Chapter 9 - The Power of Blood
Rajan spun around toward the lobby stairs, his face pale with sudden paranoia. ""What is that? Who called the police?""
""I didn't call the police,"" Dev said calmly through the grille, not moving an inch. ""I called the Commissioner. Using the private emergency landline in Vault 404 that only connects to the director's personal bureau—a line I had installed in 1978.""
Rajan’s eyes dilated in pure terror. He stared through the reinforced glass at the old man. The posture. The scar. The signet ring catching the red glare. The impossible realization struck him like a sledgehammer to the chest.
""Grandfather...?"" Rajan whispered, his voice cracking, all his polished arrogance vanishing in an instant.
""To you, I am only the executor,"" Dev responded coldly.
Above them, heavy bootsteps pounded down the marble stairs. Rajan’s gunman panicked, lowering his weapon from Sharma’s head and bolting through the secondary fire exit. Rajan, desperate and hyperventilating, shoved Sharma aside and grabbed the override lever himself, desperate to seize the leather journal from Dev’s hands before the authorities arrived.
The heavy steel bars groaned and swung open. Rajan lunged forward like a rabid animal, his fingers clawing for the ledger.
Despite his age, Dev’s reflexes were honed by decades of fighting for survival in the merciless alleys of Delhi. He did not step back. He stepped forward, pivoting his weight and driving the solid brass handle of his cane directly into Rajan’s solar plexus.
Rajan collapsed to the marble floor with a strangled gasp, curling into a pathetic ball, clutching his ribs and gasping for air.
Dev leaned down, his face inches from his great-nephew’s trembling cheek. ""You starved my great-grandchildren,"" Dev whispered, his voice vibrating with suppressed fury. ""You made a widow beg. You gave my family's legacy to dogs. You will watch everything turn to dust from behind iron bars.""
Heavy boots surrounded the vault entrance as armed tactical officers flooded the corridor, their weapons drawn. At the front stood the grey-haired Police Commissioner himself.
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""Devendra-ji?"" the Commissioner gasped, lowering his service weapon in utter disbelief. ""It really is you.""
""Arrest this criminal,"" Dev said, pointing his cane at the groveling Rajan. ""And get me a car. The board meets in twenty minutes, and my daughter-in-law is surrounded by wolves.""
