes. Her eyes followed his every move carefully.

By the time Charan cleared up all the dishes and freshened up and came back to the room, it took more time than anticipated. He thought Shreya would be asleep by now but to his surprise, she was still wide awake.

"Why are you not sleeping yet??" Charan asked sitting on the other side of the bed with his laptop powered on.

Shreya did not answer, instead asked, "Did you eat??"

"Yea… I had dinner before coming over with the guys back at office…" He replied typing away on his computer.

Shreya stayed quiet after that but she did not close her eyes. She kept her eyes trailed of him as if afraid he would disappear or something.

Charan saw this and did not know whether to laugh or cry at her behavior. He did not have this much trouble even with Akira when she got sick. Akira always tried to be sensible and never bothered him even when she was sick. She will be very obedient and eat whatever he gave her and will also swallow the medicines without much fuzz. But he did not have the heart to scold her so he just said, "Come here"

Shreya scooted over smiling away happily. He rested her head over his laps and said softly, "GO to sleep now."

He then patted on her back until she fell asleep. He then slowly shifted her back to her original position before going back to work.

Thankfully when she woke up the next morning, she felt much better but then when she looked around, Charan was nowhere to be seen. When she strolled out, she found a flask and medicine in the dinner counter with a sticky note that read, "You better eat them obediently or else I won't bring Akira over for a week!!"

"As if you can stop your daughter," Shreya thought, rolling her eyes. But she still ate everything as instructed.

And by the time Charan brought Akira over that evening, Shreya was already kicking and working away on her laptop.