Page 40 of Every Move You Make
Relief loosened something in his chest. “Thank you,” Akash said, meaning it. “I really appreciate you taking care of it.”
He paused. “I’ll go visit the site tomorrow, just to have a look. When will you be in India next?”
“In a week or so,” she replied. “But don’t worry. I’m on top of everything.”
Akash disconnected the call and set his phone aside, his mind already turning over the possibilities. Who would break into an empty, half-renovated house? A homeless person looking forshelter made the most sense. And yet, the thought didn’t sit right. Searching room by room felt deliberate. Purposeful.
He frowned, unease curling low in his gut. It was probably nothing, and right now, he had too much on his plate to dwell on it. With the cameras in place, they’d find whoever was responsible soon enough.
For now, he forced his attention back to the present. He had an overflowing inbox, back-to-back meetings beginning in less than half an hour, and a resignation he still didn’t know what to do about.
11
Shauna stormed into Akash’s office, fury driving every step. She didn’t wait for Reema to announce her. Reema, who was Akash’s assistant now. Seeing her was a sharp reminder of Reema’s veiled conversation with Akash from two weeks earlier. One more person who had known about Sehgal Media’s future. One more person, besides her, who hadn’t been kept in the dark.
Akash looked up, surprise flickering across his face as he rose from his chair.
“How dare you?” Shauna said softly, stopping him before he could speak. “How dare you reject my resignation? And how dare you summon me as if I’d simply fall in line? As if I owed you my presence?”
Akash came around his desk, studying her quietly. As usual, his intense gaze coasted over her, making her skin tighten. She hated that he could still elicit this response from her.
She held her ground, watching him, waiting for him to speak. But he didn’t. He simply stood there, one hip resting lightly against his desk, observing her in silence. So, she studied him instead. The navy-blue suit sat on him effortlessly, crisp againstthe white of his shirt. His hair was swept back carelessly, as if he hadn’t given it much thought, and yet the effect was unmistakable. He looked powerful. Authoritative. In control.
It was as though he’d stepped into his role with utter ease, authority radiating off him in a way that made her chest tighten all over again.
“Hello, Shauna,” he finally said, her name lingering just a fraction too long, sending a traitorous tingle down her spine. “I’m glad to see you’re back in town.”
She’d been away from work for a week, refusing to return until she’d sorted everything out in her own head. In that time, everything had changed. For both of them.
For a week, she had gone silent. Withdrawn. She’d refused to talk to her family, dodging their calls and ignoring their texts. After her meeting with her grandfather, she’d flown straight to Delhi to their farmhouse. Rhea had joined her there with her son. Her twin and Nirvaan were the only ones who hadn’t known, the only ones who hadn’t betrayed her. Later, she’d learned that Jiya hadn’t known either. That much, at least, hadn’t been another betrayal.
Everyone else had tried to talk to her. Her father. Her brothers. Even Kabier and Keya. She’d shut them all out. She didn’t want to hear their explanations. She didn’t want to hear about the promises they had made to Akash, about why they couldn’t tell her, about how it had never been a choice. She didn’t want to hear how, in the end, they had all chosen him over her. She’d even watched her grandfather’s announcement on the news, watched Akash ascend to the throne of Sehgal Media. Her heart still hadn’t recovered from the hurt of seeing it.
She needed space. Time to think. To decide what was right for her before her family crowded her with their advice. But the decision had felt inevitable. She would have preferred to staylonger in Delhi, that was until she’d received his response to her email.
“Are you going to say something, or would you rather keep staring at me?” he asked.
She smoothened her expression.
“You know why I’m here,” she said. “You asked me to meet you.”
“You sent me your resignation via email,” Akash said, his voice steady. “I wanted to meet you because we need to talk. This isn’t a decision you make over an email, Shauna. We owe each other a face-to-face conversation about something that affects both our lives.”
She let out a short, incredulous laugh.
“Owe each other? Affects both our lives? As if,” she scoffed, the sound bitter. “You should be relieved, Akash. I’m giving you exactly what you want.” She spread her hands. “All this without me in it. So why are you making this difficult?”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you a mind reader now?”
“Of course not.” She frowned. “Considering our history, I naturally assumed?—”
“You assumed,” he cut in. “Again. You assume you know what I’m thinking, what I want. So let me make this clear, once and for all. You don’t know me. You never have. And if the recent past has proved anything, it’s that you’ve judged me through the lens of your own biases, not the truth.”
The words hit her harder than she expected. She had been cruel, had judged him harshly, and had been proven wrong. They had always fought with carefully aimed barbs, a familiar game they had played for years. But now, with bitter certainty, she realized he had once and for all gained the upper hand.
“Sehgal Media is not a game to me,” he said, as if reading her mind. “Not something to be used against you or to gain an upper hand over you.” His voice steadied. “This business is my legacy.It was entrusted to me by two men I deeply respect. One of them was my late grandfather, and the other is yours. I cannot even tell you the amount of love and respect I have for Janak. And so, I will live up to my legacy, no matter what.”
He studied her. “I know my inheriting all this shattered the future you once imagined for yourself. And I’m sorry you’re hurt. Truly.” His gaze didn’t waver. “But I won’t allow whatever war exists between us to touch this company. And so, I’m offering you another truce.”
