The atmosphere at Law Manor was thicker than a market crash in progress. PK hadn't even crossed the threshold of the foyer when the overhead lights seemed to dim, casting long, accusatory shadows. Lana and Luna were perched on the grand staircase like a pair of twin judges in matching loungewear, while Eve stood in the center of the hall, her arms folded across her chest and her foot tapping a rhythmic, dangerous beat against the marble floor.
"Sunburn, PK? Really? That's the best a genius could come up with?" Eve's voice was as smooth as silk and as sharp as a surgical scalpel.
PK froze, gripping his mountain of shopping bags as if they could provide a physical shield. "The UV index was unexpectedly high today! I have sensitive skin, Eve!"
"At sunset?" Lana asked, hopping down one step, her eyes narrowing. "In a car with a ninety-percent ceramic tint?"
"And why was Riya's lipstick slightly smudged?" Luna added, circling him with the predatory grace of a shark that had just scented blood in the water. "We're experts in high-end cosmetics, PK. We don't just see the color; we see the friction."
PK felt a bead of cold sweat slide down his neck. He had just outmaneuvered a billionaire and three titans of industry, but he was currently defenseless against the 'Manor Inquisition.' He retreated until his back hit the cold surface of the refrigerator in the kitchen. "Look, she was just overwhelmed! It was a… professional thank-you for the twenty crores! I told her I already had you guys! I was honest!"
The girls shared a long, silent look. The anger didn't vanish, but it shifted into a shared, resigned understanding of the man they were dealing with. They knew PK was a magnet for brilliance, power, and the chaos that followed both.
Eve stepped into his personal space, her eyes twitching once before she sighed, reaching out to brush a stray hair from his forehead. "We know, PK. We know you're a trouble magnet. But remember, we were the first ones here. If Riya Blackwell wants to join this 'investment portfolio,' she has to pass our audit first."
Lana pouted, poking his chest firmly. "And she doesn't get to drive you home anymore. That's our job."
"Go get some sleep," Luna added, finally taking a bag from his hand. "You look like you've been kissed by a high-speed train."
The next morning, the domestic warmth of the Manor was a distant memory as PK stepped into his new reality. He met Riya at the shared headquarters of Vanguard Med-Tech and Nexus IT—the crown jewels he had stripped from Leonard's dying empire. Riya arrived looking radiant, her professional suit sharp and her eyes dancing with a playful spark that suggested she hadn't forgotten the "sunburn" excuse, even if she was too professional to bring it up.
"Ready to see the toys you 'liberated' for two hundred crores?" she asked, walking in step with him.
"I'm ready to see if Leonard's engineers were as incompetent as his morals," PK replied, his tone shifting into a focused, predatory calm.
They entered the Medical Lab first. The air was sterile, smelling of ozone and ambition. Scientists in white coats stopped in their tracks, looking terrified. They had heard the rumors of how their old boss was erased from the city in a single weekend.
"This facility stops wasting time on vanity projects for billionaires," PK announced, his voice echoing through the lab. "We are shifting to high-impact medicine. We are going to develop treatments for chronic diseases that 'Big Pharma' ignores because they aren't profitable enough. And I want a dedicated wing for Neural-Link research. We are going to find a way to let the human mind interface directly with software. Code meets biology. That is the new standard."
Riya's eyes widened. "That's a massive undertaking, PK. The data storage alone for those simulations would crash any standard server."
"That's why we have Nexus IT," PK said, leading her across the glass sky-bridge to the twin building.
They stepped into the IT Wing, a cathedral of blinking blue lights. "I want every drive wiped," PK commanded, his fingers dancing across a terminal as he initiated a deep-cleansing protocol. "We are building the Backer Cloud. This decentralized network will store all our research, medical data, and global intelligence. It will be a vault encrypted behind layers of code that don't exist yet. If Leonard's hidden 'Backers' try to peek into our business, they'll find themselves staring into a digital black hole."
Riya watched him, the blue light reflecting in her eyes. She realized that the twenty crores wasn't just a gift; it was her buy-in for a revolution.
"You're building a fortress," she whispered.
"No," PK said, looking at the screen as the new system hummed to life. "I'm building a trap. Now that we have the medicine, the data, and the city... it's time to see which 'Backer' is brave enough to knock on my door."