Chapter 27:Whispers and Walls

Whispers had always existed in the halls of Khan Global Enterprises. The kind that crawled beneath polished surfaces and curled through air vents, thick with envy, speculation, and a hunger for downfall. But today, they weren't whispers anymore.

They were daggers.

And they were aimed at her.

Andaleeb stepped into the office with her head held high, though her stomach was coiled in knots. Her footsteps echoed on the marble floor as she passed the reception, where two junior assistants paused in their conversation. Their eyes snapped toward her like magnets, then flicked away with forced casualness.

The hum of gossip surrounded her like a stormcloud.

"She was in the server room again, you know."

"I heard she was seen leaving the CEO's floor late last night."

"Maybe she hacked something."

"I told you, she's not normal. Systems go weird when she's around."

Andaleeb gripped the strap of her bag tighter, her knuckles white. Her breath came in shallow, forced exhales. She focused on walking—step, step, don't falter.

They don't matter. Just noise. Keep walking.

But it did matter. Because today the whispers weren't just baseless.

Today, there was something worse.

Proof.

Or what someone wanted the world to think was proof.

When she reached her desk, Aryan was already there, tapping on her keyboard like nothing was wrong. He looked up the moment he saw her and straightened.

"Hey," he said in a low voice, his usual joking tone replaced with something gentler. "Ignore them. They're just bored and bitter."

She dropped her bag beside the chair. "Bored people don't forge sabotage rumors."

Aryan hesitated. "Zayan's furious. And Haroon's digging into the logs. I saw the photo. It's... bad. But fake. I swear. Haroon says it was digitally implanted using your employee ID shadow data."

Andaleeb sank into her chair, every bone in her body suddenly heavier. "Someone wants me gone."

Aryan nodded slowly. "Or destroyed."

Her eyes drifted across the room. A few people tried to look busy, but she could feel their glances, like needles in her skin.

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I thought I could finally have something normal. A job. Friends. A life."

Aryan didn't say anything. He just sat next to her and offered a piece of candy from his drawer like a silent peace treaty.

Zayan's Rage

In the CEO's office, Zayan Khan stood by the floor-length window, his back straight, hands clenched at his sides. Haroon paced behind him, tablet in hand.

"This is the image," Haroon said. He held up the screen. "Timestamped for last night. It shows Andaleeb walking near the server access panel right before the investor files were wiped."

Zayan turned slowly.

"It's fake," he said, his voice low and dangerous.

"I know. It's sophisticated manipulation—someone used her movement logs, her shadow print, and composited it with a timestamp from a camera feed." Haroon looked grim. "My guess? Internal sabotage. Someone with access."

Zayan's jaw flexed. His voice darkened. "Aleena."

Haroon nodded once. "It fits her style. Corporate-clean and devastating."

Zayan's voice turned icy. "She crossed the line. I warned her."

He didn't wait for Haroon to finish. He was already walking out the door.

The Accusation

The boardroom was filled within minutes. Senior managers with sleek laptops. Tech leads with data reports. Aleena in her flawless white suit. And Andaleeb, sitting quietly at the end of the long table, a glass of untouched water in front of her.

The atmosphere was heavy—quiet like the seconds before a storm.

Zayan entered last, cold authority radiating off him like a shield. His gaze found Andaleeb first, and she felt something flicker behind his eyes. Fury. Protection. Something deeper.

Aleena stood, graceful as always, and placed a printed photo on the table. The image showed Andaleeb near the server room, timestamp visible in red digits.

"This," she said calmly, "was retrieved after a data breach last night. A classified product launch proposal was accessed. Deleted. We recovered it, thankfully. But this image was logged at the exact time of the breach."

Gasps echoed. Murmurs spread like a virus.

Andaleeb stared at the image, heart pounding. Her fingers twitched.

Aleena turned to her. "I believe you owe us an explanation."

Before Andaleeb could open her mouth, Zayan spoke.

"That image," he said, "is a fabrication."

Aleena raised a perfectly plucked brow. "We can't be sure—"

"We can," he snapped, stepping forward. "Because I have the mirror logs. The original server data was wiped. But I keep backup logs on a mirrored server that no one else knows about."

Aleena's expression cracked—only for a moment.

Zayan turned to the board. "And those logs prove that Miss Shah's ID was inactive during the breach. In fact, it was another device accessing her profile. Remotely."

"Impossible," someone murmured.

Zayan nodded toward Haroon, who brought the mirrored log to the screen.

"All trails lead to one access code," Zayan said. "And that access code belongs to Aleena Hashmi."

The boardroom exploded in noise.

Aleena stepped back, visibly stunned. "That's a mistake. I—I didn't—"

"You've done it before," Zayan said coolly. "Character assassination. Rumor planting. But now you forged evidence. Against my staff. That's not just unethical. That's criminal."

Aleena's face paled. "You're defending her over—"

"I'm defending truth," he snapped. "She stays. You may leave."

Gasps echoed again. Aleena stood frozen for a moment, then gathered her dignity and walked out. Her heels clicked with restrained fury.

Aftermath

The silence after the storm was thicker than the storm itself.

Andaleeb stood still, watching Aleena's retreat. The whispers in the office might pause after today. But the scars would linger.

Zayan stepped toward her. His voice was calm. "You don't have to explain anything to anyone."

She looked up at him, eyes wide. "They think I'm a thief."

He shook his head. "They're wrong. And now they know it."

She didn't say thank you. She didn't have to.

But she followed him out of the room, close behind, like a shadow finally returning to light.

Evening – Café Comfort

The sun had long since vanished beneath the city skyline. Streetlights blinked lazily to life. At Zareen's Café, the usual warm smell of chai and cinnamon rolls clung to the air.

Andaleeb wiped a table slowly, her movements mechanical. Her thoughts spun like gears—loud, disjointed, relentless.

Zayan's voice startled her from behind. "I didn't want to go home."

She turned. He stood there, looking out of place in a café full of warm colors and cozy decor.

"I'm okay," she said automatically, voice too tired to be convincing.

"You're not," he replied gently.

She sighed and sat across from him at a small corner table.

"I don't want to run again," she said. "I've spent my whole life hiding. Pretending. And when I thought maybe I could belong here—"

"You do belong here," Zayan said firmly.

"Even when everyone says I don't?" she whispered.

He leaned forward. "Then let the world be wrong."

Her breath caught.

She stared at the table. "There's something inside me, Zayan. Something not normal. And if it comes out…"

He didn't flinch. "Then I'll still be here."

She looked up, really looked at him.

"Why?"

He hesitated, then smiled—a tired, real smile. "Because you showed me I'm more than a suit with trauma. You showed me how to feel again. You made me... human."

Tears welled in her eyes. She blinked them back.

He reached across the table and took her hands gently.

His touch was steady.

Warm.

Anchoring.

She gripped his fingers like a lifeline, like maybe she could hold onto this moment longer than the ones before.

He didn't kiss her.

Didn't need to.

He just held her hands in silence, as if the weight of everything—every whisper, every lie, every truth—was bearable only if it was shared between them.

End of Chapter 27