The Malhotra boardroom was empty, but the air felt charged with the electricity of a coming storm. **Mehak** stood by the window, her phone pressed to her ear. Her hand trembled slightly, but her face was set in a mask of defiance.
"He's making the announcement tonight, Vikrant," Mehak whispered. "Nana-ji is officially naming Sia as the successor at the pre-gala dinner. He's not even waiting for her birthday."
"Calm down, my Queen," Vikrant's voice came through the speaker, smooth as poisoned honey. "This is perfect. Let him announce it. The higher he lifts her, the harder she falls. Did you install the software from the drive I gave you?"
"I did," Mehak said, looking at the main terminal. "But Vikrant... if this works, the company's valuation will drop. Sia says a four percent dip could trigger a sell-off."
"A temporary dip, Mehak. Just enough to prove she's incompetent. Then, you step in, I back you with my family's capital, and we restore the Malhotra name together. Don't you want to see the look on her porcelain face when Nana-ji takes the keys back?"
Mehak closed her eyes, imagining it. The humiliation of the "perfect" Sia. "I want it more than anything."
"Then trust me," Vikrant said, his smile audible through the phone.
But as he hung up, Vikrant wasn't looking at a plan to "restore" the Malhotras. He was looking at a liquidation contract. His plan was simple: use Mehak to crash the stock, buy the majority shares for pennies through his shell companies, and dump Mehak the moment the ink was dry. To him, she was a short-sighted girl with a long-term inheritance.
The Best Friend's Intel
Meanwhile, in a high-end garage across the city, Rohan was leaning against the hood of his sports car, looking at his phone. Sia sat in the passenger seat, her peach blazer draped over her shoulders, her black high ponytail reflected in the polished windshield.
"He's moving, Sia," Rohan said, handing her his phone. "My guy in the lounge heard Vikrant talking to his father. They're not planning a takeover. They're planning a raid. They want to strip the assets and sell the logistics wing to the Chinese competitors."
Sia didn't look surprised. Her "baby-innocent" face remained chillingly still. She took a slow bite of Rasmalai from a plastic container, the familiar saffron taste grounding her.
"Mehak is a fool," Sia murmured. "She thinks love is a merger. She doesn't realize Vikrant is a scavenger. He doesn't want to rule the Malhotra empire; he wants to eat it."
"What's the move?" Rohan asked, his eyes flashing with excitement. "Do we tell Nana-ji?"
"No," Sia said, her voice dropping to a whisper of lethal intent. "Nana-ji needs to see Mehak's betrayal for himself, or he'll always have a soft spot for her. We let her trigger the 'glitch.' But we don't let it crash the company."
The Pre-Gala Dinner
The dinner was an intimate affair—just the two daughters, their husbands, and the four grandchildren. Nana-ji sat at the head, looking older but prouder than ever.
"The Singh-Malhotra alliance is the future," Nana-ji said, raising his glass. "Aryan will lead the Singhs. And tonight, I officially designate Sia as the future Chairperson of the Malhotra Group."
Meera (Sia's mother) beamed. Sia's younger sister, Riya, clapped happily. But Mehak just stared at her plate, her fingers dancing nervously on her lap.
"Grandfather," Mehak said, her voice cracking. "Before we celebrate... shouldn't we check the Q4 live-feed? I heard there was some... instability in the offshore accounts this evening."
Sia took a slow sip of water. "Instability, Mehak? My terminal shows everything is green."
"Check again," Mehak challenged, her heart thudding.
Nana-ji frowned and signaled for the wall monitor to be turned on. As the screen flickered to life, a red warning flashed.
WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED HIGH-FREQUENCY TRADING DETECTED. SOURCE: SIA_TERMINAL_01.
The room went cold. Millions of dollars were being moved out of the company in Sia's name. Meera gasped. Aryan stood up, confused.
"Sia?" Nana-ji asked, his voice trembling with a mixture of fear and disappointment. "What is this?"
Mehak stood up, her face flushed with a dark triumph. "She's too young, Nana-ji! The pressure has broken her. She's gambling with our legacy! We need to freeze her access and appoint a guardian immediately—someone with experience. My father and I have already—"
The Counter-Audit
"Sit down, Mehak," Sia said.
Her voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the room like a razor. Sia pulled the copper disc from her pocket and tapped it.
"You're right about one thing," Sia said, looking at her cousin with a pitying expression. "There is a scavenger in the room. But it's not me."
With a flick of her finger, the screen changed. It didn't show trades anymore. It showed a live audio-video feed of a car parked two blocks away. Inside the car was Vikrant, frantically typing on a laptop, laughing as he watched the Malhotra stock ticker.
"Look at her go," Vikrant's voice echoed in the dining room through the speakers. "Mehak really is as easy to manipulate as they said. Once the stock hits forty, I'm pulling the rug. She'll be lucky if I even take her calls tomorrow."
Mehak's face went from red to a ghostly, sickly white. She felt as if the floor had disappeared beneath her.
"I didn't just 'install' your software, Mehak," Sia said, standing up. Her pale skin looked ethereal in the dim light. "I mirrored it. Everything you sent to Vikrant went to me first. The trades you see on the screen? They're simulations. Not a single rupee has left the Malhotra accounts."
Sia walked toward Mehak, her high ponytail swaying. "You weren't fighting for your right to the legacy, Mehak. You were handing the keys to a man who thinks you're a joke. You're not ambitious. You're just short-sighted."
The Sentence
Nana-ji stood up, his face carved from granite. He looked at Mehak, then at the screen where Vikrant was still laughing, unaware he was being watched by the entire Malhotra family.
"Mansi," Nana-ji said to his daughter. "Your daughter has tried to sell our blood to a scavenger. She is stripped of her name and her inheritance. She will leave this house tonight."
As Mehak broke down into tears, realizing she had lost both her family and the man she "loved," Sia turned back to her Rasmalai.
"Rohan," Sia said into her earpiece. "You can call the police now. Tell them Vikrant is in a black sedan on 4th Street. He has enough corporate espionage data on his laptop to stay in jail until I'm thirty."
Sia took one last bite of the sweet, her "baby-innocent" face returning to its calm, porcelain perfection. The "Silent Takeover" was no longer a plan. It was a reality.