Page 68 of Entangled Vows

Her stylus hovered in mid-air for a moment before she spoke again, as if nothing had happened. “Right. As I was saying, phase three focuses on cross-platform visibility. The IPL spot is crucial —”

“It is too expensive,” he cut in smoothly. “Last IPL season, two competitors doubled their marketing budgets on this and barely got half the results. You don’t need to chase trends. You need to set them.”

Mahika turned towards him slowly, unimpressed. “Thanks for the unsolicited advice, but we’re here to discuss strategy, not budgeting.”

“Someone has to see the bigger picture. You’re too caught up in the details,” he countered.

She forced a tight smile. “And you’re so far above it all, you waltz in here acting like you’re not just the CEO, but some Boardroom God.”

The room was filled with discreet coughs and awkward throat-clearings, and Mahika caught every bit of it. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Vikram didn’t raise his voice or utter a word. He didn’t need to. He just leaned back, tipping his chair just enough to look unnervingly relaxed, his fingers moving with methodical ease as he pushed his sleeves higher. The writer in her melted at that small, careless gesture, because watching him like that was temptation wrapped in sin.

That cocky glint in his eyes said he’d been waiting for this moment.

“Relax, will you,baby?” he drawled, his lips curling into an arrogant smirk. “I’m just saying… check the analytics before you waste time repackaging failure.”

Mahika froze. Did he just call her‘baby’?

Her spine straightened, but not before her face betrayed her. Her cheeks flushed crimson and her full lips parted instinctively before she could stop herself. For a moment, her mind went blank. Damn it!! The words tangled as she spoke.

“I… uh…” She cleared her throat, her eyes flicking to her laptop, then darting away. “We already have the data…” she began, her voice breathless.

The team had gone stone silent. A few people exchanged glances. One brave soul sitting beside Mahika coughed again, but Vikram just sat there looking maddeningly calm, like he hadn’t just dropped a grenade and lit a fire beneath her skin.

Mahika blinked rapidly and avoided Vikram’s eyes as she lowered her stylus slowly. “We’re exploring potential here, not chasing meaningless numbers.”

He was really getting a kick on seeing her flustered. “This company runs on results, not empty metrics, baby.”

Mahika inhaled sharply and tapped her tablet, shutting down the presentation. “That’s all for today. I’ll share the revised campaign rollout by EOD.”

Before she could say another word, Vikram turned to the team. “You heard her. The meeting’s over.”

No one needed a second dismissal. Chairs scraped back in haste as the team filed out with murmured goodbyes, leaving behind the awkward energy that trailed after two sparringalphas. By the time the door clicked shut, Mahika was already on her feet, her arms folded tightly across her chest as she paced.

Then she leaned forward and planted her palms firmly on the table in front of him. “How dare you? You had no right to derail my meeting like that,” she fumed.

“I had every right,” Vikram countered, his gaze dipping to her lips and then to the delicate hint of cleavage at her neckline. “And technically, I saved everyone thirty minutes of circling dead ideas.”

Mahika looked down where he was looking, and heat rushed through her when she realised he was openly checking her out.

She straightened and arched a brow. “Do you do this often?”

“Do what?” he replied lazily as he leaned comfortably, not bothering to hide the fact that he was checking her out.

“Invade meetings that aren’t yours?”

He gave a slow, wicked smile. “Only when I know the person hosting it secretly enjoys it.”

She exhaled sharply and shook her head. “You’re—”

Her phone buzzed. Twice.

She paused as another team’s notification popped up. The third one in a row. Her brows knit together in confusion. She unlocked the screen, and the messages from her team chat glared back at her.

Kritika:Hey, Mahika! Since your two-day leave is in, just a quick update. Aadya is covering the Singhal review meeting with your notes, Ishan is handling the Fabelle launch comms, and I’m taking over the Orion campaign withAnalytics. Everything’s sorted. Don’t you worry. Hope you enjoy the break.

Her brain stalled.What leave? What break?