The workday had been a grueling ten hours of cold shoulders and impossible deadlines. By the time the clock struck seven, the office was nearly empty. Myra saw Reyansh walking toward the private executive elevator.
Fueled by a mix of exhaustion and fury, she dropped her pen and ran. She slipped through the closing doors just as the sensors hummed.
The elevator began its silent, smooth ascent.
Reyansh stood in the corner, his back to her, staring at the digital floor indicator. He didn't move. He didn't look at her. He acted as if the air beside him was empty.
"How could you do that?" Myra's voice cracked, the silence of the elevator amplifying her hurt. "You humiliated me in front of everyone. You treated me like I was... like I was incompetent. Like I was a ghost."
Reyansh didn't turn around. "You are an employee, Miss Kapoor. I expect my employees to handle criticism without getting emotional."
"This isn't about criticism!" she snapped, stepping in front of him, forcing him to look at her. "In your penthouse, you treat me like I'm yours. You mark me. You feed me. And then you walk in there and look through me like I'm nothing. It's cruel, Reyansh."
Reyansh finally looked down at her. His eyes were like twin chips of obsidian—void of the heat she had felt two nights ago. He stepped forward, his massive frame looming over her until she was backed against the mirrored wall of the lift.
"Let's get one thing straight, Myra," he said, his voice a low, terrifying silk. "Inside these walls, you are a name on a payroll. We are strangers. I don't know you, I don't like you, and I certainly don't protect you. If you can't handle the pressure of this firm, leave."
Myra felt a tear prick her eye, but she refused to let it fall. "And outside?"
Reyansh reached out, his gloved hand tilting her chin up. "Outside? Outside, we are sex buddies. You are a distraction for my bed, and I am the man who makes you forget your pathetic past. That is the contract."
He leaned closer, his breath cold against her ear. "Do not talk to me in the office unless it's about blueprints. Do not expect a smile. And most importantly... do not interfere in my private life outside the bedroom. Who I see, who I marry, and what I do when I'm not with you is none of your business."
The elevator dinged. The doors opened to the lobby.
"Go home, Myra," he said, stepping out without looking back. "I'll see you at the penthouse at ten. Don't be late."
Myra stood alone in the elevator, her reflection in the mirrors looking small and shattered. He had drawn a line in the sand—a cold, hard boundary that reminded her exactly what she was to him.
She wasn't his partner. She wasn't even his friend. She was just a debt to be paid in the dark.
HE IS SAVAGE!
"Sex buddies outside, strangers inside."💔🥺 Reyansh just laid down the law, and it is BRUTAL. Myra wanted a distraction, but did she realize it would come with this much ice?