Karan’s eyes had found her from the very moment she had walked in wearing a dark pink salwar suit again. He told himself it was a habit that, as the head of this company, he needed to assess her confidence as the new board member.
As she began speaking, his gaze lingered longer than necessary. On the way she stood straight without stiffness. On the calm sweetness in her voice. On the ease with which she held the room like she was prepared to own it.
She laid out the updates she had so far carefully.
“Based on the developments tracked over the last several weeks,” she said, “Trinity and Co. is now nearing the final stage of investor onboarding.”
A few heads lifted at that.
She clicked to the next slide and continued, explaining how the discussions had consolidated around one investor.Lexi Group.
“While there has been no public announcement from either side,” she said, “internal movements suggest that Trinity’s founder and acting head, Mr R. Menon, is treating the deal as largely confirmed.”
Questions came in from across the table. She welcomed them without hesitation.
What signals supported that assumption? What internal changes had been noted? How reliable the sources were?
“Trinity is currently waiting on Lexi Group’s final go-ahead before executing its next phase,” she added. “If all proceeds as currently projected, the deal is expected to close by the end of next month.”
The room grew attentive.
Karan watched her then, really watched her. The way she shifted her gaze from one board member to another. The composure with which she handled interruptions.
She knew exactly what she was doing.
When she finished, there was a brief silence. The kind that followed good work.
One of the senior board members leaned back slightly and said, with open approval, “This is solid tracking, Mishti. Very detailed.”
Mr Roy, the other senior board member, nodded. “I suppose it should not surprise us. Karan Wadhwa’s wife would have to be this sharp.”
The room responded with soft agreement.
Mishti did not look down. She did not blush. She simply lifted her eyes for a brief second towards Karan. And there it was. He was already watching her.Impressed.
It was on his face, no matter how quickly he masked it. He did not say a word to her, though. No appreciation. No praise.
Instead, he turned to Rajat.
“We should take the next step now,” he said, his voice all business.
Rajat nodded immediately. “I will initiate contact with Lexi Group discreetly.”
Karan shifted his attention to Abhimanyu. “You coordinate with our strategy team. I want a parallel framework ready. No loose ends.”
Abhimanyu gave a sharp nod. “I will handle it.”
Everyone at the table understood what this meant. The groundwork was almost complete. The moment they had been waiting for was approaching.
KW Capital was preparing to step in. Taking over another company, they were interested in.Soon.
Kanika, however, was far from impressed.
This was not how she had imagined it would be. She had expected nervousness, mistakes, and some visible dependence on others. Instead, Mishti had owned the room and won the hearts of nearly everyone in the room, mainly Karan, who hadn’t blinked much ever since the meeting had commenced.
When the meeting was finally adjourned, one by one, the board members and team leads filtered out. Karan remained behind, speaking to one of the project heads near the far end of the table.
Mishti was carefully collecting the papers, aligning them into her files, when Kanika stepped closer.
