Happie reading you'all
(Unedited) :)

"Everyone did their best!
But we have to choose one. And in this battle, there are two individuals who stood out!" the computerized voice said.

Everyone is eagerly waiting to see who those two dancers will be.

"'The Rhythm Duelist'!" they announced."Any guesses who the second one will be?" the computerized voice continued.

God, just tell us who the second one is! Don't hype it up.

"And the second competitor is... is..." Now that's testing my patience.

"Is 'The Maanicccc'!"Wait, WHAT?! They announced my name! Is this for real? I beat 'The Rhythm Duelist'? Can you believe it?

Oh God, this is real!Everyone screamed just as they announced my name, and I’m just sitting there, thinking, what is happening?

'Rinex' came and hugged me, and then I came back to reality."I'm so happy, Maanu! I'm just so happy," he said while spinning me around."Leave me, you hulk!" I said, hitting his arm.

"Okay, hold on, everyone! We haven't even announced the final winner yet! They both got the highest votes, but now we need to determine who received the most votes!" the computerized voice said, and we all stood there in anticipation.

My heart is pounding in my throat right now! Who will be the one with the highest votes?'The Rhythm Duelist' is looking at me with his famous charming smile, and believe it or not, he wins every time!

But I have faith in myself, so I just need to think positively."So the star of this evening is...!!" The voice paused dramatically. Just announce it quickly; my patience is wearing thin!

"Is— is 'THE MAANIC'!!

"Hey Krishna!! I win!!" I win, beating 'The Rhythm Duelist'!

"She won by 17 votes! Please receive your prize!" the computerized voice said.I started walking toward the battleground where one of the trustees of the competition would present my award.

"Congratulations, 'Miss Maanic'! You did your best," said the middle-aged man, handing me the award for 'Best Competitor of the Battle'.

"Thank you so much, sir," I said, expressing my gratitude.He handed me the award along with a check for thirty-five thousand, the winning amount. After receiving it, I moved toward 'The Rhythm Duelist' to congratulate him too, since he also received the highest votes.

"Congratulations, 'Miss Maanic'! You did superb," he said while shaking my hand."Thank you, and congratulations to you too," I replied with a smile, and he returned my smile warmly.

"Didn't you feel bad that I won, and in your four years of dancing career, you lost the battle for the first time?" I asked out of curiosity."Why would I feel bad? You did your best, and you deserve this award. It's yours. About losing the battle—now I have a story to tell my children: that I lost my first battle to a beautiful lady like you!" he said sincerely.

I just smiled at him and started moving away."You did superb, Maanu!" said my grandfather while suddenly hugging me."Thank you so much, Dadu," I said while taking his blessings.After that, I took blessings from all my family members, and at last, Mr. Saini was there too, so I took his blessings as well.

"Congratulations, girl! You are awesome," said my three sisters while hugging me. I knew they weren't sincere."Thank you!" I said simply.

"Congratulations, little missy!" said my second elder brother."Thank you!" I replied to him."Congratulations!" said my first elder brother."Thank you," I said.

"Maanu, let's go to a restaurant for dinner," said my uncle.Right now, we were standing in a corner so no one would notice us because I didn't want any unwanted attention.The ride to the restaurant was silent.

I was sitting in a car with my grandfather, father, mother, and aunt, while Anaya, Divya, and Shivya were with my uncle and Mr. Saini, and his nephews were in another car.We were the first to reach the restaurant. We sat at our regular table, and then everyone came and started discussing the order. I just ordered my usual South Indian dish and sat in my chair, looking at everyone.

God, how hard they are trying to show that everything is perfectly fine when this situation is everything but fine."I will come with you all!" I said while looking at my second elder brother, and the way he smiled was just beyond words."Are you sure? You can come after you feel like it; there is no rush!" said my first elder brother.

"Yes, I said that when I'm clearly sure," I replied."Then, if you are comfortable, we will go there tomorrow morning. Is that fine with you, Maanu?" asked Mr. Saini while my family looked at us."Hm. It's fine!"

I said and started eating because my food had just arrived.And now everyone seemed at ease just because I said yes happily? Could that be the reason? Okay, I don't know.

After some chit-chat, which I didn't pay much attention to because I was just scrolling through some competition details, we returned home, and Mr. Saini and his nephews headed directly to their hotel.

I was just sitting on the rooftop, wondering if I made the right decision by saying yes.

"Yes, you made the right decision!" said my mother while sitting beside me on a single couch that I assumed she took from the dance room.I faintly smiled at her.

That’s what our relationship looks like; she prefers talking less, and I don’t know how to hold a proper conversation, so we didn’t talk much—just some words that were enough.

When I wanted her to be here, she wasn’t. Now, if she wants me to be here, I might not be.

"What happened? You don't want to go there? It's okay if you don't want to; you don't have to. I will talk to your father!" she said while looking at the moon."It's not like that, but I'm just confused. I don't know them, and how can I go there?" I said, mirroring her gaze at the moon.

"Maanu, let me tell you something!" she said, pulling out a chocolate and giving it to me while taking one for herself.I started opening the wrapper of the chocolate, and she did the same. We were talking to each other while looking everywhere but at each other.

"Your mom and I were like sisters when she was alive! We used to talk to each other all day long because meeting each other wasn't easy for us, knowing we lived in different states!" she said while eating her chocolate and looking at the moon.

"And when all those things happened, I was seven and a half months pregnant. But destiny had other plans for all of us because we were celebrating a small dinner here in Gujarat, but in another city, with my friend and your mother, who was also five months pregnant. Your grandfather and this grandfather had another friend too, who is the father-in-law of my friend.So we three families were having a good time, but we didn’t know that God was planning something different for us. That night changed so many lives," she said, her face showing no expression. I was just sitting there, listening to her and thinking about all of this."Those men somehow found our location and kidnapped you two—mother and daughter—along with your uncle, aunt, and the son and daughter-in-law of the third friend of your grandfather. While doing all this, they hurt all of us, and they had more men than our security team, so we couldn’t save you all. But we managed to save ourselves, though they took you all with them. After that night, some of us visited the hospital while others were searching for you," she narrated, as if reliving the experience!

"Those many days were hard for all of us! That evening when we found you, by God's grace. But that evening, I lost my child, my two friends, and their husbands—a four-year-old toddler lost her mother!A mere nine-year-old child lost his parents! Two families lost their beloved sons and their wives, and they didn’t want to risk your life after that. That’s why they gave you to us, so you could live your life peacefully without any discomfort," she said, finally facing me.

Peacefully! Note the sarcasm, I might say!!

"All this? But for what? Why do those men want our lives?" I asked the questions that have been hurting my mind since last evening.

That's all for this chapter!! Show some love everyone! ✨🌷
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Stay happy and healthy.

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