Riya was like a statue on the couch. Dhruv crouched opposite to her, observing everything in absolute silence. She was never this broke or worried. This was a nightmare!
More than the question of who would've done this?, her mind only focused on the fact that she's not the CEO of Riya's Choice anymore. It was all she knew of and all she worked through her entire life and now it was all gone, just like that! She would do anything for that job, it wasn't fair that after everything she had done to take the business to this level, they would fire her. But Riya and her dad both knew that the investors always held this power. It was her mistake, she should have been more careful with her secret, but now there's nothing left to do about it, is there?
Her mind was a turmoil of haunting thoughts, and she almost didn't hear Dhruv shouting her name.
"Please don't be like this!", "Say something Riya!!" Dhruv's voice cut through her numb brain. He let his hands rest on her lap which she hadn't even noticed yet. Yup! The situation is definitely worse! His grey eyes were soft with concern. She never encouraged concern or pity from anyone in life, but at the moment, she wasn't herself to analyze that or chastise him.
"I need rest", she said in a half broken voice and stood up to leave. When she was least expecting, he grabbed her hand and stilled her motion. She didn't want to face him. Not now! when she was at the lowest point in life. Nobody had ever seen her like this. Including herself.
When she went through mental breakdown as a kid because of her mother, she promised herself that she would never let anyone, or anything rile her up. At all costs, she avoided everything that could put a test on her mental health, but today she was devastated completely beyond recognition! For sure, this wasn't how she wanted Dhruv to see her.
"It'll be alright. Trust me", he whispered softly before releasing her hand. Even though his words were kind and nurturing, he was well aware that she wouldn't be convinced.
Once she left, he sat alone in the vast living room and after confirming that she was completely out of earshot, he called his secretary. "I want you to do something very important and this is completely confidential.", he whispered secretly. "Anything Sir!", came the reply.
*********************
Days passed with no improvement. Riya's schedule included only one thing everyday, stare at her phone and go through all the horrible articles there ever could be about her mental conditions and the decisions she made as CEO. The sad fact was how the investors were throwing Riya under the bus to protect the company she and her father created from scratch. This wasn't just a betrayal, it was brutal backstabbing.
Reporters and journalists tented outside Dhruv's house for awhile now and no matter how much Dhruv threatened them, the vultures didn't seem to leave without getting some juice out of Riya. But since the day she came home empty and broken, she hadn't opened the blinds of the window, let alone go out. Dhruv tried to shove some food down her throat which she consistently rejected. He started getting real worried that if this situation continued, she might actually die out of malnutrition. Something must be done!
Couple of days ago, she received an official email from her investors voting her out as CEO and appointing a new person Vishal. Apparently, Vishal's company, which is a small private equity firm had always been a minority shareholder in Riya's Choice and now that he had hired a CEO for his own firm, he had applied for this role and easily won. Ever since she read the email, her depression had only quadrupled to next level. Although her dad is still the chairman, he wasn't in a position to reinstate her going against the investors.
Now there was definitely no going back. She shut herself completely to the entire world including Dhruv, her father, brother and her friend Sam, but what she should be shutting was her damn phone because all kinds of worst news were released everyday.
One thing was brutally concluded, that this was how it all ended finally. She didn't think haphephobia is that much of a big deal to cost her job. Her investors were initially cool with her not wanting to shake their hands. When did it all go haywire? They seemed to not bother much of the decisions she had to take as CEO either. She was already healing and only if she had more time, she could've proved everyone that she was fine. But of course life is a bitch!
While she was wallowing in self-pity, Dhruv entered the room with a glass of juice in hand. He noticed her scarred features. She was in the worst condition ever, with black rings around her eyes like a panda and the puffiest eyes he had ever seen. Her already lean frame reduced to half, bones were clearly sticking out of her body now. If he left her one more day like this, she'd definitely collapse due to malnutrition and insomnia.
He must tell her everything, now! Or there might not be enough time to do anything.
"Okay.... Enough of this Riya! I mean, obviously I wanted you to be broken but definitely not dead", he chuckled mildly, which caught her attention and made her look up at him.
Confusion clouded her features not knowing how he can be funny when her world was ending. He now had her full attention which was his intended target all along.
"I can't say it wasn't fun to watch you squirm. But I can't let you continue like this. Of course, I would love to, but come on, I'm not a monster. Plus, if you die, then it'll look really bad on the husband, doesn't it?", he gauged her reaction for a minute. She didn't utter a word. Just stared at him blank with no idea of what he just said.
After a minute, since she didn't reply, he decided to offer her more clarity. "Didn't you get the joke? Of course, I am the cause of your doom, baby!", he smirked at her.
She couldn't understand anything. What was he blabbering all of a sudden! What's wrong with Dhruv? He was fine up until yesterday, right?
"Wow! You have no idea how good it felt to say that to your face or to see your reaction right now!", he mocked her exhibiting fake happiness.
"What?", she asked perplexed. This was the first ever word she spoke after a very long time. She chocked and coughed.
"Oh! Here", Dhruv passed her the glass he was holding. She took a sip of it to actually clear her mind to understand what he was saying. At this point, she wasn't sure if she was hallucinating things.
"I know I'm the devil, but I still can't let you die. Where's the fun in that, right?", he said.
"Dhruv! What the hell. I don't get it. What are you trying to tell?", so many days of insomnia and fatigue was pushing her to the edge, but she fought against it to look him in the eye and listen.
"I'm the one, Riya! I'm the anonymous source", he air quoted the word anonymous source, "from where your investors and reporters got to know you had haphephobia", he smirked devilishly with his grey eyes lit.
"What!", she gasped.