She touched the diamond bracelet at her wrist and smiled.
Not long after, the elevator doors opened in steady intervals, releasing employees onto the executive floor.
They stepped out more quietly than usual. Eyes drifted toward Ishani’s desk, then away just as quickly when they saw her seated there. Conversations stayed low. Laughter, if it happened, was restrained. People walked past her workstation with a careful politeness that hadn’t existed last week.
No one quite seemed to know how to behave. A week ago, she had been their colleague. Now, she was the CEO’s fiancée.
Ishani felt the glances without lifting her head. Her fingers moved across the keyboard at their usual pace. She didn’t rush. Didn’t slow down.
She understood the shift.
For months, she had shared coffee breaks and deadlines with them. Now headlines had turned her into something else entirely. The attention had been loud. The office, by contrast, had gone quiet.
She kept her expression neutral, though a small part of her found the transformation almost fascinating.
A junior analyst approached her desk, holding a report folder a little too tightly.
“Ms. Rao?” he said carefully. “I have the Singapore numbers you requested last week.”
“Thank you, Arjun.” She accepted the folder with a smile. “And it’s still just Ishani.”
He nodded, relief flickering across his face, but retreated quickly before having to make actual conversation. The pattern repeated with two more colleagues, brief, awkward interactions followed by hasty retreats. The invisible barrier around her desk remained intact until a familiar voice shattered it completely.
“Oh, come ON!” Kavya marched across the floor, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “She’s still the same person, people! She just happens to be sleeping with the boss now.”
The office went completely silent. Someone gasped. A coffee mug froze halfway to lips.
Kavya reached Ishani’s desk, planted both palms on its surface, and leaned forward with narrowed eyes. “I knew it,” she said, poking Ishani’s shoulder with one finger. “I KNEW it was him.”
“Kavya,” Ishani began, fighting a smile.
“Don’t ‘Kavya’ me.” She crossed her arms. “I had fifty thousand rupees on Boss being your secret admirer, and everyone told me I was crazy. ‘The boss doesn’t send roses,’ they said. ‘The boss doesn’t do romantic gestures.’ HAH! I want my winnings.”
Ishani glanced around, aware they now had the entire floor’s attention. “It wasn’t exactly how—”
“It was the puppy,” Kavya pressed, eyes gleaming with triumph. “That’s when I knew for sure. No man looks at a dog like that unless he’s already completely gone for its owner.”
A chuckle rippled through the watching employees, the tension breaking. Encouraged by Kavya’s approach, others began drifting closer to Ishani’s desk.
“So the whole Valentine’s week, all those gifts, that was really the boss?” asked a woman from marketing, eyes wide with renewed interest.
Before Ishani could answer, Kavya whistled low and appreciative. “Who would have thought Boss Man had that kind of romance in him? I mean, the roses were classic, but the chocolates? The teddy bear? The man has hidden depths.”
The crowd murmured in agreement, the previous awkwardness giving way to collective fascination. Someone in the back started slow-clapping.
“Always knew he had a thing for you,” said Samrat, leaning against a nearby desk. “The way he watched you through those glass walls? Not subtle, Boss Man. Not subtle at all.”
Ishani opened her mouth to respond when Raghav’s office door opened. He stepped out, drawn by the commotion. The crowd parted instantly, creating a clear path between them. His expression remained neutral, but his eyes burned with unmistakable possession as they fixed on her face.
“Is there a reason my entire staff is gathered here instead of working?” he asked, voice deceptively calm.
No one answered. No one dared move.
Raghav crossed the space in four decisive strides, pulled Ishani to her feet, and wrapped his arm around her waist in full view of everyone.
“Because if you’re discussing what I think you’re discussing,” he continued, eyes never leaving Ishani’s face despite addressingthe room, “then yes. Ishani and I are engaged. Yes, I sent the gifts. Yes, I arranged for the puppy.” His voice dropped lower, intimate despite their audience. “And yes, I’ve been in love with her since she corrected my figures during her interview.”
The collective gasp was audible.