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Corporate Guest Day at the training center was a battlefield of pressed suits, last-minute rehearsals, and people silently praying they wouldn't embarrass themselves. Students fidgeted in their blazers. Trainers barked final reminders. The auditorium buzzed like a charged wire, all because of one name:
Vanya Singhania.
CEO of OrionTech India. Twenty-nine. Ruthless. Brilliant. A ghost of a smile and a blade behind every word. She’d built a tech empire before most people learned to schedule their emails. The trainees hadn’t even seen her yet, but the air grew colder the moment her black Audi pulled in.
She entered like a storm wrapped in elegance—black heels clicking sharp against marble, crisp maroon blazer over a high-waisted skirt, dark lipstick, dark eyes, and the kind of stillness that made even the walls nervous. Her assistant and best friend, Dev, walked beside her, sipping his third coffee of the day, far too casual next to her lethal precision.
“Presentation?” she asked, not breaking stride.
“Final slot. Student-led pitch. Something on hybrid security modules.”
“Student-led,” she repeated. “Great.”
“Could be good,” Dev offered, already amused.
Vanya didn't respond. She never did when she was underwhelmed in advance.
Twenty Minutes Later — The Shift
The room dimmed.
Projector light flickered.
And onto the stage stepped Ira.
Maroon waistcoat. High-waisted black trousers. Rolled-up sleeves of a soft white shirt, collar open just enough to suggest she didn’t need rules to look like one. No tie. No pretense. Just quiet, razor-sharp calm.
She wasn’t trying to impress.
That’s why it worked.
Vanya, in the front row, went still.
Her expression didn’t change. But Dev, sitting beside her, saw her cross one leg tightly over the other, then unclench her hands a second later. Her gaze never left the stage. It tracked Ira like a heat-seeking missile.
Dev leaned in.
“You, okay?”
No answer.
“You blinked. That’s rare.”
Still no answer.
“Oh my God, you’re into her.”
That earned him a micro-glare—but her eyes never left Ira.
Dev grinned. “Corporate Terminator down in one waistcoat. I need this in my diary.”
The Presentation
Ira spoke clearly, smoothly, the way people who don’t realize they’re magnetic tend to. Her hands moved only when needed. No slides flashed with overused transitions. Just facts, logic, and a quiet undertone of confidence.
And Vanya?
Didn’t hear a word.
She was too busy watching the way a strand of hair fell across Ira’s cheek. The way she adjusted the mic calmly. The curve of her wrist when she clicked the remote. The soft rasp in her voice when she said, “architecture vulnerability.”
Every tick of the clock was a countdown to disaster.
When the applause came, it startled her.
Ira gave a slight nod, said, “Thank you,” and walked off stage, disappearing behind the curtains.
And just like that, she was gone.
But not from Vanya’s mind.
Backstage, Minutes Later
Vanya had already asked Dev where the presenters were gathering for feedback. She didn’t wait. She never personally met interns. But this? This wasn’t business anymore.
Ira was standing near the stage exit, checking something on her phone, her expression relaxed now. When she looked up and saw Vanya approaching, she straightened slightly—not with fear, just instinct.
“Ms. Singhania,” she greeted politely.
Vanya stopped a few feet away. Her voice didn’t rise, didn’t drop. But it was quieter. Like she didn’t want others to hear what she was about to say.
“Your presentation was… good.”
“Thank you,” Ira replied. “I was honestly a little nervous.”
“You didn’t look it.”
Ira gave a small smile, glancing sideways. “Yeah, I’ve been told I have a good poker face. Apparently, I look like I’m about to ruin someone’s day even when I’m panicking.”
Vanya blinked.
A beat of silence passed.
Then Ira added, in a tone so casual, so offhand, she might as well have been discussing the weather—
“Besides… it’s easier to speak when someone in the room makes your brain want to focus.”12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXCUMsd9ow
Boom.
Destruction.
Heart: gone. Brain: fried. Soul: relocated.
Vanya just—froze.
She forgot where she was.
Forgot Dev.
Forgot her own name.
And then Ira looked up—meeting her eyes, completely unaware of the storm she’d caused.
“Anyway, thanks for dropping by. It means a lot that someone like you takes time to hear us talk.”12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFdHFjfVTp8
“Most people in your position wouldn’t bother unless it came with a fat contract or press coverage.”
She flashed the faintest smile, soft and genuine, as she stood, slinging her satchel over one shoulder.
“See you around, Ma’am.”
And with that, Ira walked away.
Just like that.
Back relaxed, shoes slightly scuffing against the path, fingers adjusting her sleeves like none of this meant anything.
Vanya?
Still standing there.
Speechless.
Hands still at her sides, phone forgotten.
She opened her mouth. Nothing came out.
“Vanya?” Dev’s voice echoed from a few feet away, watching with barely disguised amusement. “Did she just... destroy you casually?”
Vanya didn’t look at him.
“Who am I?” she whispered.
Dev burst into laughter.
“You’re Vanya Singhania, ma’am. CEO. Shark. Storm. But in this moment?”12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZMo4m2i4B
“You’re just a girl who got absolutely, devastatingly wrecked by a casually spoken line from someone who had no idea she just flirted with the sun.”
Vanya slowly turned toward him.
“I need to sit down.”
“You need water. Maybe therapy,” Dev grinned. “Also, permission to make that quote your new screensaver?”
She glared.
“I’m going to pretend you’re not enjoying this.”
“Too late. I’m fully invested in this love story where the emotionally constipated CEO falls helplessly for a girl who doesn’t even realize she’s causing an epidemic of suppressed gay panic.”
Vanya closed her eyes.
“God help me.”
Later That Night — Campus Girl’s Lounge
The news had already reached the hostel.
“Ira just flirted with the CEO.”
“She didn’t mean to!”
“She doesn’t know she flirted! That’s the worst part!”
“Vanya looked like she’d short-circuited. I swear I saw her forget how to blink.”
“She walked away like she said, ‘nice weather today’, not ' pick up like to want to focus!'
“Ira’s the kind of girl who’ll say ‘Oops, I didn’t know that was seductive’ while setting fire to someone’s romantic sanity.”
Meanwhile, Ira?
Was sitting in her room in pajamas, eating chips and wondering if she should’ve added an extra slide on cloud security protocols.
Because as far as she knew?
Today was just another training presentation.
Totally normal.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCy51iCy2QB
