Chapter 22: The Customer
The Visitation Room was a long, suffocating hall divided by a wire mesh reinforced with glass. On one side, the free world—weeping mothers, angry wives, shady lawyers. On the other side, the caged—men in white uniforms, shouting to be heard over the din.
Arjun didn't shout. He didn't have to.
He had paid the guards to clear the last booth in the corner. It was the only spot with relative privacy.
Arjun sat on the metal stool. He was clean-shaven, his white shirt crisp and ironed (a luxury provided by the laundry unit he now effectively controlled). He sat with the stillness of a predator waiting for movement in the tall grass.
Shiva stood ten feet away, leaning against a pillar, watching the guards. He ensured no one got close enough to listen.
At 10:15 AM, the door on the visitor's side opened.
A woman walked in.
She wasn't what Arjun expected. She wasn't a weeping relative or a sleek corporate spy. She was... ordinary. She wore a simple cotton salwar kameez, a dupatta draped over her head to hide her face partially. She looked tired. Her eyes darted around nervously, checking the cameras, checking the other visitors.
She sat down on the stool opposite Arjun. She pulled the dupatta back slightly.
She was in her late twenties. Her face was gaunt, her eyes shadowed by dark circles. But Arjun recognized her instantly.
The Coffee Shop. Four years ago. The table near the window. She had been typing on a laptop, sipping black coffee, glancing at his father, Vikram, every few minutes.
Arjun picked up the intercom phone. He waited.
She picked up hers. Her hand was shaking.
"You grew up," she whispered. Her voice was raspy, like someone who hadn't spoken much in a long time.
"Four years is a long time," Arjun said, his voice flat. "Who are you?"
"My name is Maya," she said. "I was a junior reporter for The Deccan Chronicle."
"Was?"
"I was fired," she looked down at her hands. "Two days after your parents died."
Arjun leaned closer to the glass. "Why are you here, Maya? You're not here to talk about your career."
She looked up. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and desperation.
"I heard about what's happening. The Puppalaguda land. The attacks on Satya's trucks. The rumors in the underworld say a kid in Central Jail is running a war against the Minister's wallet."
"Rumors are dangerous," Arjun said. "They get people killed."
"I know," Maya said bitterly. "I saw the accident, Arjun. I was following your father that day."
Arjun's grip on the phone tightened. "Why?"
"Because your father wasn't just a doctor buying land for a hospital," Maya whispered hurriedly. "He was a whistleblower. He had documents. Proof that the land he wanted... the land in the tribal belt... was sitting on top of a massive illegal mining deposit."
Arjun went cold. His father? A whistleblower? Vikram was a gentle man. A doctor. He never spoke about politics.
"He didn't know at first," Maya continued, seeing Arjun's confusion. "He just wanted to build a clinic. But when the surveys came back... he found out why the government was trying to stop him. He found the Gold."
Gold.
Arjun remembered Ramu's dying words. The Golden Sun.
"Who stopped him?" Arjun asked. "Virendar Rao?"
Maya let out a short, cynical laugh. "Rao? Rao is a stray dog barking at the gate. He was just the local MLA back then. He handled the dirty work. But he didn't give the order."
She leaned closer to the glass, her breath fogging it up.
"I wrote the story. I was going to publish it. The night before the publication... your car went off the bridge. My editor killed the story the next morning. My laptop was stolen. My apartment was ransacked. I ran away to Bangalore. I've been hiding for four years."
"Why come back?"
"Because I'm tired of running," Maya said, her voice trembling. "And because I saw Ramu's name in the paper. 'Inmate killed in prison riot'. I knew Ramu. He was the only other person who knew the truth. When he died... I knew you were hunting them."
Arjun stared at her. "You have a piece of the puzzle, Maya. Give it to me."
"I want protection," she said quickly. "They found me in Bangalore. I barely escaped. If I give you the name, you have to promise me... you will keep them away from me."
"I am in jail, Maya. I can't be your bodyguard."
"You control this city from a cell," she countered. "I know who you are. I know what you've become. Promise me."
