Dev was on the verge of losing his temper. He was trying to control himself as he did not want Sonakshi to get scared of his bad side. He did not want to unleash his devil in front of her.

Sonakshi strode out of the room without glancing back at him. What Dev did not notice was the tear falling from Sonakshi's left eye that she was wiping away.

As soon as she left the room closing the cabin, Dev lost his control. He started throwing things all over the room. His eyes became bloodshot. No woman had the audacity to refuse Devrath Dixit till now.

How dare she refuse me! Ms. Sonakshi Sharma. I will make you mine. That is when I will make you mine such that you will run after me, I will not give you what you will want at that time the most, MY LOVE. I would be taking revenge from your family for hurting my family and I would be taking revenge from you for rejecting my love for you. Dev vowed.

Dev pulled out his phone and called up Arjun.

"Hi, boss" Arjun spoke.

"Listen Arjun. I want to know on what project you have put Sonakshi Sharma on," Dev asked.

"I have put her on the upcoming fashion show project. That is our main event currently as we are investing a lot and we are hoping to get a lot of profit," Arjun spoke.

"I would like to have a meeting with your whole team today. The event is on Sunday," Dev said, "Today is Tuesday already. Things need to be rushed up."

"Hello, Anurag. Tell me," Komolika spoke.

"Hi, Komolika. Sorry to disturb you at this time," Anurag said. "Do you have a minute?"

"Umm... Sure," She said.

"Actually, I am going to have lunch with Prerna. I mean Sona," He said.

"Did she invite you?" She questioned not liking the fact that Anurag was going to meet Sonakshi. No woman can tolerate another lady near the man she liked.

"Yes. As a friend," He said showing a bit of disappointment that they were just friends and not more than friends.

Komolika was a bit relieved when she understood that Sonakshi was not trying to take Anurag away from her. But what puzzled her was Anurag taking her permission to go and meet Sonakshi.

"Why are you asking for my permission?" Komolika asked.

"Because you are my to-be wife," Anurag said, "The paparazzi might find us taking lunch together and speculate that we are still together. I don't want you to suspect my loyalty towards you. My father would never accept a dishonorable son."

Komolika felt touched. She felt so disgusted with herself to have thought that Anurag might go back to Sonakshi. He might be a one-sided lover, but he had promised to stand by his morals.

Kriti received a message from SS.

Tonight.
11 pm.
Hotel Emerald Mist room number 123.
P.S. Keep all my stuff for the deal ready. I want tight security all around the building.
There should be no chance of escape if they try to cheat us.

Kriti sends a message to Jade.

Songbird has agreed to meet you tonight.
Time: 11 pm.
Address: Hotel Emerald Mist room number 123.

Kriti put her phone on her desk. Kriti got up from her desk to a black cupboard and put in the code: DEVRATH.

The locker showed UNLOCKED.

Kriti brought out two suitcases. She opened them. The suitcases contained crores of money. There were crisp notes bundled up together.

After all, in the business mafia, Songbird would have to trade around with the amount of money she had. Underworld trading was not easy and was not legal.

Kriti sent a message to another person named Sylvester.

Meeting is fixed tonight with Jade.
Songbird has agreed to meet Jade and take care of the deal.

Sonakshi walked back into her cabin. She was so shaken. She had not expected Dev to fall for her. He considered her as his father's enemy's daughter. Then, how could he do this?

"Get a grip on yourself, Sona. You are here to help Dad get his revenge. Not fall in love with his enemy's son. Moreover, you do not deserve him. If he gets to know your secrets, he will not accept you," She said out loud.

There was a soft knock on her cabin door. Sonakshi looked up to find Arjun Rawat at the door.

"Arjun Rawat here," He introduced himself, "Head of the Marketing and Events department of Dixit Industries." He continued now offering his hand for a handshake.

"Sonakshi Sharma Sir," Sonakshi said, hesitantly shaking the hand that Arjun had put forward.

How much did he hear of what I was saying? When did he even come? How come I was not able to hear his footsteps? My ears know it when someone is approaching me. Why didn't I hear his? Sonakshi wondered.

I know what you must be thinking Ms Sharma. I wear Quiet heels. I must say you are pretty and you are a pretty smart woman. Arjun thought.

"Please come to the conference room on the next floor. We have an important meeting at 11 am. I hope you can complete the files later," Arjun said.

"Sure sir," She nodded.

