Hello guys,

I am sorry I am not at all on time, but I really don't feel like writing when I see the views for the story decreasing from 3k to 1k. It's a huge difference, and I wonder if you are liking the book or not. Do let me know about it.

Important: I have come across many "stunned" readers, who couldn't believe that this Nandini, created by me, was so selfish. I'm sorry, but this is how I'd planned her to be. I wanted a heroine who believed in love, capable of being someone whom they never wished to be. I'm sorry I can't change her character.

Enjoy the chapter!

~She came up with a plan, only for him to take the decision~

-Affu-

In India

Malhotra's Home

Manik's Room

Manik stared at the tissue paper with his eyes bored into it. Her number was written in it, yet he could not think about making a call to her.

She was insane!

He kept staring at the number and the conversation he had with her, before picking up his mobile and making a call to the right phone number.

"Murthy here! Whoever it is, make it fast." He heard, from the other side and although he would like to appreciate her voice, he was a bit disturbed. Murthy here! That's something said by Asad and Shivaay, while answering to their calls. So Murthy is her surname?

It's just a coincidence!

What was her name again?

"Its Manik, here." he replied, after a brief silence. "Okay! So what does this Manik has to do with me? I don't remember having any friend called Manik." she twattled, and Manik scrunched up his face at it.

"You forgot me?" he asked, almost dumbfounded. Wasn't she the one who proposed to him? 

"Huh? Ye role reversal kya hain?! I mean, I don't usually get such prank calls. Dekh bhayya, before you start with your mahabharath about our imaginary relationship, or the imaginary kid we have, or the way I betrayed you for some other guy, let me tell you. I ain't buying it. Jawab simple hai. Romance is cringeworthy for me, so none is going to believe your words if you're gonna threaten me with it. So why would I get scared of your prank call!" she blurted, without any hesitation and for once, Manik was reminded about Rudr and Karan, while he heard her talking.

"Will you let me speak, Miss?!" he growled, and Nandini rolled her eyes.

"I've got nearly a dozen of brothers, and some of them are so damn good at yelling. So yeah, wont work. Now bye." and she hung up on the call. Manik stared at the mobile, blankly.

"Was she crazy?" he asked himself. "Definitely. The way she proposed to me says it all." he added, before dialing her number again.

"Murthy here! Whoever it i--" she started again, and this time he didn't let her complete. "Its Manik Malhotra, the guy whom your proposed to, so unexpectedly in the first sight, for a contract marriage in a posh restaurant, is here." Manik replied, and then there was a silence.

"Oh!" she said, before exclaiming loudly. "Were you the same Manik who called me..um..a minute ago? Dude! You could have used your surname. Dunya mein apke naam ke bohath saare log ghumthe hain yar." She let out multiple sighs while speaking, and he palmed his face.

"Right! Aur aaj aapke kithne saare Maniks se mulakath hui?" Manik asked, with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Mere Appa ye question aaj thak nahi poocha tho tum kyun pooch rahe ho? Now, don't behave like a sanskari jealous husband, and tell me, how can I help you?" Nandini asked, while flipping the pages of the file in her hands. She had started working today, and it's already hectic.

"I want to meet you." Manik said, while sighing out loud on the call. He was skeptical, but that doesn't mean he's not suspicious about this weird personality. Why would a random girl come and ask to have a contract marriage, only with him, but not anyone else?

"Why? Have you come to a decision about my proposal?" she asked, almost sounding lost. She still does not want to do this marriage, yet she was ready to become selfish, for her father's happiness.

"For that..I need to meet you, Miss Murthy." Manik said, and Nandini did catch the challenge in his tone.

"We've already met, Malhotra. Didn't we? Agar dobara milna hai tho, saath mein mere liye ek decision bhi leke aana chahiye apko." Nandini stated flatly, and Manik smirked.

"Interesting, Murthy. But guess what! I am a businessman. And if you think I've come to this position by doing nothing, but just listening to others ordering around, then you're highly mistaken Miss Murthy." Manik stated bluntly, and Nandini was almost convinced about her choice.

