Unwanted [COMPLETED]

Chapter 10

Third Person's POV

Rolling the paperweight on his hand, Vikrant lets a slight smirk curve his lips. Today is Nandini's first day at the company, and he is waiting for her to walk into his office.

He arrived at the office earlier today, wanting to set everything up before she arrived.

He would have let her live in peace if she had demurely accepted her position in his life and had not been ready with that smart mouth of hers at every turn.

It was because I was being lenient on her. Enough of that now. Enough of feeling guilty for binding her in the unwanted marriage with me. It's now time to overcome all the feelings of pain, betrayal, and guilt and focus on showing everyone their proper place so no one would even dare to open their mouth in front of me, let alone cross or betray me.

Vikrant's chain of thoughts breaks when he hears a knock at the door.

"Come in," he says, knowing it is Nandini.

"You called me, Vikrant?" She asks as she enters his office.

Standing up from his chair, Vikrant walks to where Nandini is standing. He notices her take a step back as soon as he reaches her.

"I'm your boss in this office, and you are my assistant. Don't you think you need to address me properly?" He tells her stiffly.

Nandini sighs, hearing him. "Sure, Sir. Please tell me why did you call me to your office?" She asks.

"Ms. Iyer, you came to the office five minutes late today, so you'll need to stay an hour later than everyone else to make up for that time," he says, continuing before she can open her mouth to argue.

"The next thing is, as you know, one of my assistants is on maternity leave, and you have been hired for the time being as her replacement. Regarding my second assistant, well, she had been asking for a leave for a long time now, so I sent her and her whole family on a fully paid one-month vacation so she could relax properly before re-joining the office. So, now, you'll have to do the double work because I don't intend to hire anyone else to replace the second assistant. After all, I must also keep track of the company's expenses."

"Hmm, funny you didn't think of the expenses before sending your assistant and her whole family on a fully paid one-month vacation, but you are worried about hiring her replacement on the basic salary of an assistant." Nandini counters, pretending to be thoughtful.

"Ms. Iyer, I suggest you get going and complete all the pending works as soon as possible. I hired you to work efficiently, not to run that smart mouth of yours." Vikrant feels frustration mount within him due to Nandini's calm demeanor.

What if I try to—

The thought trails off in his mind as he starts stepping closer to Nandini, smirking when she visibly swallows and starts moving back.

Nandini feels the familiar fear clutch her as she gazes at Vikrant walking toward her. The way he is peering at her makes cold sweat break out over her forehead.

As she keeps walking back, his face distorts and morphs into the familiar face that had so many times walked toward her with nothing but a creepy smile on his face.

"Stop behaving like such a stuck-up bitch. You better loosen up the next time I come to visit. Otherwise, I will tell everyone that you tried to lure me."

"Don't make me laugh, Nandini. You can go out right now and tell everyone the entire truth. Then, I will also tell them my version of the truth. We both know whose truth everyone will believe, don't we?"

Nandini is snapped out of the memories of her past as she feels her back collide against the wall.

She is unable to move back further, and taking the opportunity, Vikrant immediately keeps his hands over either side of her head, making it impossible for her to escape.

"I was wondering why nothing I said affected you. Why did you always look so unbothered, no matter how rudely I behaved with you? But now, seeing you this way, I can say it was all a pretense, wasn't it? You are affected by my presence, but you don't ever let it show on your face. Right?" Vikrant asks but frowns when Nandini keeps staring at him, not saying anything.

He feels there is something wrong with her stare. It's as if she was looking through him and not at him. As if she is lost in some trance.

"Are you fine?" He asks, stepping back to give her some space.

When she doesn't answer for a while, he keeps his hand over her shoulder. "Nandini? What happened?"

Feeling the touch over her shoulder, Nandini breaks out of the horrendous memories of her past.

She immediately pushes Vikrant away and fists her hands to stabilize her trembling body.

"Don't you dare, Mr. Sisodiya," Nandini says. Her voice is low, but the tone is such that it sends a shiver down Vikrant's spine. "Don't you dare to invade my personal space ever again. I have kept up with your rudeness and blatant disrespect, but I won't tolerate it if you ever try to touch or even come close to me without my consent."

Her eyes are red with unshed tears as she glares at him. "If you ever repeat this behavior, I will tell your parents the truth about our marriage and walk out of your house. To hell with you and your reason behind marrying me. I won't care if I have to live on the streets after that. But I won't ever let anyone take advantage of me again."

She storms out of the cabin, leaving a bewildered Vikrant behind.

Once he shakes himself out of the shock of what happened just a few seconds back, he slowly walks to his chair and sinks on it.

He had gone near Nandini to intimidate her and get a reaction from her. He never intended to do anything more than that. In fact, he had been careful not to touch her when he had been close to her.

"But that reaction from her was....," he trails off, unable to figure out what exactly to call it.

He recalls how fearful she had looked, how sweat had broken out on her forehead, and how even the side of her neck had been lined with goosebumps.

He would have understood if she had been just angry. After all, he had invaded her personal space. But the fear that was admixed with her anger confused him.

"I need to find out about it," he thinks aloud, and taking out the phone from his pocket, he dials his private investigator's number.