Ekaansh always believed that an early start brought clarity, a head start on the day, and the satisfying calm of being in control he rarely felt otherwise. So, as usual, he was up at 5:30 a.m., moving through his daily routine, including a workout in the mansion's private gym. By 8:00, he was ready for the office, hoping to leave before the unavoidable encounter with his father, Siddharth Arora. Monday mornings were especially tense; one word from Siddharth and the entire week could spiral into a mess. Ekaansh knew this all too well.

Once, breakfasts with his father had been the highlight of his day. With his mother's laughter filling the gaps in conversation, those mornings had felt warm, and complete. But after she passed, everything changed. What had once been a safe space transformed into a tense battleground. His father's tone shifted from caring guidance to sharp criticism, from "How are you doing, son?" to "How are you managing the numbers?" and "When will I see results?" Each day, Ekaansh was reminded that in his father's eyes, he wasn't a son anymore but a duty-bound successor, a cog in the empire his father had built.