𝓑𝓻𝓸𝓴𝓮𝓷.

Chapter- 15

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Vihaan ~

Aside from the occasional rustle of papers and the gentle hum of the air conditioner, the workplace was quiet. I looked at my watch as I was walking down the hall. It was about time for midnight. My day had been long, filled with meetings and negotiations, but I couldn't shake off the nagging thought that something felt off.

I had finished reviewing the latest reports and was heading out, I spotted a sliver of light peeking from beneath Shivanya's office door. It was odd. She was known for her efficiency but it was highly unusual for her to be working at this hour.

I knocked lightly before pushing the door open. Shivanya sat at her desk, stacks of papers and documents were scattered around her and her brow furrowed in while she kept staring at her laptop screen, with a pencil pressed to her lower lip. er hair, which was usually tied back neatly, had fallen loose and now framed her face, with a few strands slipping down over her cheeks. She didn't seem to notice or care.

I leaned against the doorframe and watched her for a few seconds. There was something about seeing her like this—so focused, yet so obviously exhausted—that made me hesitate.

I decided to break the silence. "You look like you're about to strangle your laptop."

She was startled, the pencil slipping from her lip and landing on the desk with a soft thud. She blinked, her gaze darting up to meet mine, and for a split second, I saw something in her eyes—fatigue, maybe, or frustration—but it vanished as quickly as it appeared, replaced by her usual guarded look.

"Sir," she said, her voice steady but edged with exhaustion. "What are you doing here? It's late."

I stepped further into the room, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was almost midnight, and she had clearly been at this for hours. "I could ask you the same thing. You've been here since morning. What are you working on that's so urgent?"

"I'm still working on the Bhatia Enterprises case. There's a mountain of documentation to go through, and I'm trying to get it sorted before Friday."

Bhatia was a client we had taken on recently, a conglomerate caught in a litigation after a poorly handled merger. It was a complicated case, of course it got assigned to her.

"This is a complicated case Miss Chopra," I said, my voice softening slightly. "But you know we have until next week till the next hearing. There is no need to kill yourself trying to get it all done in one night."

She rubbed her temples, clearly frustrated but too stubborn to admit it. "I know," she muttered. "But there's so much to go through. If I don't get a handle on it now, it'll pile up."

I sighed, knowing well enough that she was not going to listen to me and there was no chance I was going to leave her alone with all of this and so, without saying anything further, I walked over to the chair across from her desk, pulled it out, and sat down.

Shivanya ~

Mr. Birdbrain's voice cut through the quiet of the room while I was working, making me jump slightly. I hadn't even realized how tense I was until I heard him. The pencil slipped from my lips, landing softly on the desk as I looked up, blinking.

He stood in the doorway, watching me with that calm, steady gaze of his. He looked different—relaxed, but still powerful. His suit jacket was slung casually over one arm, and his tie was loosened, the top few buttons of his shirt undone. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing the strong lines of his forearms. It was a side of him I wasn't used to seeing—the man who was always so composed, always in control, now looking a little undone.