32. DAY ONE
Aarvi stepped into the office, clutching her file a little too tightly. The assistant assigned to her, a polite woman in glasses, began briefing her about the first task of the day.
“…you’ll have to compile the client data and mail it to Mr. Mehra before lunch-”
Before she could finish, the glass door behind them slid open.
Silence moved like a wave.
Employees stood up almost instinctively.
The greeting echoed through the floor like ritual.
“Good morning, sir.”
Aarvi snapped to attention with everyone else.
That was when his eyes found hers.
Her breath caught before she could help it.
He cleared his throat, yet his gaze didn’t leave hers immediately. It lingered.
Her fingers pressed harder into the file.
He cleared his throat faintly, gaze still on her.
“All the best for today,” he said, low enough that it could pass as a routine courtesy, yet clear enough that everyone heard it.
No smile. No softness. Just that steady, intentional gaze.
Then he straightened, voice switching to his usual authority, louder for the room, “Let’s begin the day.”
He walked past without a backward glance, leaving her to deal with whatever he left behind.
A sudden tug on her shoulder made her jump.
“Already whipped for him, huh?” a playful voice said from behind.
Aarvi spun around, panic flickering. “N-No, I-I wasn’t-”
“It’s okay,” the girl laughed, brushing it off. “You’re not the only one crushing on him. He’s my crush too.”
Something uncomfortable twisted in Aarvi’s stomach.
Of course. Almost every woman must like him.
The girl extended her hand with a bright smile. “Tanvi. Tanvi Sharma.”
Aarvi returned the handshake, polite but tight.
“Aarvi Si-” she caught herself just in time, the wrong surname almost slipping out, “Sisodiya.”
Thankfully Tanvi didn’t notice the hesitation .
“Perfect. We’re on the same team today,” Tanvi grinned. “I’ll show you around.”
Tanvi dismissed the assistant. “Ah, I’ll tell her everything,” she assured before turning back to Aarvi with an excited smile. “Come, I’ll show you your office.”
She grabbed Aarvi’s wrist and pulled her down the corridor, scrolling through the details that had been sent by the assistant.
“
Before anything-let me warn you,” Tanvi whispered as they turned a corner. “Don’t even smile at him when Kiara ma’am is around. One wrong expression and-” she drew a slicing gesture across her neck, “-job gone.”
Aarvi’s fingers tightened around her bag strap. The name alone left a weight in her chest.
“Why?” she asked, steadying her voice.
“Because they’re dating,” Tanvi said without lowering her volume. “And Kiara ma’am doesn’t even like a shadow of another girl on sir.”
The thought landed in Aarvi’s bones with a quiet heaviness.
“This isn’t love,” she murmured. “It sounds like…ownership.”
Tanvi shrugged, helpless. “Maybe. But what can we do? This is how things are.”
They stopped.
“…and this,” Tanvi said, pushing open a glass door, “is your office.”
From the opposite cabin, through the one-way tinted glass, Vivan stood with a file in his hand, expression unreadable. His gaze stayed fixed on the two women.
He hadn’t given her that cabin out of concern. Not softness.
He needed her where he could see her.
Not because she mattered
but because Kiara was unpredictable when it came to him and other women.
Aarvi was too silent, too harmless, too easy a target.
So he anchored her in his line of sight.
Through the glass he watched Tanvi talk while Aarvi listened, composed and polite.
She is…adjusting.
His brow tightened a fraction.
Good. She was not here to create problems. And as long as he could see her, Kiara wouldn’t get the chance to.
That was all.