"Not bad, Mr. Malhotra. I expected you to be a sanskaari emotional guy like Aman, lekin aap tho Rahul nikle." Nandini voiced out her impression, and Manik frowned. "Emotional like Aman..oh hello, who are these Aman and Rahul?" asked Manik, confusedly.

"You don't know Rahul and Aman? Dude! I am far better than you Indians. Chal chod! Let's talk about it some other time. You do realize that I have your recording, right?" Nandini asked, while marking certain points, in the file.

"A fine quality of Manik Malhotra is that he never forgets his friends and enemies. Whatever they say, will be included as well." Manik said, and Nandini paid no heeds to it. "There's no contract marriage or anything like you wanted, unless I meet you again. Recording ke baath hai tho, I can simply schedule a press conference and say that whoever leaked the recording is my ex-girlfriend or a clingy friend from the past, who cannot see me getting hitched with some other girl. It's your choice, Miss Murthy." Manik added, and this did have Nandini's attention.

She stopped writing, and looked up at Mrunal, who was busy making Avocado juice, for themselves without caring about Nandini's phone conversation with Manik. But before Nandini could speaking anything else, he had hung up.

"Didn't Appa say that his best friend was dumb?!" Nandini asked Mrunal, who didn't paid any heeds to her best friend's question. "Dafa hoja! I'm busy." Mrunal replied, and Nandini rolled her eyes at it.

"Yaar! This guy turned out to be genius. Appa was so wrong when he said that his best friend was dumb. How can a dumb person has such a genius kid! I'm not gonna listen to anything that Appa says, hereafter." Nandini threw her hands in air, but all Mrunal did was making juice.

"Tu kya mere anthim sanskar keliye juice bana rahi hai!" Nandini scowled at Mrunal, who looked up at her blankly. "Tere anthim sanskar keliye, I'll make milkshake, not some random avocado juice." Mrunal retorted, which just lead Nandini to storm inside her bedroom.

"Oh get lost, Malhotra kid!" Nandini shut the door, and slept the next minute.

Next morning

In a Restaurant

"I thought you wouldn't come." Manik smirked at Nandini, who got settled opposite to him, with a bored look on her face.

"Unfortunately for me, this ain't the first time I'm forced to meet a clingy guy." She replied, bluntly and he gaped at her.

"Clingy..guy?" he asked, while looking at himself, and then shooting a glare towards her.

"So what do you expect me to call a guy, who's adamant enough to get me meet with him, when I am clearly not interested?" Nandini asked, while staring at him. He scowled in return.

"FYI, I am not interested in you or your problems. It's you, who has got problems with my peaceful life, that you are here with some so-called contract marriage." Manik bellowed, and Nandini stared at his hardened facial muscles.

"Chill, Malhotra. Chill! I know, whatever I am doing is so selfish of me, but I don't have a choice. If I had, I wouldn't have even thought of meeting you, let alone propose to you for a contract marriage." Nandini muttered, and Manik raised his eyebrows.

"Who are you?" Manik asked, and this time it was Nandini, who raised her eyebrows. "I want to know the person sitting in front of me, not your name, though I don't remember your name." Manik exclaimed, and Nandini's lips quirked upwards in a smirk.

"My name is Nandini, and that's all you're going to know." Nandini stated, and Manik stared at her before fishing out a card from his pocket, and forwarded it to her. 

"Ye Mumbai ke most famous journalist ke business card hain. Go on." Manik relaxed in his seat, and Nandini stared at him, slightly amused.

"Tum ye sab kar kyu rahe ho? Mumbai ke famous journalist ko mein doond sakthi hun. Ye recording nahi hai tho kuch aur bhi de sakthi hun mein. Anything that would harm your reputation. You never know." Nandini said, and Manik shook his head, while smirking quite arrogantly.

"Agar tum mere saath ya mere reputation ke saath kuch bhi karna chahthi tho, you would have done it last night itself, Miss Nandini Murthy." Manik leaned to speak in a low tone, and Nandini squinted her eyes at him. "An enemy would always show his power to his opponent." Manik added, and Nandini let out a chuckle.

"You watch a lot of Bollywood movies, Junior Malhotra. Ye dangerous tone, leaning forward and getting the ball in your court..ye sab movies se hi milenge. Kyun, saab ji?" Nandini too leaned forward, while staring right through his eyes, and for a moment, he sat still, before looking away.

