27. DOUBT
Every department had already heard it the new girl. The one Vivan Sir had personally interviewed. The one Mr. Vinod Singhania himslef had called in.
No one remembered when a regular employee had last met both Singhanias on the same day.
“She must be someone important…”
“Maybe a relative?”
“Or someone special to the family—”
“Shh, don’t say that, what if Kiara ma’am hears?”
Just then the glass doors at the reception slid open. Kiara Mehra stepped inside.
Everyone went quiet.
“Good morning, Ma’am,” the receptionist greeted, her voice half polite, half trembling.
Kiara gave a brief nod but didn’t return the smile. Her gaze flicked around, noting the odd atmosphere. People were avoiding her eyes.
“What’s going on?” she asked casually, though her tone was strict.
The receptionist hesitated, biting her lip. “Um… there’s just… a new candidate who came in today. Mr. Vivan took her interview personally. And then… Mr. Vinod also called her to his office.”
Kiara smiled tightly as if forcing it, it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Oh?” she murmured her nails pressed hardly into her palm.
She composed herself fast. Too fast. “Interesting,” she said softly, that smile still painted on her lips. “Mr. Vivan seems… generous today.”
And with that, she turned, heading toward the elevator that led to Vivan’s floor.
The silence she left behind turned into fear.
No one dared to breathe a word until the elevator doors closed behind her. Only then did the office exhale, whispering again, this time even quieter.
“kiara ma'am is looking so angry”
The receptionist thought looking at kiara's disappearing figure “Aaj toh sir ki fielding set hai”
---
The elevator doors slid open on the top floors. Kiara stepped out, and stopped outside the CEO’s cabin, Vivan’s assistant, Riya, looked up from her screen and immediately rose.
“Good morning, Ms. Mehra,” she greeted with a nervous smile.
“Is Vivan inside?” Kiara asked, her tone polite but threaded with authority.
“Yes, ma’am, he’s in a meeting-”
Kiara didn’t wait for her to finish. She opened the glass door, pushing it gently but firmly, and stepped inside.
Vivan looked up from his desk, the faint irritation already visible in his eyes. “Kiara,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “You could’ve at least let Riya tell me before storming in.”
Her lips curved into a practiced smile. “Oh come on, I’ve walked into this office a hundred times. Don’t suddenly act like it’s restricted space.”
He sighed, rubbing his temples. “It is restricted when I’m in a meeting.”
“But the meeting seems over,” she said lightly, glancing at the empty chair opposite him before taking it herself. “I just came to see you.”
“So,” she began, crossing her arms, “you personally took some girl’s interview today?”
Vivan didn’t even look up from his tablet. “Papa told me to.”
Her smirk was brittle. “Really? You? Following orders?”
He sighed, setting the tablet aside. “Kiara, not now.”
“Oh, of course not now,” she mocked. “Because you’re busy hiring pretty faces, right? Suddenly interested in interviewing new employees yourself?”
He clenched his jaw. “You’re twisting it again. It was just an interview.”
She tilted her head, voice dripping sarcasm. “You never interviewed me. Not that I needed your company anyway my father’s business still stands fine without you.”
He met her gaze finally, cold and steady. “Then why does this matter so much to you?”
Her smile dropped “Because I know how this starts, Vivan. You find someone new, someone different, and-”
“Kiara!” His tone cut through her words. “You don’t even know who she is, yet you’ve already decided what to think.”
Her brows furrowed. “Who she is?”
Vivan froze. She really didn’t know.
For the first time, it hit him she was blindly accusing him without even realizing the girl she was jealous of… was Aarvi.
He looked at her and saw how her love had always been built on doubt. Every time. Every woman. Every moment.
He leaned back, voice low and bitter. “You’ll never trust me, will you?”
Kiara’s throat tightened. “You’re the one changing, Vivan. You’ve started hiding things from me.”
He laughed softly almost tired of explaining himself everytime. “No, Kiara. I’ve just stopped explaining things that don’t need defending.”
“You’ve changed,” she whispered. “And I don’t like it.”
He didn’t answer. The silence between them was cold.
She turned away finally, heels echoing through the marble floor until the door shut behind her.
And for the first time, Vivan realized… it didn’t soothe him anymore.
It irritated him.