🍁chapter twenty one 🍁

Shantanu completely ignored Rudra’s words and continued eating fastly. Rudra couldn't understand why Shantanu was so moody and strange—one moment he cared so much about Rudra, and the next, he would puff his cheeks in annoyance and completely ignore him. Right now, Shantanu looked like a sulking child.

On the other hand In the Oberoi Mansion, Rajeev and Vijay were sitting by the pool, drinking.

"Archit is back in India," Rajeev said while looking at the water.

"So what? How does it matter to us?" Vijay replied indifferently while sipping the liquor.

Rajeev smirked sarcastically. "He hasn't told his mother yet; otherwise, their house would be celebrating Diwali today."

Vijay looked at Rajeev and said, "As if his mother is some saint! She’s always after my Rudra." On the mention of Sushama Vijay felt distasteful.

Rajeev laughed. "And Rudra is no less! He gives as good as he gets. Did you see how he completely turned the tables in the meeting? Those who wanted to throw Rudra out of the Oberoi corporation are now busy saving their own jobs."

"Don't you think there's someone inside the company who keeps Rudra informed about everything? " Vijay asked suspiciously, fixing his eyes at his nephew cum friend.

Rajeev smirked knowingly. "I know exactly who’s feeding Rudra all the updates about the company."

Vijay narrowed his eyes. "Who?"

"Ahaan Verma."

Hearing Ahaan’s name, Vijay was completely shocked. "But Ahan is your stepmother’s personal assistant!"

Rajeev didn't say anything, just kept smirking sarcastically.

"Our Rudra is too sharp! I never thought Ahaan would do something like this. He is supposed to be Sushma’s most loyal man." Exclaimed Vijay with total astonishment.

To this, Rajeev replied, "He is even more loyal to Rudra."

Vijay was still unable to come out from one shock when Rajeev dropped another bombshell. "Do you know Archit has joined a company? And guess which one?"

Vijay looked at him curiously. "Which one?"

"Rudra’s...., RS Enterprise."

Vijay felt like he was about to faint. "Is Archit out of his mind? Rudra hates Sanjay Bhai Sahab so much, and just as much, he hates Sushma and Archit too! "

Rajeev also said in a lost voice, "I don’t understand why Archit joined Rudra’s company. If he had to work, he could have joined Dad’s company."

"Could this be a mother-son conspiracy? Maybe she thought that if she couldn’t become CEO, she could use Archit to infiltrate Rudra’s company," Vijay said, raising an eyebrow.

"No, uncle, his mother doesn’t even know he is back in India and has joined Rudra’s company," Rajeev replied.

"Archit working at RS Enterprise is not good for Rudra. Until now, no one really knew what was going on inside RS Enterprise, but with Archit there, company matters will reach his mother too," Vijay said worriedly.

"But I trust Rudra completely. He won’t let Archit have his way. Even though Rudra doesn’t know yet that Archit has joined his company, he will find out tomorrow when Archit comes to get his joining letter signed. And then, Rudra will deal with him," Rajeev said proudly about his younger brother while vijay wished for the same.

After finishing his meal, Shantanu started cleaning the kitchen. Rudra, meanwhile, was on a call and had gone to the bedroom.

"Boss, Archit is back and has joined your company," someone on the other end of the call informed Rudra.

Hearing Archit’s name, Rudra’s face turned cold, and his fist clenched in anger, but he said nothing. He was looking like a brutal king.

"Boss, Miss Sushma is getting too close to the Passion Fashion people," the caller continued. Rudra remained silent, only responding with an occasional "hmm" as he listened.

Peeking into the room from the kitchen, Shantanu muttered to himself, "Who is he talking to for so long? He doesn’t even answer a single question of mine! When I asked him just one thing, he reacted as if I had robbed his entire house. And now, look at him—talking on the phone forever. What was so important that it couldn’t be discussed in the living room?"

Shan felt dejected but, the next moment, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Is he talking to his girlfriend? Or that bathroom girl? No, or the one he kissed at the office? Or… is there someone new? "

Shantanu stopped cleaning, held his head, and sat down on the floor like he lost something important. He kept imagining the girl with Rudra "Boss is such a playboy! He acts so innocent in front of me, but behind my back, he’s involved with so many people. Let him come back, I won’t let this slide—"

"Won’t let what slide? And why are you sitting here?" Rudra’s sudden voice made Shantanu completely panic, and all his plans vanished into thin air. As soon as he lifted his head, he saw Rudra standing right in front of him.

Shantanu got up quietly and resumed cleaning without replying to Rudra's words while Rudra shook his head on Shantanu's ignorance. He sat on the sofa and started using his phone.

Shantanu kept stealing glances at Rudra. "Is he still chatting with that same person? "

As soon as Rudra looked in his direction, Shantanu quickly pretended to be busy cleaning again. Rudra clearly noticed that Shantanu was sneaking looks at him but said nothing, knowing that at any moment, Shantanu could puff his cheeks in annoyance again and will blame him only for it.

After finishing the cleaning, Shantanu drank a glass of milk and poured another for Rudra. "Here, drink this and go inside to sleep."

Rudra looked at the glass and then at Shantanu’s face. "There’s no need. I’ll sleep here. You go inside."

"I’ll be working for a while, and milk is good for your health. If you don’t drink it now, it will go to waste. My stomach is already full, otherwise, I would have drunk it all," Shantanu said casually.

