The heavy weight of the ticking clock was constantly pressing down on my chest.

I had spent eleven months inside the corporate walls of Roy Enterprises, and with only thirteen months left on my father's absolute deadline, panic was starting to settle deep in my gut.

My mind was a chaotic mess of questions, running in endless circles as I tried to find an exit from the psychological labyrinth Martin Roy had constructed for my life.

"Kalix, if I tell you right now, you won't get it,"

I sighed deeply into the phone receiver, aggressively rubbing my temples to soothe a growing headache.

"That's why I need your help. I will bring Clara to a coffee shop. Can you please tell me if she is my type or not? Why am I confusing over her?"

"Okay," Kalix replied, his tone immediately shifting into his clinical, objective psychologist voice.

"But how can we tell with just one brief meeting?"

"Do you think I am a fool?" I countered, a small, triumphant smirk playing on my lips as a clever plan began to form in my head. "

This year is almost over. After this, next year we get a whole new batch of new employees. I have an idea that can solve everything.

"What should I do now?" Kalix asked, leaning into his curiosity.

"Nothing complicated. Just come to my office and apply as a normal employee before the interview process starts.

That way, you can be right here on the ground. You can help me analyze Clara, and you can observe the new comers also. Please, Kalix. I can't do this alone."

"Okay, but I need you to follow all my instructions carefully if you want my help,"

Kalix warned, his tone deadpan and professional.

"If you don't do what I say..."

"Okay, okay, whatever you tell," I interrupted quickly, pacing across the floor of my apartment.

"I will do it. But sometimes I can't completely control my reactions, you know that."

"Just kidding, Sanjay," Kalix laughed over the line, breaking the heavy tension.

"Okay, then I will ask my dad for permission. Will you join tomorrow, or first we meet Clara?"

"After I join, just say I am giving a welcome party, okay?"

"Sanjay, okay," Kalix agreed, sealing the trap.

The next day, my best friend officially joined the company to help me navigate my father's invisible steel jaws.

We had established a strict rule before entering the building:

we had to act exactly like we were total strangers in the office after coming in. No one could know we shared a history, and absolutely no one could know my real identity.

After a few hours of orientation, my friend Kalix officially met Clara near the main corridor.

"Hi Clara, my name is Kalix," he introduced himself smoothly, flashing a polite, professional smile.

"Oh, okay," Clara said, giving him a sweet, welcoming nod.

I stepped in right on cue, intentionally interrupting their brief introduction to set our experiment into motion.

"Clara, why don't you tell him how to do some basic things around the department?"

"Clara, okay, Sanjay," she said, her voice dropping into a smooth, melody-like tone as she turned her eyes back to me.

When Clara tried to help him with the basic office procedures, she was exceptionally nice to him.

Every single time I glanced over from my cubicle, she was the absolute picture of a gentle, caring mentor.

She guided him through the filing systems and explained the software with an angelic patience that seemed almost flawless.

After our afternoon break time arrived, my friend and I slipped away from the desks and went downstairs to a quiet corner of the local coffee shop.

"What happened?" I asked the second we were safely out of earshot, leaning across the small table.

"She is very nice to you, correct? Maybe my suspicions about her greed were wrong."

"You... you just shut your mouth!" Kalix snapped quietly, glaring at me over the rim of his paper cup.

"Why, Kalix? I am observing her," I defended myself, completely thrown off by his sudden irritation.

"She is constantly scolding me when we are alone, and you don't even know anything about what I've been dealing with for months. With that crying, innocent face she puts on in front of you, my dignity is completely gone!"

I couldn't help but laugh at his intense, defensive reaction.

"Okay, tell me seriously, what did your psychologist's eyes actually observe?"

Kalix took a slow sip of his coffee, his sharp gaze narrowing into cold slits.

"I observed that when you are actively watching her, she acts like a saint to me. But the exact second you turn your back, she becomes completely rude. Her entire posture changes, and she glares at the people around her like they are garbage."

A sudden, icy chill ran through my chest. The pieces of the puzzle instantly clicked into place. I got it.

"Why are you confusing about her?" Kalix continued, looking at me with a profound, serious intensity.

"Because she is acting to look great in front of you, Sanjay. She knows you are someone important, or she is drawn to your handsome appearance. She is wearing a perfect mask just for your benefit. Just wait, I will open her acting in front of you and reveal her true face. Just give me some time."

I stared at my best friend, a heavy mix of relief and deep skepticism washing over me as the corporate chessboard grew more complicated.

"How can you prove that just by spending time?"

The following days became a silent psychological war zone inside our department.

Kalix settled into his role perfectly, blending into the background as a quiet, hardworking new hire, while his sharp eyes secretly tracked every single movement Clara made.

Every morning, Clara would arrive at her desk wearing her signature bright smile, always managing to find an excuse to hover near my cubicle.

She would bring me coffee, drop subtle compliments about my work, and drop heavy hints about the upcoming welcome party she was organizing for the department.

"Sanjay, you promised you would be there," she murmured one afternoon, leaning over the low partition of my desk, her expensive perfume filling the small space.

"Everyone is going, but it won't be a real celebration without you."

"I'll be there, Clara," I replied, keeping my voice completely neutral, though my mind was tracking the conversation like a clinical trial.

From across the room, I caught Kalix’s eye. He gave me a microscopic nod, a silent signal that his trap was slowly being laid.

He had been intentionally making small mistakes in his daily reports, leaving documents on Clara's desk to see exactly how she would react when she thought I wasn't paying attention.

True to his prediction, the cracks in her mask were becoming wider by the hour.

The moment I stepped out of the room to grab a file, her sweet voice would instantly harden into a sharp, demanding clip, scolding the interns and snapping at Kalix for the slightest errors.

But the moment my footsteps echoed back into the hallway, her angelic smile would instantly slide back onto her face.

It was a masterclass in manipulation, but Kalix was a doctor of psychology. He knew exactly how to break an artificial ego.

As the hours ticked away toward the night of the welcome party, a profound anxiety began to build in my chest.

This party wasn't just a social gathering anymore; it was going to be the ultimate testing ground.

Clara was planning to use the event to lock me into a relationship, while Kalix was planning to shatter her acting once and for all.

But as I packed my bag for the evening, staring down at the crisp, blank pages of the diary my father had given me, a chilling realization hit me.

Even if Clara's mask fell tonight, I was still running out of time. Exposing a fake girl wouldn't win my father's bet.

I still needed to find a pure gem of a soul—a woman with the intelligence to survive this corporate empire and the honesty to love me for just Sanjay.

With thirteen months left on the clock, the real match was about to begin, and the ultimate player hadn't even stepped onto the board yet.