The next morning, Sathvik was a little nervous as he reached the office with little Muskaan.

Muskaan was wide awake as they walked into the office. She waved to the fishes in the big aquarium as they walked past it.

"Ishh, Sathee, Ishh," Muskaan squealed, pointing at the fishes and waving to them.

"Mamu, say mamu," Sathvik said for the umpteenth time, to which Muskaan grinned back and again called him Sathee.

Sathvik rolled his eyes playfully at the little girl in his arms.

Saumya, his personal assistant, smiled when they passed her desk in front of his cabin.

"Somu, bye-bye," Muskaan waved at Saumya, whom she had started referring to as Somu.

Muskaan seemed to enjoy calling everyone by their name. The only person whom Sathvik had heard her not calling by name is her deceased mother.

"You are one naughty girl with no manners, huh?" Sathvik said in mock anger and brushed his nose with hers.

Muskaan giggled loudly when he did that.

"More, more," she demanded, and Sathvik happily obliged.

Two hours later, his nervousness increased when Devangana didn't come in with his coffee.

He was about to call Saumya and ask her to send Devangana in when the door to his room opened, and his parents walked in.

"Dad, Mom! You didn't inform me that you would be back today," Sathvik asked as he stood up from his chair.

Muskaan looked up from where she was sitting and drew concentric circles on a paper Sathvik had given her a while ago.

She recognized the people as her momma had always shown her their pictures. She shot them a toothy smile, and Nilima's eyes started tearing up again.

"Nilima, please don't. We talked about this, didn't we?" Charan pleaded with his wife.

"Nilu, no," Muskaan copied, earning a chuckle from Charan.

"Listen to your granddaughter, Nilima," Charan said as Sathvik picked up Muskaan.

"She is your nani. Say nani," Sathvik said, knowing very well that she wouldn't listen to him.

"Nilu," Muskaan said stubbornly.

"Mannerless girl, calling everyone by name," Sathvik scolded her playfully and turned to Nilima.

"Mom, teach her some manners. She calls everyone by name— Sathee, Debaa, Somu, Ichu, and now Nilu," Sathvik said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Muskaan took the pen from his pocket and started poking Sathvik with it.

"Muskaan, no," Sathvik said, trying to get the pen from her, but she held on tightly.

"Sathvik, Harsh called me yesterday. That's why we are here. What were you thinking when you introduced the errand girl as your fiancee?" Charan asked furiously.

"Dad, I felt cornered. I didn't think about what I was doing," Sathvik confessed.

"And what if the girl took advantage of the situation? We are in this situation now because of a gold digger who trapped our girl. I don't want a repeat of that, Sathvik," Charan said.

"Devangana is not like that, Dad."

"And how do you know this? How long have you known her?" Charan asked.

"I have only known her for a week. But I can tell that she is not like that. Meet her once, and you will know," Sathvik said.

"Then call her, Sathvik. Let's meet her, Charan, before coming to any conclusions," Nilima said.

"Fine. Call her. Beggars can't be choosers, can they?" Charan said, and Sathvik rolled his eyes at his father's dramatics.

Sathvik took the intercom and dialled Saumya.

"Saumya, send Devangana in," Sathvik ordered.

Saumya came into the cabin.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Acharya," she greeted the elderly couple and turned to Sathvik.

"Where is Devangana?" Sathvik asked, and Saumya frowned.

"She resigned. You didn't know? I thought you were the one who asked her to resign because of your upcoming nuptials," Saumya said, confused.

Sathvik's eyes widened in surprise.

"Okay. You may leave, Saumya."

As Saumya walked out, Charan shot a pointed look at Sathvik.

"See! I told you. She already resigned and started spreading rumours that your marriage is around the corner," Charan said.

"Dad, please. There must be a misunderstanding. Let me call the HR and ask when she came and submitted the resignation," Sathvik said and dialled the HR head through his intercom.

"Hello, HR department, Acharya Industries. How can I help you?" The receptionist at the HR department said through the call.

"This is Sathvik. Transfer the call to Akshara, please," Sathvik asked, and the call was soon transferred to Akshara Sharma, the HR head of Acharya Industries.

"Hello, Sathvik. How can I help you?"

