The Blazing Heiress

24|| Uncanny scene of the past

"If it is true, there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts."

— Leo Tolstoy

*****

"Sir." Pratik addressed his boss as he walked toward him, his mouth quirking upward in a comical, inept smile, approaching the two men stepping out of Rolls Royce.

Viransh removed his sunglasses and raised an eyebrow at the sight of his assistant attired in a neon yellow suit. He flicked a glance at the bodyguard, who stepped around him. The burly man's deep brown gaze blackened into an almost pitiful shade of ebony when they coasted down a radiant suit before he turned away, as if the brightness burned his eyes.

"Pratik." Viransh injected a playful lilt into his voice. "Next time, warn me when you decide to chaff yourself in a gaudy outfit and I'll make sure I don't take off my glasses."

"Duly Noted." The younger man said in a clipped tone. The humour vanished into thin air like a mist of fog before the morning sun when he beheld Viransh's foul mood. Uttering nothing further, he threaded on the heels of his boss and the bodyguard into the office building.

"Any updates on the investigation?" Viransh asked the moment the assistant closed the door shut behind him with a soft click.

A short time ago, Viransh had assigned him to compile about Avni Desai and go through the hospital records for the past three years. Pratik, being a brilliant hacker and a very efficient assistant, always came in handy in circumstances like this, and he entrusted no one except him and his head of security, Anand, in aforesaid matters.

Viransh's lips curled into a faint smile at the thought of her. It was unsettling how she flooded his thoughts every passing second of every day. He heard nothing from her lately. Something had changed that night. With a myriad of events to weigh, he wasn't sure why she spurned him again. There were days when he nearly gave in to the impulse to call her, hear her voice again, and know if she was doing well, but he restrained himself. Her nonchalance hurt. A shot of sharp stabbing sting prickled his heart whenever her rejections surged into his mind. Ignoring the burning feeling in his chest, he shoved the pessimistic thoughts aside.  

No, if he had to be patient with her. Because no matter how harder he would try to decipher her, the harder she would try to barricade her walls. And this time around, he didn't want to crumble her walls to the ground. He was willing to mount the wall—no matter how high it was.

"...something's amiss with the hospital records...may need more time to investigate—Sir, are you listening?" A hint of uncertainty and exasperation sluiced in Pratik's voice.

"Yes." the dark-haired CEO responded, jutting his chin out at the assistant. "Take your time. If required, involve Anand in this and get it done at the earliest." His lips twitched in a near sneer and his eyes sharpened. "And don't question me again."

"Noted." Pratik visibly swallowed and handed over the file to the mogul. "I think you might need this."

Viransh's forehead crinkled into a frown as he read through the report, his shrewd eyes lingering over a piece of new information. A trickle of something cold and foreign washed down his spine before his downward-turned lips curled in hubris. Interesting.

The assistant fixed his glasses and accessed the grim silence of the room before broaching an additional issue. "I've got intel on El Dorado."

"What about it?" Viransh spread his hand on the table, shifting gears to full business mode.

"Though it's not confirmed yet. There are chances Mr Ratan Seth may vote our company out."

The competent assistant wasted no time beating around the bush and laid out all the details. Sometimes, Viransh thought he may partly be a magician because the fanciful man could conjure things out of nowhere.