Subah ke 5:30 baj rahe the...

(Manvi apna alarm band karti hai aur balcony me aakar coffee sip karte hue sunrise dekhne lagti hai)

Manvi: Kitni shaanti hoti hai na subah...

(vo halki si smile karti hai)

Ek ghante ki workout aur fresh hone ke baad Manvi ne apni pastel blue cotton saree pehni, baalon ka neat bun banaya aur neeche breakfast ke liye aa gayi.

Kavita: (uski nazar utarte hue) Meri bachhi ko kisi ki nazar na lage. 🧿

Vanya: Mummy sach bolu? IAS officer kam aur heroine zyada lag rahi hai aaj. 😌

Laksh: Bilkul.

Manvi: Tum dono ko aur koi kaam nahi hai kya?

(sab hans padte hai 😂)

Breakfast ke dauran sab normal tha...

Lekin tabhi...

Kavita: Waise Manu beta... ek rishta aaya tha.

Manvi: Mummy...

Kavita: Meri baat to suno.

Manvi: Nahi mummy.

Vanya: (juice peete hue) Lo shuru ho gaya. 🍹

Laksh: Main to popcorn lene ja raha hu. 🍿

Rajesh: Laksh.

Laksh: Sorry papa.

Kavita: Beta kab tak mana karegi?

Manvi: (thodi serious hote hue) Maa mujhe office ke liye late ho raha hai.

Kavita: Lekin—

Manvi: Baad me baat karenge.

(itna kehkar vo waha se chali jaati hai)

Uske jaate hi Kavita ji ka chehra udaas ho jata hai.

Vanya: Maa please...

Kavita: Mujhe bas apni beti ki fikr hai.

District Collector Office

(Jaise hi Manvi office me enter karti hai sab respect se khade ho jaate hai)

Everyone: Good morning ma'am.

Manvi: Good morning everyone.

Keshav (PA of Manvi): Ma'am 10 baje district development meeting hai, 11 baje inspection aur 1 baje public grievance hearing.

Manvi: Hmm... saari files mere cabin me bhej dijiye.

Keshav: Yes ma'am.

(Manvi apne cabin me aakar files check karne lagti hai)

Uske desk par files ka poora stack pada hua tha.

~Kisi gaon me paani ki problem...

~Kahin school building ka construction adhura...

~Kahin road project ka kaam rukha hua...

~Aur kahin public complaints...

(vo ek-ek file dhyan se padh rahi hoti hai)

Keshav: Ma'am ye road construction wali file urgent hai.

Manvi: Contractor ko notice issue hua?

Keshav: Nahi ma'am.

Manvi: Then issue it today.

Keshav: Yes ma'am.

After Sometime Meeting Room

(Jaise hi Manvi room me enter karti hai sab officers khade ho jaate hai)

Officer: Good morning ma'am.

Manvi: Please sit.

(Projector par district report chal rahi hoti hai)

Officer: Ma'am is area me development work delay ho raha hai.

Manvi: Reason?

Officer: Funds approval...

Manvi: (beech me hi rok deti hai) Funds 2 week pehle approve ho chuke hain.

(Room me ekdum khamoshi chha jaati hai)

Officer: Ji ma'am...

Manvi: Mujhe excuses nahi solutions chahiye.

In next 7 days I want progress report on table.

Clear?

Everyone: Yes ma'am.

(Meeting khatam ho jaati hai)

Keshav: Ma'am lunch kar lijiye.

Manvi: Baad me.

Keshav: Ma'am subah se kuch nahi khaya.

Manvi: (halki smile ke saath) Ye district mere lunch se zyada important nhi  hai keshav.

Keshav: Okay ma'am  samj gaya .

Manvi: Good.

"He didn't argue because everyone in the office knew how seriously Manvi Singhania took her work."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Indore - Malhotra Group Headquarters (11:45 AM)

(The entire conference room was silent.)

Everyone was waiting for one person.

Ashutosh Malhotra.

(The glass door swung open, and a tall man stepped inside, dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit. His sharp features, confident stride, and commanding presence instantly drew every eye in the room.)

The moment he walked in, everyone straightened in their seats.

Ashutosh: Let's start.

(Without wasting a second, he sat down and opened the project file in front of him.)

Manager (Siddharth): Sir, the investors are asking for a final update regarding the project.

Ashutosh: And?

Siddharth: Sir, there are a few issues with the approval process.

(Ashutosh slowly looked up.)

That one look was enough to make the poor man nervous.

Ashutosh:  A few issues?

Siddharth: Sir... actually—

Ashutosh: (cutting him off) I don't pay people to give me problems.

I pay them to solve them.

(The entire room fell silent.)

Ashutosh: The project deadline is next month.