"Akshara, I want to know about Devangana Kashyap's resignation. When did she come to submit it?" Sathvik asked.

"She didn't come to submit them, Sathvik. Ishaan Kashyap submitted her resignation letter," Akshara said.

"And was there a reason mentioned for the sudden resignation?" Sathvik asked.

"No."

"How did you accept the resignation letter without proper reason or formality, Akshara?" Sathvik asked.

"Oh, I assumed it was because of your upcoming wedding. Congratulations, by the way, Sathvik. You two would make a beautiful couple," Akshara said cheerfully, and Sathvik closed his eyes in disbelief.

"You assumed? And is it you who passed on the information around, Akshara?" Sathvik asked.

Akshara squirmed in her seat.

"Oh, sorry, Sathvik. I didn't realise it was to be kept under wraps for now. As you introduced her as your fiancée in front of all the employees, I assumed it was common knowledge," Akshara apologised.

"Thank you so much, Akshara," Sathvik said sarcastically and hung up the call.

"What is happening?" Nilima asked, and Sathvik explained what really happened.

"Great. Your fake wedding has become office gossip now," Charan groaned.

"Call Ishaan Kashyap," Nilima said, and Sathvik did as she said.

Ishaan walked into the cabin with a furious look on his face and injured knuckles.

"Ishaan, what happened?" Sathvik asked.

Ishaan took a deep breath.

"Nothing, Sathvik," he said and then noticed the elder Acharya couple.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Acharya," Ishaan greeted politely.

"Ishaan, the HR department informed me that you have submitted Devangana's resignation. What happened?" Sathvik asked and felt like a fool to ask a question with the obvious answer.

Ishaan shot him a look of disbelief.

"After what happened yesterday, do you really think my parents would let her come here again? We belong to a very conservative family, Sathvik. Such things are frowned upon in our community," Ishaan said, trying to keep his tone as polite as he could, respecting the presence of the elderly couple.

Sathvik's eyes widened in horror.

"Are they angry?" Sathvik asked.

"Momma is furious. Angana is now under house arrest," Ishaan said.

"House arrest?" Sathvik asked in horror. This is the twenty-first century, for crying out loud.

"Momma wouldn't let her even come out into the courtyard of our own home. Let alone the office."

"I am sorry, Ishaan." Sathvik apologised.

"Why are they angry?" Charan asked, and Ishaan curbed his urge to roll his eyes.

"Sir, I am sure Sathvik must have filled you in on what happened here yesterday. And my parents are old-fashioned people. They are worried about her now. They didn't want to feed into more gossip, so they thought it was better to stop Devangana from coming to work anymore. But if they know what all talks are going on now in the office, they would have a panic attack," Ishaan said, remembering the gossip as of today in the office.

One bloody moron had the audacity to come and ask him whether his sister slept with the boss for a promotion. He also asked whether she is pregnant and if that's why they are getting married.

Ishaan had answered him with his fists, resulting in the moron having a bleeding nose and himself having an injured knuckle.

Sathvik groaned.

"I didn't realise things would go out of hand, Ishaan. Trust me," Sathvik said earnestly.

"I would appreciate it if you could do something about the office gossip, Sathvik. There are things being said about Angana that a brother absolutely loathes to listen to. If you don't take action on that, I won't be responsible for any more casualties here," Ishaan said, looking at his bleeding knuckles.

"Oh my God! Did you get into a fight, Ishaan?" Nilima asked.

"Of course, I did. That bastard was asking me if my Angana was pregnant. What would you expect me to do? If my parents hear this, they would die out of worry and shame," Ishaan said.

"Ishaan! I will marry her," Sathvik said, and Ishaan felt his blood boiling.

"Is that what you have to say? I am talking about my sister's reputation, and you are worried about the custody case. You know what? I quit," he took off his ID card and threw it onto Sathvik's desk and walked out of the office.

"I think we should go and talk to the family directly. If we make an official proposal, maybe they won't be this angry. They might prefer it that way," Charan said thoughtfully.

From what he heard so far, the family seems respectable.

Sathvik sighed. His parents agreed.

Now he has to make her family agree.

He looked at Muskaan, who had gone back to her scribbling a while ago.

"Anything for you, sweetheart."

A/n

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