Page 235 of Claimed By the Maharaja
He looked at each of them in turn.
“They went after Ram's infrastructure bids. Then my steel plants. Now Samar's advertising renewals and security partnerships are under pressure.” He paused. “Same funding route. Same shell structure. Same patience between attacks.”
Viraj, who had been quiet, spoke. “This isn't rivals or competitors acting independently.” His voice was thoughtful. “The gap between Ram's situation and yours was deliberate. Enough time for the last operation to go cold before starting the next one.”
“Meaning someone planned all three,” Samar said.
“Meaning someone is working through all of us,” Viraj said. “And I'm next, presumably.”
Nobody disagreed.
“Good,” Viraj added. “I'd hate to be left out.”
There was silence on the call.
“The same hand behind all three,” Ram said.
Bharat nodded once, already having come to that conclusion when he saw the common shell companies. “The financial motive is real. But financial motive alone doesn't explain the pattern. You don't route through three separate continents and rebuild shell companies from scratch just to slow down steel production. Whoever this is, they aren't chasing money. They're chasing something else entirely. This seems personal.”
Nobody spoke for a moment.
On the screen, all three of his brothers held the same expression.
They had built four separate empires across the four corners of the country. They had never had a common enemy before.
“Someone with enough resources to sustain this across years,” Viraj said. “And enough reason to keep going.”
The call stayed quiet.
Bharat closed the file. “I will fly to Singapore. The foundation registered there is the common thread. We trace it from the source.”
“I will join you,” said Ram.
“No,” Samar said. “You both should stay here in the country.”
Bharat looked at him.
Samar glanced at Ram. “Sanjana is eight months pregnant,” he said. And then, he glanced at Bharat. “And you have the final PR coverage events scheduled for the next three weeks, alongwith bhabhi. You pull out now, the narrative we just repaired starts unraveling.”
Ram said nothing, but the set of his jaw said enough.
Bharat stayed silent as well.
“I'll go,” Samar said. “Singapore first. Zurich, if I need to.”
“I’ll have the Ministry of Corporate Affairs put out a word to the Singapore government,” said Viraj. “I’ll ensure those shell companies aren’t allowed to register in more countries.”
Samar nodded.
“What about your disruptions?” Ram asked.
“My disruptions can wait a few weeks. A newborn cannot.” Samar turned to Bharat. “Send me everything you have on the Singapore foundations, bhai. Both sets. I'll find where they connect.”
Bharat held his gaze for a moment, then nodded once.
Samar leaned back and allowed a faint smile. “Don’t skip the PR event planned for next week with you and bhabhi. Bhabhi destroyed the protests more effectively than anything else we did.” There was no edge in Samar’s voice when he said it.
“Perhaps I should find myself a wife to resolve my media and security issues,” Samar added lightly.
