The next morning, Kalix and I arrived at the office together.

The moment we walked through the glass doors, a heavy, suffocating silence fell over the entire department.

Every single member of the staff stopped what they were doing.

They stared at us with wide, shocked eyes as we walked across the floor.

We didn't care about their stares. We went straight to our section and sat down at desks right next to each other.

Within minutes, we were talking deeply, smiling, and laughing quietly as we remembered our old university memories.

It was a heartfelt conversation, the kind I hadn't experienced in eleven long months.

Kalix was the only person in this massive, corporate machine I could freely talk to without wearing a heavy mask.

For the first time since entering this golden cage, I felt like a real human being again.

When the clock hit our morning break time, we stood up together and walked down to the lounge to grab a fresh coffee.

Later that afternoon, we went out to have lunch. We sat right next to each other at a small table, sharing our food and talking effortlessly.

We were completely wrapped up in our own world, entirely ignoring the corporate tension surrounding us.

But our coworkers were absolutely paralyzed with shock.

From the very first day I joined this company, I had never freely talked or smiled to a single soul.

To them, I was a cold, unapproachable robot.

Now, they were looking at us with burning, curious eyes, trying to figure out how a brand-new hire had instantly broken through my stone-cold walls.

Clara was watching us from her desk, her face flush with an intense, toxic jealousy. She couldn't take it anymore.

She stood up abruptly, marched across the room, and cornered me the second Kalix stepped away to print a file.

"Sanjay," Clara hissed, her voice dripping with irritation.

"Why are you suddenly so close to Kalix? He just joined the company yesterday!"

I kept my face perfectly neutral, looking up from my laptop.

"It's nothing, Clara. I just thought he is a new joiner, so I wanted to talk normal to him."

"But why are you always so cold to me and everyone else?" she demanded, her eyes narrowing into tight slits.

"You don't even look at me anymore."

"I am just busy with my work," I replied coldly, shutting down the conversation before she could pry any deeper.

Clara turned around, her mind racing with pure panic. Like the days going by before Kalix arrived, she thought she had a chance.

She used to think, Sanjay at least talks to me sometimes, but now he doesn't even have the time to look at me.

Her frustration was reaching a breaking point.

I have to do something right now, she thought fiercely, her eyes locking onto Kalix as he walked back to his desk.

Clara immediately shifted her target. She walked straight up to Kalix's cubicle, wearing her most angelic, fake smile.

"Hi, Kalix," she said sweetly.

"Are you and Sanjay old friends? Or did you know him from before?"

"No," Kalix lied smoothly, using his sharp psychologist training to keep his face completely blank.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because he never talks to anyone like this, Kalix," Clara whispered, trying to sound innocent.

"He is always so rude to everyone except you."

Kalix smiled, his eyes tracking her micro-expressions.

He knew exactly what she was trying to do. It was time to trigger our trap.

"Clara, are you free tomorrow evening?" Kalix asked, leaning against his desk.

"Sanjay and I are going to your welcome party anyway. Do you want to join us for an early dinner first?"

Clara's eyes lit up with pure excitement.

"Yes! I absolutely want to come!"

The next evening, the three of us arrived at a high-end restaurant near the city center.

The atmosphere was quiet, the dim lighting casting long shadows across our table.

I sat opposite Clara, my heart hammering against my ribs.

I desperately wanted to know whether she matched my wanted type or if she was just a greedy actor.

The game was finally about to begin.

Kalix took a slow sip of his water, a brilliant, calculating glint appearing in his sharp eyes. He looked directly at Clara.

"Since we have some time before the rest of the staff arrives, why don't we play a game?" Kalix proposed smoothly.

"Let's play Truth or Dare."

Clara laughed, entirely unaware of the psychological trap closing around her.

"A game? What are the stakes?"

"If anyone wins the entire match, the prize money is my exact one-month salary," Kalix declared, placing his hands flat on the table.

Clara became exceptionally excited to win the prize.

A greedy spark flashed across her eyes, completely blinding her to the danger.

Before the first round could officially begin, Kalix caught my eye.

He gave me a sharp, deliberate signal across the table.

It was our pre-planned cue. It was time for me to step out and give them private time, leaving Clara alone with the psychologist.

I checked my phone, pretending to read an urgent notification.

"Oh, I just got an important call. Please let me go outside for a moment to handle this."

"Go ahead, Sanjay," Kalix said with a casual nod.

I stood up, apologized to Clara, and walked out of the restaurant, leaving my heavy jacket on the back of my chair.

But beneath the edge of the table, hidden from Clara's line of sight, my phone was entirely active.

I had initiated a silent voice call directly to Kalix's hidden earpiece.

I walked out to the quiet corridor, leaned against the wall, and pressed my own earpiece into my ear.

I waited in the cold air, listening intently.

I needed to hear her real words.

I needed to know exactly what her answers would be when she thought the billionaire heir wasn't listening.

Inside the restaurant, the air grew still.

Kalix leaned forward, staring at Clara with an unshakeable focus.

"Okay, Clara," Kalix murmured, his voice echoing clearly through my earpiece.

"Now this is my turn. Truth or dare?"

"Truth," Clara replied instantly, a confident smirk on her face.

"Do you like anyone in our department?" Kalix asked, his clinical gaze tracking the movement of her eyes.

"Yes," she answered without hesitation, her voice softening into a rehearsed tone of affection.

"I like Sanjay."

Kalix nodded slowly, tossing a coin on the table.

"Interesting. Let me ask you a hypothetical question then."

"If you had an absolute choice to choose between a immensely rich kid and a poor kid, whom would you choose to be with?"

Clara let out a small, dismissive laugh, her fake mask slipping for a fraction of a second.

"I choose the rich kid, obviously. Why would anyone choose to struggle?"

"What if the person you truly loved turned out to be completely poor?" Kalix pressed, his voice dropping into a dangerous whisper.

"And a rich kid proposed to you at the exact same time? Whom would you choose to marry? Whose hand would you take?"

Out in the cold corridor, my breath hitched in my throat.

I locked my jaw, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the wall, waiting for her final, shattering answer to echo through the line.