December 15, 2014 – The Invisible Purchase
The office of "Himalayan Holdings Pvt. Ltd." existed only on paper.
Its registered address was a locked, dusty room in a rented building in Shimla.
The signboard outside was faded, the neighbors thought it belonged to a long-defunct travel agency.
Inside MC's dimension, however, Aarya sat in holographic form, floating over a three-dimensional map of the Mussoorie foothills. Her translucent fingers traced contour lines, marking possible building sites.
> Aarya: "Purchase agreement drafted. Routing through five intermediary firms: two in Singapore, one in Mauritius, and two here in India. Ownership trail will be mathematically impossible to follow without direct confession."
MC: grinning faintly "That's why I keep you around."
Within hours, bank transfers moved quietly across time zones.
In the outside world, it was just another land sale—insignificant among the daily transactions.
In reality, 100 acres of prime, untouched hill forest now belonged to him.
---
Broker's POV – The Paperwork
The land broker sat in his small Mussoorie office, staring at the transfer receipt.
It had arrived so quickly, without a single haggling session, that he felt unsettled.
Buyers from the plains usually demanded discounts, favors, chai breaks, and endless visits before closing a deal. This one? A single meeting, a viewing, and done.
He muttered to himself:
People don't just buy land like they're buying vegetables. Either this man is a fool… or someone I should never try to fool.
---
December 18, 2014 – The First Sketches
Back in his Dehradun bedroom, the winter wind rattled the old wooden window frame.
MC sat cross-legged on the floor, sketchpad open, mechanical pencil in hand.
The first line he drew wasn't a wall—it was a winding driveway through pine trees.
Then came the main house: three wings radiating from a central glass atrium.
Below ground: multiple levels, some hidden even from official blueprints.
He worked in silence, except for Aarya's occasional interjection:
> Aarya: "Natural slope here allows for gravity-fed water system."
MC: "Noted."
Aarya: "West-facing terrace will get winter sun but be shielded from summer glare."
MC: "Exactly what I want."
---
Side POV – A Truck Driver's Curiosity
A week later, a truck driver in Dehradun got an unusual job—delivering a crate the size of a small car to a locked warehouse at the edge of town.
No one signed for it.
A man in a grey jacket just waved him away after unloading.
The driver told his wife later:
"Didn't even check the invoice. Just said 'Thank you' and shut the shutter. Rich people are weird."
What he didn't know: that crate contained soil samples, rare plant saplings, and specialized surveying drones—all ready for deployment once the site preparations began.
---
December 28, 2014 – Alone in the Forest
MC returned to the plot just before year's end. This time he came alone, no broker, no driver.
The dirt road was damp from overnight frost, and the silence was so complete that he could hear his own breath.
He walked to the cliff's edge where he had stood weeks ago.
The sky was pale blue, the kind of winter clarity that makes mountains look close enough to touch.
> MC (to himself): "Next year… this place will change."
Aarya's voice, soft and almost reverent:
> Aarya: "And no one will realize until it's too late to stop you."
---
Closing Beat – Midnight Transition
As the final days of 2014 ticked away, the papers were signed, the money was gone from his accounts but transformed into something far more permanent: land.
In the plains below, people prepared for New Year's celebrations with cheap fireworks and crowded bazaars.
Up here, the frost crept slowly over pine needles, and a young man stood in the dark, looking over the land he would turn into his fortress.
2015 was coming.
And with it—the true construction of his empire.
---