Chapter 10 #2
She set her bag down slowly, scanning the empty executive floor. Finance lights were off. Marketing hadn’t arrived. Ansh hadn’t arrived yet. Whoever had done this had timing—and access.
She picked up the box. The velvet felt smooth against her fingers. Expensive without being loud. A cream card lay beneath it with two words printed neatly in black ink.
“Will you…?”
Her throat tightened. Will you what? The unfinished sentence felt deliberate. A hook left mid-air.
She opened the box carefully. Inside, nestled against black velvet, lay a silver bracelet. Not flashy or extravagant, but undeniably expensive. The design was simple—a delicate chain with a small diamond clasp that would rest against the pulse point of her wrist.
Ishani snapped the box closed, tapping it against her palm twice before slipping it into her desk drawer. The card followed, tucked beneath her planner where casual glances wouldn’t find it. She tried to focus on her morning emails, but her eyes kept drifting to the drawer.
Who would spend this kind of money on someone they weren’t even openly pursuing? The bracelet wasn’t a casual gift. It was a statement. A claim.
By nine-thirty, the floor had filled with the day’s bustle. Ishani felt eyes on her desk, subtle glances checking for new deliveries. She kept her expression neutral, her posture perfect. Let them look. They would find nothing.
“Where is it?” Kavya’s voice broke into her concentration. “Don’t tell me he didn’t send anything today.”
Ishani glanced up. “Good morning to you too.”
“Skip the pleasantries. What did Mystery Man send today?” Kavya leaned closer, lowering her voice. “The whole floor is talking, you know. Six roses yesterday? That’s not subtle.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ishani replied, returning her attention to her screen.
“Please.” Kavya rolled her eyes. “You’re practically glowing, and you keep glancing at your drawer like it contains state secrets.” She paused, eyes widening slightly. “It’s in there, isn’t it? What is it? Chocolate? Jewelry?”
Before Ishani could stop her, Kavya had pulled open the drawer just enough to spot the edge of the velvet box.
“I knew it!” she exclaimed, loud enough to draw attention from nearby desks. “Show me.”
With a resigned sigh, Ishani retrieved the box and opened it discreetly beneath the level of her desk.
Kavya’s sharp intake of breath was a reaction similar to Ishani’s when she had seen it.
“Someone sent Ishani a bracelet,” Kavya announced before Ishani could stop her.
“Really?” Another voice carried just enough to attract more attention. “Who from?”
Within minutes, a small cluster of women had formed around Ishani’s desk, each offering theories about the sender.
“It has to be Samrat,” one of the marketing assistants insisted. “He sent Priya from Accounting something similar last Diwali.”
“No way,” another countered. “My money’s on that new VP from the tech division. He keeps finding reasons to visit this floor.”
Ishani sat stiffly, feeling more uncomfortable with every guess.
“Enough,” she finally said, her tone firm as she closed the box. “I appreciate the interest, but I have work to do.”
The intercom on her desk buzzed, breaking the tension. “Ishani. The Anderson contract.” Raghav’s cool and commanding voice sent her colleagues quickly back to their desks. Ishani grabbed the file he needed, feeling relieved for the distraction.
In his office, Raghav was seated behind his large desk, seemingly focused on his computer screen. He didn’t look up right away when she walked in, but when he finally did, his gaze flicked down to her wrists before locking onto her eyes.
“The contract,” he said, extending his hand.
She passed it over, their fingers brushing briefly. “Anything else, Boss?”
“Not for now.”
Throughout the day, he called her in four more times—each request more trivial than the last. The quarterly report he’d already reviewed.
A question about the Singapore timeline they’d finalized days ago.
A presentation that didn’t need revisions.
Each time, his gaze drifted to her bare wrists before returning to her face.
Each time, something in his expression tightened almost imperceptibly.
By the third visit, Ishani became acutely aware of the pattern.
The timing. The lingering glances. A strange suspicion formed in her mind, but she dismissed it immediately.
Raghav Khanna didn’t send romantic gifts.
He didn’t play games or pursue employees.
He was direct, controlled, focused solely on business.
And yet.
She found herself touching her wrist absently throughout the day, feeling strangely bare without something she’d never worn. The bracelet remained in her drawer, but its presence weighed on her, like a question waiting for an answer.
As the day wound down, Kavya stopped by her desk once more.
“Are you going to wear it?” she asked, nodding toward the drawer.
“I haven’t decided,” Ishani replied truthfully.
“Whoever he is, he has excellent taste,” Kavya said with a small smile. “And he’s clearly not giving up. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.”
When the office finally emptied and silence settled across the executive floor, Ishani opened her drawer again.
She took out the velvet box. For a long moment, she simply held it. Then she opened it.
The silver bracelet shimmered under the overhead lights. Whoever had chosen it understood quality. And somehow, understood her.
She lifted it from the box. The metal was cool against her fingertips. After a brief hesitation, she slid it onto her wrist.
It settled perfectly.
The clasp rested exactly over her pulse, glinting with each heartbeat. She turned her wrist slightly, studying it. The silver complemented her skin. It looked like it belonged there.
That was what made it dangerous.
Gifts came with expectation. With intention.
She did not accept things she could not return. She did not encourage what she did not intend to entertain. And yet, alone in the quiet office, she found herself staring at the bracelet longer than necessary.
A small smile touched her lips before she could stop it.
Behind a pillar near the conference room, Raghav watched. He had not meant to stay. But when he saw her open the drawer again, he hadn’t left. His eyes fixed on the silver against her skin. On the way she examined it. On that fleeting, unguarded smile.
A slow satisfaction moved through him.
She had refused it all day. And now, when she believed no one was watching, she wore it. Not out of obligation. Out of want.
He stepped back quietly before she could sense him.
Ishani removed the bracelet after a long breath and placed it back inside the box. But instead of returning it to the drawer, she slipped it into her bag.
As she rode the elevator down, her fingers brushed her bare wrist. She felt the absence immediately. And that unsettled her more than the bracelet itself.
Raghav’s face flashed through her mind. His focus. His quiet attention. The way late nights at work had stopped feeling like work at all.
She was disappointed, she realized. Just a little. That there was no reason to stay back tonight. And then the thought came—uninvited, reckless.
What if it was him?
She shook her head slightly. If it wasn’t Raghav, then this flutter in her chest had no business growing roots. Some excitement was better left unexplored.
The elevator doors opened.
She stepped out, the bracelet’s box heavy in her bag, and the question heavier still.