Rudra’s expression darkened upon hearing that Shantanu was offering him milk just because it would go to waste. Now, he had absolutely no desire to drink it, but Shantanu was staring at him like a strict mother. Defeated, Rudra took the glass and drank it all in one go so that Shan did not whine about wasting it.

Shantanu smiled with satisfaction, feeling proud of himself. He loved it when Rudra obeyed him like a good kid without asking questions.

"But you will sleep on the bed, and I will sleep here," Rudra said firmly.

"Boss, you’re my guest, and the sofa is not comfortable. You don’t look like someone who has ever slept on a sofa. Besides, I’ll be working for a while, so the bed will be empty anyway. It makes sense for you to sleep there," Shantanu reasoned.

"I have no problem sleeping here. And you will sleep on the bed—that’s an order because I am your boss," Rudra said sternly using his position to defeat a stubborn kid like shantanu.

Hearing this, Shantanu pouted. He wanted to say, "This is my house, not your office," but he was too scared of Rudra’s anger and was in no mood to get scolded as he knows Rudra is totally devil sometimes. Many times in office Rudra scolded Shan without caring about his reputation and position. Sometimes Shan feeling Rudra is lil bit softer with him as compared to others but he can't guarantee the same everytime.

Rudra observed passing expressions of Shantanu’s face and tried to figure out what was going on in his head. Before going to his room, Shantanu shot him one sharp look and left without a word.

Near Shantanu’s bedroom, there was another room filled with his fashion design materials. Shantanu turned on his computer and started designing.

After some time, he felt someone standing behind him. He didn’t need to look—he already knew it was Rudra.

Shantanu asked him to sit, and Rudra took a stool instead of the chair Shantanu offered.

Looking at the screen, Rudra asked, "What are you designing?"

Shantanu hesitated before answering, "A sling bag."

Rudra frowned slightly, making Shantanu nervous. Gathering courage, he explained, "Boss, I was about to ask you. I’m designing the bag for those who are endorsing Elegant."

Rudra didn’t respond, making Shantanu more anxious. Finally, he turned to him and asked, "Boss, can we do this?"

Rudra's face was still expressionless, which is why Shantanu had no idea what Rudra was thinking at that moment. Rudra looked at Shan's frightened face once and then said in a serious tone, "Next time, discuss it with me before planning anything."

Shantanu lowered his gaze and nodded his head in agreement. Shan's face had completely wilted. Rudra closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. "Look at me."

Shan heard Rudra's deep voice. He was very scared at that moment, but he couldn’t ignore Rudra's words. He lifted his eyes and looked towards Rudra. Shantanu’s eyes met Rudra’s deep blue eyes. Right now, Rudra’s deep blue eyes didn’t seem scary to Shan; instead, they were giving him courage.

"I'm not scolding you or rejecting your idea. This isn't even finalized yet—whether we will give gifts to those people or not, and if we do, what we will give. But you have already started designing the bag. This work is related to the company, and it should be discussed with the entire team. And then, your CEO would have presented this matter before the company's board members, only then would the work move forward. How can you decide alone that the bags should be given? And what if your team refuses to make them? Will you prepare all the bags alone, especially when the shoot is just three days away? Or if I find some issues with the bags and say no, all your hard work would go to waste." Rudra explained patiently because he didn’t like seeing Shan’s downcast face.

Listening to Rudra, Shantanu also realized that he had rushed into designing. He should have spoken to Prem about it first, and anyway, the chances of his team supporting him were quite low.

"Shan, do you understand what I'm saying? If you're doing something for the company, you need to discuss it with your team and the CEO. I don’t think you even spoke to anyone… did you?" Rudra asked politely. Looking at Shan’s lowered face, to which Shantanu slowly shook his head in denial Rudra understood that bag is Shaan's solo idea.

"I didn’t get the time to talk to Prem sir," Shantanu said in a low voice. And how could he? Prem kept him occupied with some work or another.

Rudra patted Shan’s head and said in an encouraging voice, "It's okay, but next time, make sure to discuss it with someone. And if you can’t find anyone, just come to me, alright? " Rudra paused for a moment, and his lips curled slightly. "Anyways, you always roam around the office all day like a rabbit."

At Rudra’s words, Shantanu immediately looked at him. "That’s not true! You’re mistaken. I work very hard. See how much work I do! You can’t say that about me."

To which Rudra replied nonchalantly, "That’s why I always find you on the third floor…"

Shan understood that Rudra was teasing him. He didn’t want to make a fool of himself in front of Rudra anymore, so he quickly justified, "My friends are there, so I just go to meet them sometimes…"

Rudra wanted to say, "Not sometimes, but daily, during every break, and even without breaks too," but he decided not to tease Shan further since it was getting late, and Shan needed to finish his work and rest too.

"Alright."

Shantanu hesitated before asking, "Boss, can I do this?"

"Hmm," Rudra gave a short response again, but that was enough to make Shantanu very happy, and he excitedly resumed working on the bag design. "Thank you, Boss!" Shan chirped.

Rudra gave an almost unnoticeable smile, and as he stood up, he gently ruffled Shantanu’s hair. "Go to sleep early," he said before leaving.

A peaceful smile appeared on Shantanu’s face as he watched Rudra walk away.

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