The office was unusually calm.
For the first time in years, Aditya wasn't breathing fire at every small mistake.
No one got fired today. No one trembled under his icy glare. No one felt like they were walking on glass shards around him.
The workers exchanged stunned glances, whispering among themselves.
Their ruthless CEO-the man who didn't tolerate even a sliver of incompetence-was in a good mood.
And they had no fucking clue why.
---
Aditya sat in his chair, fingers resting against his lips as he lazily spun it from side to side.
He was supposed to be listening to his employees present ideas for their next product.
And he was.
Until his phone vibrated.
A single glance at the screen made his brows twitch.
Shivank.
He turned the phone face-down. Five minutes. That's all he needed to wrap this up.
But something gnawed at him.
Shivank never called during office hours unless it was urgent.
The meeting ended, and Aditya was the first to leave, ignoring the murmurs behind him.
Stepping into his office, he walked straight to the glass window, his back facing the door as he redialed.
The call barely rang twice before Shivank's voice exploded in his ear.
"Where the fuck have you been?! I've been calling you, man!"
Aditya tensed.
Shivank's voice was never like this.
Something was wrong.
His grip tightened on the phone. "What happened? Why are you yelling?"
Shivank exhaled sharply, his voice dropping. "Shit... Sorry, man. I'm just-fuck-I'm stressed."
Aditya's eyes narrowed.
Shivank and stress didn't belong in the same sentence.
"Talk," Aditya ordered, his voice low.
Another sigh. Then-
"I yelled at my princess today. For the first time in my fucking life."
Silence.
Aditya's blood turned ice cold.
The air in the room shifted.
If it had been anyone else, they would've been dead already.
Because no one-no one-hurt her and lived to talk about it.
His little pie. His fragile, innocent little thing.
He forced his voice to stay neutral. "Why?"
But it came out wrong.
Rough.
Intimidating.
Cold.
Like the merciless businessman he was known to be.
Shivank hesitated for a second before brushing it off. "She... She wants to study psychology."
Aditya blinked.
Psychology? That was it?
"And why does that stress you out?" he asked, suspicion creeping in.
Shivank exhaled heavily, voice tight with worry.
"She doesn't need to. It'll just break her. She's emotional, Adi. Too fucking emotional. She was depressed for three years, man. You don't know what it took to bring her out of it. And now she wants to study the same things that nearly destroyed her? No. I won't let her."
Aditya stilled.
Depressed.
Three years.
His heartbeat slowed.
What?
No. That didn't make sense.
His little pie. The girl who was always smiling, always surrounded by warmth-depressed?
His mind rejected the thought.
But then-
He replayed every moment.
Her soft voice. The way she flinched at sudden noises. The way her eyes always carried a weight, like she was battling something unseen.
And suddenly-
It did make sense.
A quiet, deadly rage curled inside him.
Who?
Who the fuck dared to break her?
His fists clenched so hard his knuckles cracked.
He didn't realize how fucking furious he was until Shivank spoke again.
"Can you pick her up today?"
Aditya's breath caught.
"I don't want her to see me like this. If she sees I'm stressed, she'll cry. Please, Adi."
...Wait.
Wait, what?
Him?
Me?
Me?!
His mind short-circuited.
She hated him. She barely looked at him. If he showed up, she'd rather walk home than get into his car.
This was suicide.
"You sure?" he muttered, throat dry.
"Yeah. Sending you the address now."
Aditya ran a hand down his face.
Fuck.
His conscience mocked him.
Freaking fucker, is this really about her, or are you just losing your goddamn mind because she's finally going to be beside you?
...Okay.
Fine.
It's about me.
He wanted her close.
Even if she hated every second of it.
With a heavy sigh, he muttered, "Send me the address."
And just like that-
His world was about to change.