Jatin was sitting on a chair in Suraj's office looking at Suraj pacing around the room like a madman for almost an hour now. It was high time that Jatin had to bring Suraj back to earth.

"Suraj?" Jatin called out.

"Hmm," Suraj said deep in thought.

"What are you thinking?" Jatin asked.

"I am trying to make a plan," Suraj replied.

"I guess you need the help of your brains to do this," Jatin spoke.

"Are you dumb? I am using my brain to think." Suraj said agitatedly. The last thing Suraj needed now was Jatin's stupid jokes.

"I mean you need your Aahana," Jatin said trying to knock sense into Suraj's head.

Suraj smiled. Aahana.

"Perfect!"

"And this is the current plan for Sunday's event of the Fashion show," Arjun concluded by explaining the whole plan to the team, "Any questions?"

"Sir," Sonakshi raised her hand.

Interesting! thought Arjun. "Yes, Sonakshi go ahead."

"Sir. According to me, there is a flaw in the plan. If the owner hands over the studio at 5 pm and the show supposedly starts at 7 pm, we get only two hours for the preparations. The models would require two hours to get ready. There would be no possibility of a run-through before the event," She spoke calculatedly.

"Hmm... You have a really valid point darling," She heard a voice that gave her the chills. She turned around to see Dev listening to her from near the door of the conference room. He had his famous smirk on his face.

She is pretty smart I must say. Dev thought moving into the room.

"Arjun ask the studio head to hand it over to us by 12 noon. That way we would have plenty of time if there are any mistakes," Dev said.

"Yes boss," Arjun agreed.

"Is that fine with you babe?" Dev asked, raising an eyebrow at Sonakshi.

"Yes Sir," Sona said.

"Okay, guys. Everyone can disperse," Arjun ordered everyone.

Everybody started leaving the conference room. Arjun left the room too. He knew Dev wanted to speak to Sonakshi. Alone.

Sonakshi tried to walk out of the room. But, Dev blocked her way. She tried to squeeze herself in between him and the door. That was not going to work. Dev held her by her wrist and pulled her towards him. He encaged her as he had done the previous night.

Sonakshi's past flashed in front of her. She started feeling scared. Her past fears that she had buried deep within started to resurface. She was feeling difficulty in breathing. She started hyperventilating.

Dev saw that she was having difficulty in breathing and that she had started hyperventilating. Dev freed her from his cage hoping it might ease her. Dev had not planned on hurting her this way. His gaze was fixed at Sonakshi. Her condition did not improve.

"Is there any medicine that you need to take?" Dev asked, completely panicking now.

Sonakshi nodded weakly.

"It is...in ...my bag...on...the table. ..It is in ...a... a green bot...bottle," Sona said with difficulty.

Dev emptied her bag on the table in haste. Some of the things fell to the ground. He found the green bottle.

"How many pills?" He asked

"Two," She breathed out, now collapsing on the ground.

Dev grabbed a bottle of water from the table. He put two pills in his hand and rushed towards Sonakshi and gave her the tablets.

Sonakshi quickly gulped them down. She started calming down. Dev looked at her continuously, not glancing away from her face even for a second.

"Better?" He asked

Sonakshi just nodded.

"I am sorry," Dev apologized, "I didn't want to scare you. "

"It's ok sir," She replied.

"What happened?" He asked wanting to know what exactly was the reason that such a strong woman was scared to such a point that she had a panic attack.

"I am not comfortable around guys," She spoke, not meeting Dev's eyes, "The only people I have no problem with being around are My brother, my father, Jatin and Anurag. I was improving. I didn't have an attack in the last year. But then today..."

Dev felt a stab in his heart. He felt so guilty. It was him that had triggered her panic attack. Repenting his act, he wanted to know why had it happened.

"Why are you not comfortable with guys?" Dev said, treading on thin ice, "Did something happen in the past?"

Sonakshi stayed mum. Dev was not to be blamed after all it was her pathetic past that was causing all this in her life.

Dev took her silence as an affirmation that it was related to her past. Dev took a mental note that he had to find out about Sonakshi's past.

"What is your biggest fear right now?" He asked soothingly.

She said just five words.

"I FEAR FALLING FOR YOU!"

WORD COUNT: 1860 Words
DATE UPDATED: 6th Jan 2023

HI GUYS

Chapter 8 is up!

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CHEERIO!

NEXT CHAPTER: SOON