Chapter 18

Chapter 18

**********************

Maan was back in his office after a week. No one was there to question his absence, nor would anyone know that it was due to illness. He was the boss—the largest shareholder, owning seventy percent of this massive company, which dominated the top rankings in Asia and was rapidly climbing the charts in Europe. As the CEO and President of Khurana Enterprises, he answered to no one.

Bosses at his level had unlimited leave and were never questioned, yet they rarely took time off. Maan was no exception. If he wasn’t away on a business trip, attending a conference, meeting, or seminar, he was in his office. And when he was there, the higher officials were kept on their toes. His PA ensured a constant stream of meetings, where he demanded updates, discussed improvements, and strategized relentlessly.

The one person who truly missed his presence was his PA, Pari. She was utterly smitten by her boss—by his aura, his unwavering dedication to work, his no-nonsense attitude, and, above all, his striking looks. Pari knew all too well that he was an unreachable dream, but for a hopeless dreamer like her, there was no harm in admiring him from afar.

“Knock-Knock” Two knocks - Maan knew it was Pari “Come in”

“Good Morning Mr. Khurana” she flashed her big smile to him and placed a big colourful bouquet in the vase in his room

“Good Morning. Did I call you?”

“Sir, wanted to lift up your mood with these fresh flowers” Pari didn’t mind his to-the-point conversations, which many might even consider rude. She had grown used to them and carried on with her one-sided flirtation. By now, Maan was accustomed to her playful chatter. But beyond her quirks, she was excellent at her job and handled his mood swings with nothing but a smile. Anyone else would have panicked at his sudden shifts in demeanor and ended up making a mess of things.

“Did you set up all the meetings I asked you to? And do you have all updates on communications received”

“All the meetings are set up. Your first meeting starts in half an hour. I am preparing updates on all the communication”

“Hmm…” was his answer while his eyes were dug on the big monitor on his desk

“Mr. Khurana, you are coming after so many days. Missed your presence.” Pari flirted further, ignoring his royal ignorance to her

“Ohh.. I am sorry for not being available for your entertainment Miss Pari” Maan said giving her one sarcastic look. But Pari still blushed

“Gooo. Get all the updates ready or you are not accompanying me in my meetings”

“ I am rushing to work on updates. Will meet you in the Conference Room No. KE 201 in half an hour” And she rushed out.

Maan shook his head and started gathering his facts for the upcoming meeting on strategic planning.

********

Geet entered the office and directly headed for her office cabin. She logged into the system to check on the missed messages. But today her agenda actually was not to focus on work but these solo moments in office she was dying to use to introspect on her actions and its after effects. At home, being around Maan was making her very emotional and was not able to think straight.

But she thought to check on some work status to actually straighten her heart and brain, which was now wandering about Maan and his pain.

Geet was making notes based on all the communications received. Okay, so the new projects have already been on the verge of kick start and badly needed her attention.

She was going through things when she got a call from Chetan

“Good Morning Misty”

“Good Morning Chetan. How are you?”

“I am doing Good. Can you drop by into my cabin, we can chat a bit”

“Sure. Give me fifteen minutes, I will be there”

After fifteen minutes she was in Chetan’s cabin

“Yes Sir” Misty smiled

“Please Misty!!” he shook his head

“How is Mr. Khurana now”

“Ohh perfectly fine. It was just a casual flu, viral.. You know, caused him high fever and body aches that accompany the flu” Geet covered up her show of panic that she had shown him a few days back when Maan was suffering from pain. Geet had been so emotional and showed her panic to Chetan, asking for a few days of leave.

She realized later that Maan’s sudden fever that was being treated was kept confined within the family. It was not something to be published publicly. He was physically strong, well gymed and actively involved in his work. Such news can only falsely make rumours in the market and opponents can use this to affect the market share and even the investors can have some confidence shake.

As of now, Maan Khurana is known as inevitable in the business world and that confidence helps him get people to do things on his terms.

One single weakness about him can shake it.

Chetan was her friend—but not Maan’s. And while Chetan was just a friend, Maan was her husband. She would never allow Maan’s vulnerability to be exposed, not even to Chetan. So, she used this opportunity to downplay her earlier panic and normalize the news of Maan’s health in front of him.

Chetan, however, could sense the difference—the stark contrast between what Maan Khurana meant to her and what he did. The way she spoke today, he wasn’t just hearing a concerned woman; he was witnessing a devoted wife. This was a side of Misty he had never seen before. He realized he shouldn’t even draw comparisons—just the mere thought of being in that race would be an insult to her feelings.

The five years of separation was nothing. Any number of years of separation would not replace Maan Khurana having the place of her lover or partner.

“What are you thinking?” Misty brought him back from his thoughts

“The panic in your voice has scared me. Today you are so casual, I am just thinking which one is true”

“Both are true. You have started doubting me? How is a wife supposed to sound when her husband has a continuous high fever? Of course I panicked. But now he is all good. It was just viral.”

“I understand you Misty. Just never imagined to see a wife's side of you. “

Geet gave him a smile “You called me for the new projects, right?”

“Hmm.. You know these days I feel so conscious of handling projects to you - Mrs. Maan Khurana.”

“Don’t forget we are partners here. You bring the projects, I execute them. Its a team work, we are doing it all for our company”

Misty then took updates on new projects from Chetan. She then decided on which are the ones that she would take up and which would be handed to someone else to take the lead on.

“But Misty, even if you are not directly involved, please maintain oversight on them.”

“Of Course Chetan. But I can only take so much. I have a family which needs my focus as well”

Geet, then, for a whole day, closed her cabin for some time to spend in solitude.

