๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐ ( ๐พ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง -2 ๐ฝ๐ช๐ง๐ฃ ๐ข๐ , ๐ฝ๐๐๐ฎ)
1333 Words
Veer Rathore didnโt believe in coincidences.
He believed in pressure. In testing limits. In putting people in corners just to see if they cracked, snapped, or sharpened.
And right now, as he sat in his glass-walled corner office, watching the door she had slammed behind her, something inside him feltโoff.
Bent.
Curious.
Burning.
He didnโt like being challenged. Especially not in meetings. Not by juniors. And definitely not by women who looked like her.
She was not polished like the others. She never dressed to impress. She didn't wear pencil skirts or starved herself to be a size zero.Didnโt glide through corridors with skinny silence and designer heels. No.
She was short, curvy, intenseโa walking contradiction with fire behind her eyes and defiance stitched into her bones.
He shouldโve ignored her.
He wanted to.
But he couldnโt.
So he did what he always did when someone got under his skin.
He set a trap.
---
She found the file on her desk when she returned from the boardroom.
Thick. Red-tagged. Labeled
URGENT: For Immediate Audit and Report.
A massive internal case. Out of her role. Impossible to finish alone.
One of the senior advisors passed by, chuckling softly.
โHe gives those to people he wants gone,โ she said, tapping the file. โThat folder has destroyed better reputations than yours.โ
She didn't blink.
She didnโt flinch.
She flipped it open. Twelve tabs. Five departments. Two missing financial reports. One lawsuit waiting to explode.
He wanted her to fail.
So she decided to win.
---
The next three days were hell, a living hell.
She barely slept. Survived on caffeine, adrenaline, and pure spite. She skipped social events. Turned down lunches and dinners. Drenched her hands in ink and exhaustion.
But every time her knees shook, she remembered his words:
"In this world, people like you either burn everythingโฆ or get burned."
No, she told herself.
Not me.
Not this time.
By the third day, she didnโt just fix the file. She rewrote it. Rebalanced the internal projections, cross-referenced three years of financial data, and flagged internal fraud from someone Veer personally hired.
On the fourth, she double-checked it twice.
And on the fifth, she walked into his office with confidence, pride and sense of winning this task. This fight.
She dropped the updated file on his desk without asking.
He looked up slowly.
She didnโt speak.
Neither did he.
For a moment, silence swallowed the glass-walled room.
The room was quite. Too quite.
And they were alone together.
Again.
Then he slowly closed the laptop in front of him and leaned back in his chair.
โYou found it,โ he said at last.
โThe fraud? Yeah. Didnโt have to dig too deep.โ
He flipped through the report, the faintest muscle twitching in his jaw. She waited, not fidgeting, not blinking. The man who tried to crush her pride was now flipping pages of proof that she had outsmarted his entire team.The way his fingers moved with precision. The way his jaw tightened as he reached the flagged pages.
And thenโsomething changed.
He leaned back.
His gaze met her.
And there it was.
That thing again.
Heat.
Dark. Unspoken. Wrong.
โYouโre either very good,โ he said without looking up, โor very desperate, Aarohiโ
Her name sounded like a sin from his lips.
โOr maybe,โ she said, โyou are just not used to being outplayed by someone who doesnโt kiss your shoes.โ
That made his eyes flick up.
Dark. Cold. Amused.
He closed the file slowly. Then stood.
โYou exposed someone whoโs worked under me for nine years,โ he said.
She raised a brow. โThat's not my problem.He was stealing from you.Why give me the task if you can't handle the truth.โ
โHe was loyal.โ
She stepped closer. โMy job was to fix the file and find the person. Not to protect your loyalty. And does loyalty matters more than integrity in your firm?โ
He smiled. But it wasnโt kind.
He moved around the desk, stopping just a breath away.
โDo you even understand who youโre talking to?โ
โPerfectly,โ she whispered. โA man too used to people shaking under his gaze.โ
She saw the fire catch in his eyes. The tension between them thickened. Electric.
โYou really donโt fear me, do you firecracker?โ
Her throat tightened. โDo you want me to?โ
โNo,โ he whispered. โI want you to understand me.โ
That threw her.
โWhy?โ
He didn't reply to that question.
โYouโre too smart to be just a consultant,โ he murmured.
โAnd youโre too obsessed for someone who doesnโt care.โ
A beat.He paused.
She had pushed him again over the edge.
She expected anger.
Insteadโฆ he smirked.
โYou think I donโt care?โ he asked, voice low.
She said nothing.
But he saw itโher breath caught. Her eyes darted to his lips. And that slight, damning tremor in her wrist.
He stepped even closer.
His gaze dropped to her lips. Then back up. Like he was deciding whether to ruin her with his mouth or his words.
โLet me make one thing clear,โ he said. โIf I wanted to break you, I wouldโve done it already. And you know itโ
Her pulse skittered.
โThen why havenโt you?โ
His expression shifted.
From power to something darker. Hungrier.
He leaned in slightly. His breath fanned her cheek.
โBecause I want to watch how far youโll go before you break yourself.Before you submit yourself.Completely .โ
She wanted to say that she would never submit herself to anyone but she couldn't as if the words were not ready to come out of her mouth.
Silence.
Heat.
War.
Then he stepped back. As if nothing happened.
โLeave,โ he said.
She did.
But not like a woman dismissed.
Like a woman who just walked out of fire and refused to burn.
---
That night, Veer didnโt sleep.
He never did, really. Sleep was for those without control issues.
But tonight, it wasnโt ambition keeping him up.
It was her.
Her mouth. The way it moved around defiance.
Her body. Curvy. Confident. Built for war and worship.
And the way she stared at him like she knew he wanted to tear down every rule heโd made about keeping things professional.
The fire in her voice when she stood her ground.
And worseโhow much he wanted to press her against that desk and ruin everything right there.
He clenched his jaw.
This couldnโt happen.
It wouldnโt happen.
But God help him, if she walked into his space again with that same heat in her eyesโฆ
He wouldnโt hold back next time.
He poured himself a glass of whiskey he wouldnโt drink.
He stared out of his penthouse window.
And he thought of her voice.
"Then why havenโt you?"
He should fire her.
He wouldnโt.
Because for the first time in years, something felt alive again.
And he wanted more.
Not of her reports.
Of her.
Of her body. soul. everything that she existed in.
He was losing his control.It was slipping everytime she was near him. He has been in control, discipline and composed all his life but the wall he built all his life was now cracking almost destroying.
Worst part was he wanted it to get destroyed.
He knew she was going to be the cause of his death. But he didn't wanted to stop. Neither did he wanted her to stop.
๐ค End of Chapter 2
Next chapter preview:
She catchs Veer watching her too long in a glass meeting room
A colleague flirts with her, and Veerโs reaction is instant, brutal, and private
The first almost touch that leaves both of them breathless
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