"I was torn between holding on to what you promised and accepting the reality of you not being able to deliver."
-R. H. Sin
Present
Sidya's POV
If there was something I hated more than having to sit through hours of meetings in a room full of men who thought I was just a privileged bitch was to take interviews.
I have been here since morning and still haven't found a worthy candidate. All of them are incompetent for the job and shouldn't even have applied in the first place. But delusion seems to be everyone's guiding force here. Just because the invitation was made public, it doesn't mean that anyone with a degree and some experience could apply.
This is why I wanted my father to handle the interviews. I am not cut with the cloth that makes you immune to people's stupidity.
I take a second look at the resume, ensuring I don't miss anything. This guy seems perfect for the job. He has excellent recommendations and has worked with some promising people.
I lift my eyes to evaluate his body language and posture. And that's when I realise he is perfect, but only in theory. His eyes are fixed on something other than my face.
I lower my head to see what the asshole is finding so fascinating that he hasn't even felt my gaze on him.
My eyes fall on my low cut blouse that shows a tiny bit of my cleavage and the small swells of my breast. I am about to jump across the table and rip his eyes out for even looking my way sexually.
But I have better ways to destroy him.
I tilt my head a little towards my left, only to find my father completely engrossed in the profile in front of him. I am glad he has no idea. Because if he did, my overprotective father would have kicked his ass out before I would have had the time to show him his place. A place where perverts belong.
"I really appreciate your attention to your surroundings and detail. It's commendable," I say in a serious tone.
His posture visibly straightens as he forces himself to sit straight and move his eyes away from my chest.
"Thank you! It's one of the reasons I have lasted long enough in my previous jobs as a secretary."
"Of course. I don't doubt your work ethic even a bit. But I would love to test you. If, you don't mind." I bat my eyelashes at him.
It's so easy to push men around. They are idiots who love the sense of fake pride. They love to think of themselves as the superior species.
I can feel my father's questioning gaze. He is well aware that I would never be so polite, specially not to a man who yet hasn't proven he is worthy of respect.
"Sure." He beams a huge smile at me.
"What is my chest size?"
I recline my chair backwards as panic flashes in his eye. But he manages to hide it away within a second. His grip on the chair tightens and his throat moves up and down.
"Mr. Arora, I think that's an inappropriate question." He directs it at my father, completely ignoring the fact that I was the one speaking to him.
"Oh, and staring at my chest was appropriate?" I say before my father even has a chance to reply.
The interviewee, Kunal, doesn't even turn to face me. He continues to address my father, like I am not even here. It happens more often than you think.
"I am sure that Miss Arora is mistaken. You have seen my resume and I am the—."
"Shut up, you piece of shit!" My father spats in his face as he slams the file down on the glass. "Miss Arora is right in front of you. If you have the guts to oggle my daughter in my presence, you surely should have the guts to accept your fucking mistake to her face rather than denying it like a 2-year old."
My father pushes his chair back and is about to get up when I hold his hand.
"I can handle this."
My father loves letting me take in charge of the company, but when it comes to my personal life or anything that affects me personally, he stands in front of me like a shield.
I like it, but not today.
I turn my head towards Kunal. Fear and panic cover his expressions as he fidgets in the chair.
"Get the fuck out of my office before I have the security drag you or file a case against you," I say calmly.
His throat bobs up and down as he pushes the chair back and mutters something under his breath, but my father's bloodshot eyes have him trembling and rushing out of my office in no time.
"Mind your language, Sidya," my father says in a stern voice as soon as the door to my office closes behind Kunal.
I wince at the sound of my name.
He only calls me by my name when he is mad.
"I am not sixteen anymore, Dad. And from next time refrain from defending me, I can do it just fine."
His eyes soften and jaws unclench a little.
"I worry about you, Princess. And you can't exactly stop a father from protecting his daughter. Sixteen or not sixteen, you will always be my baby. The baby who was hardly even the size of my palm when I first met her."
I roll my eyes. My father has a thing for emotions.
"And the said baby is now a grown, independent woman, who doesn't need someone else to defend her."
He nods. "I know you hate when I interfere, but again, you are my child. You can't stop a parent from wanting to protect his own children.”
"In this office, I am not your daughter. I am a woman who runs this company. So next time, treat me as such."
It came out more firm than I intended. But then again I have never been good with words. I have always been known to say the harshest things with a straight face.
"I will try, but next time someone disrespects you like that I am teaching them a lesson."
I roll my eyes at him.
Men and their constant need to prove themselves through physical violence.
I love my father, but I can't help my general dislike for the way men function.
Not after one of them turned my life upside down four years ago.
I shake the depressing thoughts away.
Not going there.
My current secretary knocks on the door before entering. "Liked anyone?" His eyes glimmer with hope.
He is going on paternity leave next week and I need someone to fill for him during his absence.
I asked my father to just find me a secretary like he did the last time, but he was set on having me sit through hours of torture as these baboons went on and on about how good they were at their previous jobs.
Clearly not good enough, considering their employers had let them go. Even if they chose to resign, it only means that their previous employers didn't deem them worthy enough to ask them to stay or give them a better offer.
"No!" Both my father and I say in unison.
His shoulders slump and head falls backwards.
"I am not going to stay even a day extra after my leave starts. My wife needs me."
He has been working with me since the day I took over the company and over the years we have formed a friendly bond.
"See, I told you to marry him. Look how much he loves his wife and wants to be there for her." My father elbows me like a little kid.
He has been trying to set me up with every guy who he finds decent. It's like he can't wait to marry me off. Since the day I cried in his arms over a stupid asshole, he made it his life's mission to find me a husband.