She was in guilt, she always was but now after seeing Maan’s condition - not only his physical but his broken heart, how he has ignored himself, Geet can only regret her running away.

How could she do it when she always had a strong feeling that he loved her and could not stay away from her. She claimed that she loved him but she couldn't take his roughness and for her fear she left him, disappeared from his life. Does anyone do this to the person they claim they love? No.

All her claims of loving him were false. Had she really loved him as much as she claimed - she would have been prepared to fight with him for her child, for their love. But No - she never tried to fight but preferred to run away, leaving him all alone in the darkness of the unknown.

Her other alter ego appeared in her defense - “But you never knew he would miss you like this nor did you know that he would get this sick”

From the other side , her other alter ego appeared - “Are you sure Geet, deep down, didn’t you know it was not possible for him to live without you? Didn’t you know how important you were to him?”

“How rude he was to you those days and he was warning you about taking your child away from you” alerted her other alter ego

“Ohh, so in return you took his child away from you. You won Geet. You had your child with you, the child for whom he actually was very excited. You took it away from him but you won, right? He is a man, so it does not matter much if he is kept away from his child”

Geet nodded for NO-NO

“You should not feel guilty Geet - what was the option with the way he behaved those days” said her defending alter ego

“Yes, so the best option was to run away and disappear. Best punishment for him. Let him suffer and look for her but you started fresh with your life. And why should you even care for that family which loved you more than your own family. You got a safe way out with your child right. He got away from his torture”

“No-No-No stop.” Geet closed her ears.

Regardless of all the justifications for his rude behavior and the threat of taking away his child, she knew the truth. Disappearing suddenly, leaving him to face his life alone, and, worst of all, separating him from his child—all after claiming she loved him more than anything—made her realize the weight of her actions. Every declaration of love she had made felt like a lie.

Maan had always been right—she didn’t truly love him.

“No - I love him, I love him way above myself. Dar gayi thi main and I thought he will be happy away from me. No - I knew he needed me but then I never had an idea, I was so important to him. Sara pyar apna gusse me hi jataya unhone. But I was wrong, very very wrong to leave him all alone this way.

I will shower a hundred-thousand times more, Maan. For the reverse reason now, but I know you will resist our love again. This time I am not listening to you at all. I will make you love me again the way you want to. I know you will be resisting your heart, hold back for me but now you will have to open up. I need your love and above all you need to shower your love openly. Only that will bring happiness in your life and ultimately you will also have to do it for our Advay.”

Geet then dialed home and talked to Nakul and gave him some instructions.

*******

Maan had a packed day at the office, with back-to-back meetings involving key area leaders. By the end of it, everyone had their targets and missions set for the next six months.

With Maan so engrossed in work, Pari didn’t have an easy day either. By midday, all her playful flirting had gone unnoticed, lost in the whirlwind of his schedule. When the boss was making the day tough for the higher management, how could hers be any easier? She was buried under a mountain of tasks—taking dictations, updating meeting minutes, retrieving files from different departments, and rushing to meet his relentless demands.

So when she found him collecting his stuff at 5 PM, she sighed in relief. And that relief again took her to her dreamland - Oh, how beautiful it would be if he were even one percent as interested in her as she was in him! If, just once, he would look at her and say—Pari, you’re a delicate girl. You shouldn’t have to work this hard.

She twisted her lips —he was the complete opposite of what she longed for. He demanded hard work, kept her on her toes, and never once seemed to care that a delicate girl like her was putting in so much effort. If she ever dared to slack off, even for a moment, he would scold her without hesitation.

Not once had he noticed her beauty or the stylish outfits she spent a good portion of her salary on. Just one compliment—was that too much to ask? But no. It was as if he was completely oblivious to how women looked, as if appearances and fashion held no significance in his world.

Well Pari has no idea - for Maan, all those looks and admiration was saved for one woman only. And he was even working hard to get away from seeing her that way. He did not deserve to see her that way but was it even in his control. Even today when she was around him, his heartbeat became irregular.

************

Maan reached the outhouse by 6pm and directly went to his room. But shock awaited him there. His room was completely restructured. The bed was gone and it was turned into an office room. The walls that were filled with Geet's and Advay’s pictures were empty. Anger ran through him, who could dare to remove Geet’s and Adhvay’s pictures from his room. He went to check the wardrobe and drawers - Damn, his clothes were not there. The room was rearranged in a way to make it impossible for him to consider it his bed room

“NAKUUUULLLLL!!!!” Maan roared in anger.

“Yes Sir!!!!”

“HOW DARE ALL THIS HAPPEN!!!” Maan’s anger was uncontrolled.

“It was done on Geet Ma’am’s instruction” Nakul said with his head bowed down.

“What?” Maan voice immediately dropped

“Geet?? She asked to dismantle my setup”

Nakul still had his eyes on the ground “Sir, she instructed us to make your setup for staying in the east side room in the main building. She said - you will be staying in Manor going forward. I had no idea you were not aware of it. Or else I would have rechecked with you for confirmation”

“Now, when did I say to recheck with me for confirmation on her decision. Her decision on anything is final for you all. Don’t ever think of insulting her by confirming with me on that - Got it”

“Yes Sir” Nakul was so confused

“You may leave” he ordered and Nakul left

"I need to talk to Geet. Why is she ruining her own life now? Everything was so sorted for her. Why is she complicating it by bringing me into the picture? Having me around her is a terrible sign—why can’t Geet see that? I am the curse of her life, and who keeps a curse close? I have to make her understand."

[NOCOPY]

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Author's Note: - Small update but at least I am trying to be regular. So please like and comment.