𝓑𝓻𝓸𝓴𝓮𝓷.

Chapter- 14

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Vihaan ~

I reclined in my chair and gazed at the document before me, my fingers twitching. I had spent the entire week working on this case, but all I could think about was her. About Shivanya.

I had spent years watching her from a distance, admiring her professionalism and along with that, the fierce independence that she carried with herself. For three years, I had been captivated by her with everything I had.

She surprised me by accepting the wager I had thrown at her last night because she rarely makes snap judgements, but it did end up working out in my favour, so I had nothing to complain about.

I had ten days to make her come running into my arms, ten days to show just how much I was in love with her but I was also aware that at every step, she would resist me, challenge me and I was looking forward to that.

But this wasn't just about winning. If it were, I wouldn't have bothered. No, this was about her. I wanted her heart, her mind, her fire—all of it and I wanted her to have me.

That is why I had arranged for a private meeting with her, here in the office.

"Miss Chopra is here sir, should I let her in?" I nodded at my assistant and just as soon, I heard the familiar click of her heels against the marble floors.

Shivanya entered the room with her usual no-nonsense attitude, her eyes scanning the space before they landed on me, her brow slightly furrowed. "Mr. Raichand," she said, her tone professional, guarded. "You wanted to see me?"

I pushed away from the desk, walking slowly toward her, closing the distance between us. "I did," I said, my voice low, controlled. "Have a seat Miss Chopra."

Her eyes narrowed slightly, that familiar suspicion creeping into her expression. "Is this about the case?" she asked, though I could tell she already knew it wasn't.

"No," I said simply. "This is not about work."

I motioned to the coffee table at towards the corner of the room. She glared at me first, then looked between the couch and me back and forth, still deciding to sit or not for good few seconds before sighing and turning around to leave.

"Shivanya, wait." I called after her and she stopped in her tracks, her back still turned to me, tension visible in her posture.

She hesitated for a second but finally as she turned, her eyes were filled with frustration and curiosity. "You have ten days, Sir," she said. "Ten days to try whatever it is you think will work. But I'm not here for your games. I have work to do."

"If you think that this is a game I am playing with you Shivanya, then perhaps, I might have to make one thing clear. I am not a man who plays games with women and this wager, which you think of as a game, is not, not one for me. I have been in love with you for a while and I am not afraid to admit it. But I am not oblivious either. I know that you are in love with someone else and in your heart, I have no room, not yet at least, but please Shivanya, please give me this one chance to try." For the first time in my life, I laid my soul bare in front of someone, before the woman I have been so long in love with, and it felt liberating.

She stared at me, unblinking, her eyes sharp and unreadable as ever. Her lips parted slightly as if she was about to say something, but then she closed her mouth and crossed her arms instead. This was her defensive gesture, one I had come to recognise. She was not used to being cornered emotionally, especially not by someone like me. "You don't know me as well as you think you do, Mr. Raichand," she finally said, her voice cold and detached.