The hum of Zenith Global was steady, but inside Dev’s office, the atmosphere had shifted. It wasn’t tension anymore — it was curiosity.

Thripthi entered with her files, her steps deliberate. Dev looked up, his gaze sharper than the numbers on his desk.

The morning had been filled with meetings, but Dev had postponed one just to review Thripthi’s proposal with her. She noticed it immediately — the way he adjusted his schedule, something he rarely did.

Dev (measured): “You’ve added a section on employee morale. That wasn’t requested.”

Thripthi (calmly): “Requests don’t always cover what’s necessary.”

Dev (leaning back): “Necessary for whom?”

Thripthi (meeting his gaze): “For the people who make your numbers possible.”

Dev (after a pause): “You always find the human angle.”

Thripthi (smiling faintly): “And you always try to ignore it.”

For a moment, his lips curved — not quite a smile, but close.

By afternoon, they were seated side by side, reviewing a new partnership proposal. The office noise faded; it felt like the world had shrunk to just the two of them.

Dev (pointing at the figures): “This plan increases profit margins by twenty percent. That’s leverage.”

Thripthi (shaking her head): “It increases workload by forty. That’s strain.”

Dev (raising a brow): “You measure strain now?”

Thripthi (softly): “I measure people. You measure profits. Together, we measure sustainability.”

Dev (quietly, almost to himself): “You make me rethink things I thought were absolute.”

Thripthi (smiling faintly): “And you make me question things I thought were flexible.”

Their eyes met, and for a moment, the office wasn’t about work. It was about two people learning each other’s rhythm.

That evening, Dev suggested something unusual. Not dinner, not a formal meeting — just a walk outside the office. Thripthi hesitated, but curiosity won.

The city was alive with lights, the streets buzzing with energy. They walked side by side, their conversation lighter than usual.

Thripthi (teasing): “You, outside Zenith? I thought you were welded to those glass walls.”

Dev (dryly): “Even walls need cracks.”

Thripthi (smiling): “And you chose me as yours?”

Dev (after a pause, voice low): “I didn’t choose. It happened.”

Her laughter was soft, but it lingered.

Thripthi: “You’re not as untouchable as you pretend.”

Dev (leaning slightly closer): “And you’re not as predictable as you look.”

Thripthi (playfully): “Predictability is boring.”

Dev (quietly): “Then you’re anything but boring.”

On the way back, Dev walked her to her car. The night air was cool, the silence between them warm, almost intimate.

Thripthi (softly): “You surprise me every day.”

Dev (steady): “You unsettle me every day.”

Thripthi (smiling faintly): “Unsettling isn’t always bad.”

Dev (after a pause, voice low): “Neither is surprising.”

She looked at him, realizing that admiration had crept in quietly, disguised as challenge, wrapped in defiance.

Closing Scene

Later that night, both of them lay awake in their separate worlds — Thripthi with her thoughts, Dev with his silence. Neither could explain why the other mattered so much.

Chapter Seventeen wasn’t about boardrooms or numbers. It was about admiration — the kind that grows unnoticed, until it becomes impossible to ignore.