I want every pending issue resolved before this week ends.

Am I clear?

Everyone: Yes sir.

Ashutosh: Good.

(The meeting continued for another hour.)

Numbers.

Contracts.

Presentations.

New investments.

Everything was running exactly according to plan.

Just the way Ashutosh liked it.

For him, emotions complicated things.

Business didn't.

Which was why he preferred spending fourteen hours in office rather than attending family gatherings.

(As soon as the meeting ended, everyone quickly left the room.)

Except one person.

Veer Sehgal.

His best friend.

Veer: You know... one day you're going to die in this office.

Ashutosh: Then make sure the company stocks don't crash afterwards.

Veer:- (stares at him)

Ashutosh: What?

Veer: Normal people laugh at jokes.

Ashutosh: Normal people don't run billion-dollar companies.

Veer: And that's exactly why you're still single.

(Ashutosh rolled his eyes.)

Ashutosh: Not this again.

Veer: Bhai you're twenty-eight. fucking.............Twenty-eight. Kabhi toh office ke bahar ki duniya dekh.

Ashutosh: I have better things to do.

Veer: Like?

Ashutosh: Work.

Veer: God save your future wife.

Ashutosh: She doesn't exist.

Veer: We'll see.

(Ashutosh ignored him and looked out of the floor-to-ceiling window.)

Down below, City was as busy as ever.

People running.

Cars moving.

Lives changing.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Evening (7:15 PM )District Collector Office

(Poora office almost khali ho chuka tha.)

Most of the staff ghar ja chuke the.

Lekin ek cabin mein abhi bhi light on thi.

Manvi Singhania.

(Woh apne cabin mein baithi files check kar rahi thi jab Keshav knock karta hai.)

Keshav: "Ma'am?"

Manvi: "Hmm?"

Keshav: "Aapke sign ke liye ek last file reh gayi hai."

Manvi: "Rakh dijiye."

(Keshav file desk par rakh deta hai.)

Phir jaate-jaate ruk jaata hai.

Keshav: "Ma'am... ye wahi hospital project wali file hai."

(Manvi file se nazar uthati hai.)

Manvi: "Hospital project?"

Keshav: "Ji ma'am."

"Jiske baare mein media aur opposition dono questions raise kar rahe hai."

(Manvi file open karti hai.)

Aur agle hi second...

Uski nazar ek naam par jaakar ruk jaati hai.

ASHUTOSH MALHOTRA

(Woh file ke pages palatne lagti hai.)

Multi-Speciality Hospital Project.

500 Beds.

Free Emergency Unit.

Cancer Treatment Wing.

Rural Healthcare Program.

Project impressive tha.

Bohot impressive.

Lekin saath hi...

File mein kuch complaints bhi attached thi.

Anonymous complaints.

Land issue.

Fund misuse.

Political pressure.

Aur sabse ajeeb baat...

Har complaint anonymous thi.

Manvi: "Interesting..."

(Keshav uski taraf dekhta hai.)

Keshav: "Ma'am?"

Manvi: "Kal subah mujhe is project ki complete report chahiye."

Keshav: "Yes ma'am."

(Keshav cabin se nikal jaata hai.)

Aur Manvi dobara file ki taraf dekhti hai.

Usse bilkul andaza nahi tha...

Ki ye sirf ek hospital project nahi tha.

Ye ek aisi kahani ki shuruaat thi...

Jo uski poori zindagi badal degi.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Mumbai

(Ashutosh office se nikalne hi wala hota hai ki Veer ka call aata hai.)

Veer: "Bhai problem ho gayi hai."

Ashutosh: "Now what?"

Veer: "Hospital project."

(Ashutosh turant ruk jaata hai.)

Ashutosh: "Kya hua?"

Veer: "Kisi ne anonymous complaints file ki hai."

(Ashutosh ka jaw tighten ho jaata hai.)

Ashutosh: "Again?"

Veer: "Aur iss baar matter District Collector ke paas pahunch gaya hai."

(Silence.)

Ashutosh: "Collector ka naam?"

Veer: "Manvi Singhania."

(Ashutosh kuch seconds chup rehta hai.)

Ashutosh: "Find out everything."

Veer: "Already started."

(Call disconnect.)

(Ashutosh city lights ki taraf dekhta hai.)

Us hospital ko banane ke peeche sirf business nahi tha.

Ek reason tha.

Ek personal reason.

Jiske baare mein bahut kam log jaante the.

Aur ab...

Kisi ne us project ko target karna shuru kar diya tha.

Usse nahi pata tha...

Ki sach tak pahunchne ke liye...

Usse ek din Manvi Singhania ke saamne khada hona padega.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

To Be Continued...