Arjun looked at her. He saw the terror in her eyes. It was the same terror he had felt for four years.
"Done," Arjun said. "My men will find you a safe house. No one touches you. Now. The name."
Maya looked around one last time. She shielded her mouth with her hand.
"It's not a person," she whispered. "It's a Project. Project Suryavanshi."
Arjun frowned. "Suryavanshi? That sounds like a movie title."
"It's a shell corporation," Maya explained rapidly. "Registered in Singapore. They funnel money into Indian infrastructure projects to launder illegal mining profits. The logo... is a Golden Sun rising over a mountain."
"Who owns it?"
"Nobody knows. The directors are all ghost names. But..." she hesitated. "There is a law firm in Delhi. Singhania & Partners. They handle the paperwork for Suryavanshi. If you want the head of the snake... you have to go to Delhi."
Delhi.
The capital. The seat of power.
Arjun nodded slowly. The map was expanding. Hyderabad was just the battlefield; the war room was in Delhi.
"One more thing," Maya said, reaching into her bag. She pulled out a crumpled, yellowed piece of paper. She pressed it against the glass.
It was a photocopy of a land survey map.
"This is the only thing I saved," she said. "It's the map your father had. The land he wanted to buy. It's not in the city, Arjun. It's in the Nallamala Forest."
Arjun memorized the coordinates on the map.
"Keep it," Arjun said. "Go to the address I'm about to give you. My man Mallesh will take care of you."
He gave her the instructions. Maya nodded, tears welling in her eyes.
"Burn them, Arjun," she whispered. "Burn them all down."
She hung up the phone and walked out, pulling the dupatta tight around her face.
Arjun sat there for a long time after she left.
Project Suryavanshi.
The irony wasn't lost on him. Surya meant Sun. He was modeling himself as Surya—the bright, burning anger. And his enemies were hiding behind a Golden Sun.
It was fate.
Shiva walked over as the guard signaled time was up.
"Who was she?" Shiva asked.
"A ghost from the past," Arjun stood up. "And she just gave us a map."
"A map to what?"
"To the gold mine," Arjun smiled, but his eyes were like frozen lakes. "Shiva, tell Nanda to stop looking for Satya's shell companies."
"Why? Are we stopping?"
"No. We are aiming higher," Arjun walked toward the exit. "Satya is just the wallet. We need to find the bank. Tell Nanda to find everything he can on a Delhi law firm. Singhania & Partners."
"Delhi?" Shiva frowned. "That's far, Bhai."
"It's not far," Arjun said, looking at the high walls of the prison. "It's just the next level."
That night, Barrack 6 was quiet.
Arjun lay on his mat, but he wasn't sleeping. He was planning.
He had a name: Project Suryavanshi.
He had a location: Singhania & Partners, Delhi.
He had a motive: Illegal Gold Mining.
The picture was forming. Virendar Rao wasn't the mastermind; he was just the political muscle used to clear the land. The real villains were corporate faceless men in suits sitting in air-conditioned offices in the capital.
Arjun clenched his fist.
He realized his "Arjun Credit Society" and the bakery were just toys. If he wanted to fight a multi-national syndicate, he needed more than just a gang. He needed a Corporation.
"Shiva," Arjun whispered in the dark.
"I'm awake."
"When we get out," Arjun said softly. "We are not wearing khadi. We are not wearing gold chains."
"What are we wearing?"
"We are going to dress like them. Talk like them. Deal like them."
Arjun stared at the ceiling.
"We are going to start a company, Shiva. A legitimate company. Construction. Mining. Shipping. Everything."
"Why?"
"Because," Arjun closed his eyes, visualizing the Golden Sun logo burning. "To kill a business... you have to become a better businessman."
The boy who entered the jail wanting revenge was gone.
The gangster who ran the bakery was evolving.
The CEO was being born.
But first, he had to finish his education. He had two years left.
"Tomorrow," Arjun said. "We double the interest rates. We need more capital."
The night dragged on, but Arjun slept peacefully. He finally knew the name of the monster under his bed.
And he couldn't wait to hunt it.