Chapter 12:The Edge of Control

The conference room still buzzed with the fading echoes of the meeting, but for Avni, the real confrontation had just begun. The moment the last doctor exited, silence settled between her and Reyaansh like a coiled serpent, ready to strike.

She stood near the long table, arms crossed, her heartbeat annoyingly erratic. “If this is about the budget, we can discuss it in my office.”

Reyaansh leaned back against the window frame, his gaze sharp, calculating. “That’s not what this is about, and you know it.”

Avni let out a quiet breath, steadying herself. “Then stop wasting my time and say what you need to.”

A slow smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. “I think you like it when I waste your time, Avni.”

She felt her jaw tighten. “You’re delusional.”

He took a step forward, slow and measured, like a predator testing the waters before closing in on its prey. “Am I?”

She hated how his presence affected her, how every glance, every word felt like a challenge she couldn’t ignore. But she had spent too long fighting to be where she was—she wasn’t going to let someone like him unravel her.

“I don’t have time for this.” She turned, ready to leave, but before she could take another step, his fingers curled around her wrist—not tight, not forceful, but enough to make her stop.

“Tell me, Avni.” His voice was lower now, rougher. “Do you really hate this as much as you pretend to?”

Her breath hitched.

His grip remained light, but his presence was suffocating. She could feel the heat radiating from his body, the unspoken tension hanging between them like an impending storm.

Avni slowly turned her head, meeting his gaze. Dark, intense, unreadable.

“You think I don’t see it?” he continued, his voice dangerously soft. “The way your pulse races when I’m near. The way you hesitate before walking away. You want control, but around me, you lose it.”

She forced a smirk, masking the turmoil inside her. “You’re mistaking irritation for attraction, Reyaansh.”

His thumb grazed against the inside of her wrist, featherlight, and yet it sent a current through her veins. “Am I?”

Avni willed herself to step back, to put distance between them, but her body betrayed her. She was trapped, not by his grip, but by something far more dangerous—her own hesitation.

The air between them crackled, charged with something neither of them wanted to name.

“Let go,” she whispered, though even to her own ears, the words lacked conviction.

Reyaansh studied her for a long moment, as if searching for something in her eyes. Then, ever so slowly, he released her wrist, his fingers brushing against her skin before retreating completely.

But he didn’t step back.

Instead, he leaned in, his breath warm against her ear. “This isn’t over, Avni. And you know it.”

Her pulse pounded as she watched him walk away, leaving her standing there, heart hammering, hands clenched, and mind screaming at her to not let this go any further.

But she already knew—she had stepped too close to the edge.

And Reyaansh?

He was waiting for her to fall.

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