Hello, Mr. Major General (1)

Chapter 17: Following the Vine to Find the Melon (5)

The rain, which had started out light in the early morning hours, had gotten heavier. The sky, too, had grown darker.

The few people out on the streets were eager to get out of the rain and, therefore, did not stop to look about. No one paid any attention to the unusual number of cars parked on
the street.

The employees of Sinha Home Improvement Company had just arrived at their building for yet another day of work.

Suddenly, a troop of law enforcers barged in waving a search warrant. Without wasting a moment, they
confiscated every single item they could find in the office.

By the time they were done, the office of the company's CEO, Gaurav Sinha, was as barren as a cave. Nothing had
been spared from the inspection, not even the trash can.

The company's secretary and
managers frantically called Gaurav on his phone. By the time they finally got
ahold of him, his phone had been
ringing for nearly an hour.

Gaurav got in his car and sped to the office as quickly as he could. "What are you doing? This is a perfectly legitimate business we're running here, you can't just barge in and ransack the
place!" Gaurav furiously confronted as he rushed into his building. He had stayed up the entire night trying to
sort out Arti's mess. The last thing he had expected was for his company to come under fire as well.

One of the law enforcers presented the search warrant. "The bank is suing you for fraud. We're just here to
collect the evidence."

Gaurav felt a rush of anxiety squeeze around him in its clammy grip. Half an hour later, the law enforcers exited
the building with boxes in a variety of sizes: they all contained an
assortment of documents, computer hard drives, laptops, as well as mobile phones and tablets.

The last person to come out was Gaurav Sinha. With his bound together by the cuffs, Gaurav shoulders were
hunched as he shuffled along with a resigned gait. The man was the pathetic image of an upper-class elite brought down from his glorified perch.

When Gaurav finally appeared outside, reporters from national TV stations and online publications were already waiting for him. Cameras and phones scrambled as they struggled to get the best angles for photos while questions were fired at the disgraced Gaurav.
Thus, another trending headline was given to the eager masses by the Sinha family.

Sidharth sat in a Chrysler RV parked opposite the building. He watched the scene unfold without saying a word. When everyone had been taken away he calmly said, "Let's go."

In the afternoon, Sinha Home Improvement Company's application to be listed on the stock exchange was officially rejected by the CSRC. In addition, the bank asked the Sinha Home Improvement Company to repay their loan, effective immediately.

The Sinha family's phone rang
incessantly throughout the successive setbacks that occurred, one after
another.

Lovely had just returned home, her younger siblings and Lawyer Singh in tow. She barely had time to get a drink of water when her eldest daughter, Kasmira, came to her looking as pale as a ghost and her phone in her hand. She said, "Mom, we're finished."
Lawyer Singh immediately
asked,"What's wrong? I've already
spoken to the police about your sister. They'll release her once they're done with the investigations."

"It's not about Arti. It's about our company", said Kasmira. The phone trembled in her unsteady hand before
falling to the ground with a thunk.

Lovely was anxious to go to the police station to pick up Gaurav, but before she could get ready two policewomen showed up. Announcing that she had falsified the accounts for the bank loan, they arrested her on the
spot. Lovely was the financial director of the company, as well as the legal representative. Her legal liability was therefore greater than her husband Gaurav's.