Chapter 19
Siya paused at her secretary’s desk to check messages and the day’s schedule but no matter how many times she read the notes she couldn’t focus. Her mind buzzed from the memory of last night.
Being in his arms had felt right, like coming home after a long day.
She’d spent so long convincing herself that Abhay had used her for rivalry’s sake, that her heart couldn’t take this shift in their dynamic.
She had fallen for him the first time he’d kissed her, and all it had taken was one night to remind her that she had never stopped.
She scolded herself, pulling herself out of the spiralling thoughts. She had only an hour until they met with the core investors to present their designs and she had to shake off the need to see him.
Siya shifted toward her cabin, turning the handle, and saw Abhay leaning at her desk, waiting for her. His pale blue suit was sharply tailored but the buttons were left open. His eyes lit up when he saw her, and his cocky smile made her heart skip a beat.
‘Now who’s the one giving me intense looks enough to land in trouble with HR?’ he asked, not hiding his delight.
‘You wish,’ she scoffed but let out a quiet sigh when she turned to close the ornate door.
‘I do,’ he said, and her grip tightened around the folder in her hand. She crossed the room and placed it carefully on the table and turned to him.
‘I thought you’d be busy preparing for the presentation today,’ she scolded lightly.
‘I was but I couldn’t do a lick of work without seeing you first.’ She felt heat creep up her neck, his presence like a magnet pulling a needle.
With a firm grip around her waist, he pulled her in between his legs. She stumbled onto him, her hands bracing herself against his hard chest.
‘Last time we were almost caught, that wasn’t adventurous enough for you?’ she asked, though her heart fluttered in her chest. She could smell the faint aftershave on him and she indulged herself by reaching up and rubbing her palm on his smooth jawline.
He closed his eyes, and leaned into her touch, a small smile playing on his lips.
‘I came here with such good, pure intentions but you can tempt a saint to commit a sin,’ Abhay said, then pulled her in for a kiss.
‘The door,’ she managed to say in between gasps.
‘Shh,’ he whispered, and his tongue swiped lightly on her lower lip. ‘Just this once.’
His pleading words shattered her inhibitions and she wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss in surrender. A strangled moan rang from his throat and his hand slipped behind her head to tilt her head back.
He kissed her slowly, like he was savouring her taste. His lips moved against hers in a slow, deliberate rhythm that drove her crazy. She felt a sudden urge to push him back onto the desk and climb onto his lap.
Luckily, Abhay still had some sense of the surroundings because he broke the kiss with a regretful sigh.
‘You’re going to make us late,’ she tried to reprimand him.
‘If being late means I get a kiss from you, I’d risk every minute.’
‘Did you come here just to steal a kiss?’ she asked, trying to catch her breath.
She caught how his jaw tensed when he said, ‘I wish but unfortunately, I come bearing bad news.’
Siya sat at the edge of the desk next to him as he handed her a glossy stack of reports. Her attention caught the #8658: Fraud Alert stamped on top in bold red. She read it through one by one, her pulse pounding in her ears.
Several gemstones from Shyamlal’s collection had been artificially treated. Her eyes flew down to the graphs where the final comment was flagged with an asterisk. Clarity enhancement fillers had been applied to stones he’d called naturally mined Colombian emeralds. Her heart twisted.
‘Bastard,’ ripped out of her throat as anger burned in her veins. She tore her gaze away to Abhay and saw the same fire in his eyes.
‘It’s good that we didn’t take his word on its face value. We have proof of his fraudulent scheme now but this could have slipped through the cracks so easily if we hadn’t looked closer,’ he said.
‘How did you get these done so fast? I thought it’d take a few days to get the results.’
‘Dhruv sent these in for rush inspection to a very reputed lab. His executive assistant dropped it off on my desk last night.’
Disbelief, warmth, suspicion tangled inside her into a ball. Her stomach dropped. ‘Wait,’ she whispered, ‘Dhruv did this?’
At a loss for words, Abhay just shrugged.
‘I can’t believe that he actually listened to our concerns,’ Siya said.
‘Not just that, he acted on it too. He even approved samples for enhanced testing.’
Siya bit her lip. Shame flared through her because she’d mistaken Dhruv’s insistence as arrogance. She realised this was the first time Dhruv had taken her voice seriously, and that knowledge both relieved and unsettled her.
