Ruaan Sharma never arrived before his staff.

He was the kind of man who walked in when everything was already running like a perfectly oiled machine — because it should.

That was the standard he set.

But today, he stood silently by his cabin window long before dawn had brightened the sky.

A mug of coffee sat untouched on his table, its steam long gone cold.

Outside, the city stretched and yawned awake.

Inside him… something twisted restlessly.

He hated it.

That unfamiliar tug in his chest, that irritation crawling under his skin, that stupid memory flashing again and again.

It was just an employee fainting. People faint.

It's not your fault. You didn’t tell her to overwork or skip meals.

Then why, he clenched his jaw, why the hell was he still thinking about it?

Why did the sight of her collapsing flash in his mind the moment he closed his eyes?

Why did her pale face and shaken breath bother him more than a multi-crore deal ever could?

He tapped his fingers against the glass, frustration sharp in his veins.

Focus, Ruaan. Stop thinking about her.

But logic had no control this morning.

Later That Morning

The office buzzed with routine energy when

Arnika entered

— quiet, composed, but with a faint tiredness still lingering around her eyes.

She inhaled deeply as she approached his cabin, preparing herself. She couldn’t let yesterday linger.

Professional — she had to stay professional.

She knocked once.

“Come in,” Ruaan’s clipped voice replied.

He looked up briefly, eyes unreadable as always, but there was a single second  just one — where his gaze flicked over her, checking, assessing, as if confirming she was fine.

“We need to finalize the pitch details for Mr. Rao and Mr. Vedh,” he said calmly.

She nodded and opened the file, speaking through figures and timelines, their conversation crisp and businesslike.

And then—

The door clicked open.

Vedh walked in without knocking, confidence dripping from his steps.

Eyes sharp, smile sharp, everything about him sharp enough to slice peace in half.

“Discussion without the investor?” he asked, tone coated in fake disappointment.

“That’s bad, Mr. Sharma. Very unprofessional.”

Ruaan didn’t even flinch. “This is my company. I begin discussions when I wish to,” he replied coolly.

Vedh raised his hands in mock surrender, chuckling. “Of course. Carry on.”

But he didn’t leave. He simply stayed, eyes flicking to Arnika, studying her too closely.

A moment later, Ruaan’s phone buzzed.

He checked it and stood.

“I have a board meeting. Continue briefing him.”

No tone of worry, no visible hesitation — but a flicker crossed his gaze when he looked at Arnika before leaving.

She noticed it.

She wished she hadn’t.

The Silence After Ruaan Left

As the door closed behind him, Vedh leaned back on the desk casually, smirk stretching slow across his face.

“So,” he drawled. “How are you feeling, Arnika?”

She didn’t even lift her eyes from her file.

“That’s none of your business.”

A low chuckle escaped him. “Ooh, fierce. I missed that. Missed you.”

Her jaw tightened.

“That isn’t a compliment coming from you.”

Vedh pushed off the desk and moved a step closer, confidence radiating like poison.

“Still sharp-tongued, still stubborn. This is what I always loved in you,” he murmured.

Arnika finally looked up, glare sharp.

“And this is exactly what I always hated about you — your arrogance.”

"Why are you here vedh?" She asked.

He stepped a little closer, voice lowering, almost intimate.

“My uncle wants me to take over the company soon," he said casually. “Big things coming.

Power shifts. And I…”

His eyes held hers.

“…I came back because some things — some people — shouldn’t be left behind.”

He leaned in slightly, breath chillingly calm by her ear.

“I missed you, Arnika.”

Her blood froze, rage and humiliation prickling under her skin.

He whispered again, slower—

“Leaving you was the biggest mistake I ever made.”

Then louder, mocking amusement in his tone:

“You deserve an apology, right?”

Her eyes hardened, voice steady despite the storm in her chest.

“I don’t listen to apologies from people who betray and destroy trust, Vedh.”

She closed the file, spine straight, dignity unshaken.

“You don’t get to talk to me like we share a past worth remembering.”

And before he could speak, she walked past him — head high, eyes forward — leaving his smirk faltering for the first time.

Outside the door, she exhaled shakily.

She wasn’t scared of him.

She wasn’t.

But the past had sharp teeth. And the way he looked at her — like she was still something he owned — made her stomach twist.

She blinked away the sting in her eyes, straightened her shoulders.

She had survived him once.

She could do it again.

But somewhere inside, a quiet dread whispered:

Why is he really back?

And far down the hallway, in the boardroom glass reflection, Ruaan saw her walking away from Vedh’s cabin, expression tight — and for a moment, his hand curled into a fist.

To be continued...