And he has been constantly failing at that mission.
"He is married, dad. And in no way in hell I would have married a man like him," I turn my head towards Taran, "no offence."
"None taken." He nods and turns a little to address my father. "You failed to set us up, sir. And I am seriously offended that the only reason you hired me was because you thought I would make a great husband to your daughter."
"Well, as the father of a young girl I need to make sure my daughter has all the right options in front of her."
"With all due respect, sir, please never link me and Sidya together. She is more like a sister to me."
I nod, telling my father I agree with everything he said.
Taran and I get along well. He is one of the few people I trust and no one was happier when he started dating his current wife, who is now pregnant, because the idiot couldn't keep it in his pants.
"You could have waited a few more years and saved me the misery of looking for your replacement." I shuffle through the large pile of papers sitting in front of me.
My butt hurts from sitting in the same chair since morning, all because of this asshole. Had he just avoided having a child, I wouldn't have had to find someone to replace him?
Or better yet, had my father just agreed to look after this selection process himself, I wouldn't have had to deal with any of it.
"Can't, my wife is way too sexy for me to keep my hands to myself." He winks.
It's surprising how watching people in love fills my chest with warmth, but thinking about myself in love makes me want to throw up, scream and run away.
"Just pick anyone," I push my chair back, "except from the ones I interviewed today."
I grab my phone and check through my messages.
My heart starts palpitating the moment I see a picture of my best friend with her fiance. His arm is wrapped around her abdomen as she holds a large bouquet of white roses in her hands.
Memories of my past start flashing in front of my eyes.
Lies. Betrayal. Secrets.
Taran's voice brings me back to reality and I instantly snap my eyes towards him.
This cycle needs to end. He can't keep affecting me even after four years.
"I will look into it," Taran says.
His eyes linger on my face longer than they should.
"What?" I bark at him as I frantically start gathering my belongings from the table. I have had enough of this day.
"You look...stressed."
I freeze.
I slowly lift my head up only to find two concerned gazes staring at me.
My father thinks I stress too much and have changed a lot since I came back from the academy. Which is also why he is set on setting me up with random boys and forces me to go on dates.
Taran has seen me work, and according to him I am a workaholic. He thinks I like proving people wrong and would burn the world just to prove my point.
So even a tiny slip of my guard in front of them means a series of questions.
So, I immediately mask my reaction as I rack my brain to come up with an excuse.
No!
I don't fucking need to give them an excuse. This is my office. I am the boss here.
"Nothing that concerns you. If instead of monitoring my mood you did your job correctly, I would have found a damn replacement for you."
My secretary takes the clue and slowly nods. "Will talk later."
He walks out of the office.
I should feel bad for talking to him like that, but I don't. Had I said anything else my father and him would have started their interrogation.
I am about to walk out of the office as my father calls after me.
"Princess."
I stop, but I don't turn back. It's harder to push them away when they are staring right into my eyes.
"Yes."
"You will find a new secretary. A secretary who values you and adds to your company, helps you grow as a person and always has your back. I will make sure that you do."
His soft voice and the hidden message in his words makes me numb to my surroundings. I can hear my heartbeat in my ears.
But I don't reply.
I open the door and walk out with my head held high.
It's embarrassing that I had let a man fool me, but I won't let it happen to Vanie. She deserves way better than these assholes.
She has had a crush on Aadish Arya since forever. The day she called me telling she was marrying him, I had acted like my younger self and been all fairies and sunshine for her.
But my present self pushed the younger me back into the corner she belonged and took over the reins, again. I did some digging and found out the huge profit Aadish was making by marrying her.
I had kept my distance from Aadish and his business for a reason. But that reason no longer mattered when he was going to hurt someone I deeply cared about.
I have no reason to believe that Aadish and Avinash are any different. Both of them are tarred with the same brush.
And if one of them could betray for wealth, so could the other one. I might not know anything about Aadish, but I know everything about Avinash. And considering how close they are, I am sure Aadish knows everything about him too.
He might even have been a part of all the sins Avinash committed.
But this time my loved ones weren't going to be the collateral damage.
For weeks I have put this task off. Last time I went digging around places I didn't belong, I found something that weighs on my conscience even today. It was everything I stood against.
Yet you didn't speak against it.
Not this time.
This time I was going to make them pay. All I need is proof. Proof that Aadish is not what he pretends to be, that he has ulterior motives for marrying Vanie.
A proof I could easily find by hacking into his company's database.
Avinash and his kind had already done enough harm to me, but not anymore. Tomorrow morning I will find the truth.
ʚ☆ɞ
Breaking into Aadish's company's system and hacking his cameras was a child's play. After all, I was the real winner of the trophy four years ago.
I have been watching some footage that I think might have something important that could help me. Till now all I have heard him talk about is business. He is even a bigger workaholic than me.
If it weren't for his close relations with a man like Avinash, I would have even appreciated him.
I straighten in my seat as I hear Aadish call Vanie an unnecessary wife, who he is only marrying for the business deal.
Pure, unadulterated rage runs through my veins. My jaws tremble. For some reason I feel betrayed.
Maybe a part of me wanted me to be wrong. Maybe I secretly wanted him to be different.
I immediately extract the video and transfer it into a pendrive.
I had gotten what I needed. I won't go digging deeper than necessary. Last time hadn't ended pleasantly.
───※ ·❆· ※───
Curious about Vanie and Aadish?
Read their story 'The Unnecessary Alliance' (completed), available on my wattpad profile.
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