She gathered the reports into a neat stack, her fingers shaking slightly. Abhay placed a steadying hand over hers and she lifted her gaze to meet his.
‘What do we do now? If we replace Shyamlal at this stage, Dad will push back. He’s already invested so much. And how will we find a reliable supplier this close to the launch?’ she asked, rubbing her temples.
‘Well…’ Abhay trailed off, handing her another folder. ‘These are some of the local suppliers, one of whom aced the lab tests and comes highly recommended.’
‘When did you even have time to do all of this? You were busy dancing with me in the living room last night.’
‘Hey! Every minute of it had been worth it. Besides, Dhruv sent these candidates based on your design notes. He wrote a note that said we should consider them before finalising someone.’
Siya was speechless as she went through the candidates and Dhruv’s attached summary notes. These were far better proposals than the ones they’d seen so far.
‘I like this one. Prateek Gem Traders. They originally started here in Mumbai, but they have expanded in Dubai and UAE in the last two years. Their certifications are in line, and their pricing is very competitive. I have a call scheduled with them in the next fifteen minutes. I thought you’d like to speak to them before our meeting with the investors. ’
She let loose a breath as she read through their quality tests and collection catalogue. If it works out with them, they might just pull this off. All thanks to Dhruv, she thought.
‘I still can’t believe Dhruv didn’t use this to his advantage. So he really only had been pushing to stick to the deadlines to keep Dad happy.’
‘Seems so. I don’t think we were wrong to be skeptical of him, but I’m glad he came around.’
‘Let’s get to this meeting and we’ll see where we go with it. I’m just trying to figure out how to break this to our investors.’
A thought sparked in her mind and Siya smiled, ‘I have an idea.’
An hour later, Siya and Abhay walked into the conference room. She took a deep breath of the stiff, cold air and her gaze swept through the room.
She found her father sitting at the head of the table, talking to one of the long-time investors.
Kartik was dressed up in an Armani custom-made black suit to impress the ultra-elite people scattered across the long mahogany table.
He even wore his gold cufflinks, which he fidgeted with to bring attention to it.
He gave her a casual glance but said nothing, but then again, he barely ever spoke to her in the office.
Dhruv stood near the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out at the city sprawled beneath. His eyes darted to Siya briefly before skimming away. She made a mental note to talk to him later.
Draped in a silk saree, Jaanhvi Rao was flipping through sales projection analysis. When she saw them, she tilted her head in greeting. ‘Ah, the stars of the show.’
Abhay inclined his head in polite acknowledgement and made small talk with her. Yogesh Dalmia joined the conversation and said, ‘We’ve been looking forward to this, especially after the teaser updates.’
‘Well, if we’re all here, shall we begin?’ Kartik asked, gesturing at Siya.
She nodded at him and shifted toward the screen. She lightly cleared her throat and said, ‘Thank you all for being here. Abhay and I are excited to share the vision that has haunted us for so long.’
A ripple of laughter went through the room. She could feel Abhay’s steady presence next to her and it eased her frazzled nerves. The screen brightened with the introductory first slide and she spoke with a clear cadence.
‘Our collection is called Vintage Reverie. It weaves together a story of our heritage and the lineage of ancient Indian jewels. Our aim is to preserve the integrity of art, so for this line of jewellery, our idea is to showcase beauty that is connected to its roots.’
Her team moved through the room, placing velvet boxes and files in front of every investor. When they revealed the jewellery, there was a collective intake of breath around the table. The dark mahogany glittered with gold, gems, and grandeur.
Drawing strength from their awed reaction, Siya went on.
‘We have created designs featuring precious stones like diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and rubies with a focus on Mughal and Persian kundan and meenakari techniques and motifs like floral patterns and vines, alongside modern minimalist designs.’
Her heart pounded as she reached for the prototype piece in front of her, and held up a delicate necklace studded with rubies and rose quartz. ‘We drew references from royal archives and Mughal-era engravings to create the bridal collection.’
‘What about durability? Will these older stones, older cuts, stand the rough tear of daily wear?’ Jaanhvi asked.
‘We have chosen settings and backings that protect them and structured clasps designed for both durability and comfort. Our collection seeks to reimagine heirlooms with modern designs so we expect these pieces to be loved, worn, and passed on.’