Chapter 4: The Phantom at the Feast

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 07:04:10 +0000

The days after the gala took on a new, clandestine rhythm. Chandni's world, once bounded by the penthouse, her office, and the cold geometry of deal-making, expanded into a shadowy theatre of observation. The Malhotra family became her obsession, her private study. Arvind's feeds provided a constant, dispassionate stream of data—calendar appointments, public social posts, known habits—but it was the live surveillance, the moments she orchestrated from a distance, that fed the hungry, hollow thing inside her.