Arc 1: The Wealth Momentum (2016)Part III: The Silent Slap
Chapter 20 — Bank Balance Reaches 10 Crores
A Café That Wasn't Special
The café wasn't luxurious.
That was the point.
No valet parking.
No gold-rimmed menus.
No hushed whispers of power.
Just a clean, glass-fronted café tucked into a Lower Parel side street—industrial chic, exposed brick walls, Edison bulbs, the faint smell of roasted coffee beans fighting with Mumbai's humidity.
Vikram sat alone at a corner table.
White ceramic cup.
Black coffee.
No sugar.
Across the glass, Mumbai moved the way it always had—rickshaws arguing with taxis, office-goers staring at phones, delivery boys weaving through traffic like their lives depended on it.
Nothing had changed.
Except him.
The Phone in His Hand
The iPhone 7 felt light.
Too light, for something that had quietly rewritten his reality.
He unlocked it with his thumb.
The fingerprint sensor responded instantly.
Net Banking App.
Loading…
That little spinning wheel had once made his heart race.
Now it barely registered.
The Number That Should Have Shaken Him
The balance appeared.
₹9,99,87,432.18
Vikram stared.
Not because it was large.
But because it was close.
The last few lakhs ticked upward as pending rebates cleared—small purchases from yesterday, a dinner bill, a service payment rebated at 100%.
The number refreshed.
₹9,99,99,998.18
Two rupees short.
Vikram blinked.
Ting.
₹2.
The screen refreshed again.
₹10,00,00,000.18
Ten crores.
The World Doesn't Stop
Outside, a bus honked.
Inside, a barista called out an order.
Someone laughed at the next table.
Mumbai didn't pause to acknowledge the moment.
No drumroll.
No divine thunder.
Just digits rearranging themselves on a glass screen.
The System Speaks
The blue holographic panel slid into his vision, crisp and calm.
[WEALTH MONITOR: ₹100,000,000.00]
[MILESTONE REACHED: CENTI-MILLIONAIRE]
[EQ METER: 65% — Confidence Rising]
A low, resonant tone followed—deeper than the blink chime.
Not celebratory.
Confirmatory.
As if the system were saying:
Noted. Proceed.
Expected Euphoria That Never Came
Vikram waited.
For excitement.
For disbelief.
For fear.
None arrived.
Instead, his mind did what it always did.
It categorized.
Ten crores.
Game score reached.
New tier unlocked.
That was it.
No trembling hands.
No manic laughter.
The engineer in him refused to romanticize unearned variables.
The Engineer's Detachment
At NIT Pune, they taught him something simple:
If you can't explain how a system behaves under stress, you don't trust it.
This wasn't salary.
This wasn't profit.
This wasn't reward.
This was output from a closed-loop mechanism.
Input: Spending.
Process: Rebate + Bonus.
Output: Liquidity.
Ten crores wasn't wealth.
It was proof of scale.
A Thought Experiment
He imagined explaining this to someone.
"My bank balance hit ten crores."
They'd expect awe.
But how do you explain that the number didn't feel real?
That it didn't feel like his?
It felt like—
A variable crossing a threshold.
Nothing more.
Vikram took a sip of coffee.
Bitter.
Grounding.
He watched his reflection in the glass—tall, composed, well-dressed.
Was this how rich people felt?
Or was this how prepared people felt?
He suspected the latter.
Memory Intrusion: The Old Vikram
A flash of memory surfaced.
Dadar villa.
Father's voice calculating expenses.
Mother worrying about savings.
Sisters whispering about his future.
Back then—
₹10,000 felt heavy.
₹1 lakh felt impossible.
₹5,400 in savings felt like survival.
Ten crores would've broken that boy.
This version?
It barely nudged him.
Why He Didn't Fear Losing It
Fear comes from attachment.
Attachment comes from effort.
Effort gives value.
Vikram hadn't struggled for this money.
Therefore—
He didn't fear losing it.
And that, he realized slowly, was dangerous in its own way.
System Insight
The panel flickered again.
[MENTAL STATE ANALYSIS]
Detachment Detected. Risk of Reckless
Scaling: LOW
Risk of Emotional Overconfidence: MODERATE
Vikram exhaled.
"So you're watching my psychology now too."
The system, as always, remained silent.
A Man Approaches
"Excuse me."
Vikram looked up.
A man in his mid-forties—well-groomed, cautious eyes.
"I couldn't help noticing… are you Vikram Choudhary?"
Vikram nodded.
"Yes."
The man smiled nervously.
"I'm Raghav. My friend mentioned you. Said you might be interested in early-stage opportunities."
Just like that.
No résumé.
No pitch deck.
Money attracted gravity.
Two months ago, no one approached him.
Now—
They sensed something.
Confidence had weight.
Silence had authority.
Raghav continued talking—real estate, logistics, partnerships.
Vikram listened politely.
Noncommittal.
Detached.
This wasn't arrogance.
This was calibration.
Internal Observation
This is what changes, he realized.
Not how I feel about money.
But how others feel about me.
Ten crores wasn't personal.
It was social proof.
The Conversation Ends
Vikram exchanged numbers.
Promised nothing.
Raghav left visibly relieved.
Another variable logged.
The café noise returned to background static.
Vikram looked at the number again.
₹10,00,00,000.18
He didn't screenshot it.
Didn't share it.
Didn't celebrate.
Engineers don't celebrate passing a test case.
They prepare for the next load scenario.
Scaling Thoughts
What happens at fifty crores?
A hundred?
Five hundred?
The system had already answered that question in fragments.
He'd just crossed the first psychological ceiling.
After this—
Money stopped being a goal.
It became material.
EQ Meter Reflection
The EQ meter hovered at 65%.
Confidence rising.
Not happiness.
Not pride.
Confidence.
The quiet certainty that he wouldn't panic.
Wouldn't beg.
Wouldn't bend.
That alone was priceless.
The Realization
The most dangerous thing about sudden wealth wasn't greed.
It was fear.
Fear of loss.
Fear of judgment.
Fear of falling back.
Vikram felt none of it.
Which meant—
He could move freely.
Closing the App
He locked the phone.
Finished his coffee.
Stood up.
The bill arrived—₹320.
He paid digitally.
The system chimed softly.
Ting.
Ting.
₹320 rebated.
Money flowed in reverse.
Reality glitched politely.
Walking Back Into the City
As he stepped outside, the sun dipped behind concrete towers.
Lower Parel glowed.
Ten crores sat quietly in his account.
No fireworks.
No epiphany.
Just a calm understanding:
This is no longer about money.
It was about control.
Chapter Close
Vikram walked into traffic like any other man.
But the game had changed.
And the engineer within him knew—
Once you stop fearing numbers,
You start commanding them.
End of Chapter 20
Next Chapter: The Mercedes arrives—and Vikram learns that boldness isn't about spending big…
It's about not flinching when the world stares back.