Page 70 of Entangled Vows

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Ten minutes later, Mahika dialled HR, her jaw tight, the phone vibrating against her ear as she waited for the call to connect.

“Good morning, Mahika ma’am. How are you this morning?”

“I’m furious, Hina. Care to explain why no one thought to check with me when a leave request went out from my email?”

There was a nervous pause. “Ma’am... I... you—”

Mahika ran out of patience. “What?”

“Vikram sir said you wanted to apply for leave and that you were busy, so—”

“Who emailed it?” Mahika cut in, her voice icy, though she already knew the answer.

“It was… Vikram sir.”

Of course. No doubt about it. Who else would be brazen enough to hijack her professional life like it was just another task on his to-do list?

“If he ever does this again,” she said through clenched teeth, “come find me. I won’t let it happen a second time.”

“I-I’m really sorry, ma’am,” Hina stammered, her voice trembling.

Hearing the fear in her voice, Mahika’s anger softened. It was not Hina’s fault. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke softly. “I didn’t mean to yell, okay? But this is wrong, and it can’t happen again. Understood?”

“Certainly, ma’am. I truly am sorry.”

“It’s alright. We’ll talk later.”

She ended the call with a curt goodbye and set the phone on the table. Ugh! He was such an arrogant jerk. Her hands balled into fists, and Mahika felt a strong urge to slap his smug face.

Before she could give it much thought, another notification beeped on her phone.

[Personal email: Solstice Spa, Dehradun]

Mrs. Khurana, we have scheduled your premium day retreat package for two. We eagerly await your presence at 3 p.m. today. Your private rejuvenation suite is now ready for your use.

—Warm regards,

Pooja (Spa Concierge)

She read it again, disbelief written all over her face. The sheer gall of that man! He didn’t just meddle with her calendar; he’d gone ahead and booked her a fucking spa day too.

She was mentally cursing him. He was a control freak with a god complex, wrapped in Tom Ford. Of course, he would think a spa day counted as payback. What irked her even morewas that he’d noticed she was tired. He simply wanted her to relax. And the worst part was that he was freaking right.

But that wasn’t the point. Noticing wasn’t the same as asking, and playing the overbearing hero in her life didn’t count as caring. It was just another form of control, and she’d experienced enough of that control growing up with her dad.

Grabbing her bag from the cabin, Mahika marched out of the office with purposeful strides. Her thoughts spun as the elevator took her to the ground floor. Every nerve in her body was buzzing with agitation. She still couldn’t digest that he had the nerve to apply for leave on her behalf.

As she stepped into the entrance lobby, her eyes landed on the familiar black sedan idling near the curb.

Outside, Max was already beside the car, holding the door open like the seasoned professional he was.

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” he said with his customary smile. “Heading home?”

Sliding into the backseat, she gave him a tight smile. “Yes. Straight home, Max. No detours.”

“Yes, ma’am.”