"Call it anything. But you can't deny the fact that a Malhotra can always cover up anything. Even if there's no fault of theirs." Manik said, and looked around to let her know that he wouldn't fall in her pit, but he's made a pit for her.

"I am Nandini Murthy, Mr. Malhotra." Nandini said, while staring at Manik, almost impressed and convinced with her father's best friend's kid. He really doesn't fall under those Prince charming that girls talk about, who could sweep her off her feet, but he falls under those determined and intelligent ones.

"I guess, that's about the meeting then." Manik said, and stood on his toes. "Nandini Shekhar Yashjeet Murthy." Nandini added, and Manik who was picking up his mobile from the table, got stilled. He didn't flinch or move from the place, but stood frozen.

Slowly, he raised his head to meet Nandini's pair of eyes, which were staring at him blankly. 

"Lo! Pehle tashreef rakhiye. Then you can gape at me." Nandini said, while looking around to see whether she could find any of her brothers there. That would not be a better scene.

"You're still standing? Yaar, beit tho sahi. I am not going to eat you up. You're trying to gain attention from people. Mujhe attention bilkul bhi pasand nahi hain." Nandini said, and Manik came out of his trance.

"What!" he screamed, before plopping onto the seat, and Nandini looked around to see people staring at them. 

"I said, I hated attention, not loved. Already, ek ache husband jaise behave math kar, Malhotra." Nandini mocked, while smiling sarcastically at him, and then at the people around. "What? We've got some issues. Now, if you're done staring at us, you can do whisper-gossiping. Go on." Nandini smiled at the people as well, which made them turn their heads back to their works.

"What?" asked Nandini, while turning her attention towards a shocked Manik. "You said you're..Nandini..Shekhar..Yashjeet..Murthy." Manik stuttered, and Nandini rolled her eyes.

"I get it! When I was lying yesterday, like I would telecast your recording, you believed it, but when I am speaking the truth, you can't. Chal koi nahi. I'll prove it." Nandini said, and fished her mobile out, before making a call to her father.

"Ye internet calling isliye because my Appa doesn't know I am in India. So don't you dare say that you are not convinced just because I didn't do a call from my number." Nandini warned Manik, before she heard her favorite voice coming out from her mobile.

"Aaj kaise yaad kiya Appa ki Shona?" she turned to the voice smilingly, but Manik's eyes have widened. It was him. His Dad's best friend. Shekhar Yashjeet Murthy video calling the girl sitting in front of him.

"Kyunki aaj Appa ki Shona ko unse ek kaam hain." Nandini didn't lie, but replied honestly. "Of course, you don't value my love, after all." Shekhar sighed dramatically, and Nandini stared at Manik. Thankfully, Nandini had tilted her mobile in a way, where only Manik could see Shekhar, but not the other way around.

"Yar Appa! Dramatic baad mein. Pehle ye batha. What was your best friend's son's name?" Nandini asked, and she had Shekhar's attention, and so did Manik's. 

"Huh? Tujhe mere best friend se kya lena dena?" Shekhar squinted his eyes. "Bas aiveyi." Nandini said. "I was thinking about your best friend, phir unke bache ke yaad aayi, phir unke bhi bachon ke khayal aayi, though they're yet to be born." Nandini added, and Manik gaped at her.

"Shona! Tu meri beti hai, lekin personality tho Sooraj Bhai ke nikle." Shekhar exclaimed. "He's my Chote Papa after all. Chal batha tho sahi. I need to be at work, soon-ish Appa." Nandini pouted, and Shekhar sighed.

"Manik!" Shekhar said. "Yes?" and Nandini palmed her face, and so did Manik, who unknowingly voiced out a yes. "Did I hear a male voice?" Shekhar asked, confusedly. Since Manik wasn't so loud and away from the microphone, Shekhar was skeptical.

"H-How can I sound like a guy, Appa? Kuch bhi Appa! Now, tata. I have to go. Ek important admi hai samne. Byeee. Miss me Appa. Love you." Nandini waved her hand at Shekhar, who sighed sadly. "Phir kab phone karoge?" he asked, and Nandini checked the time in her wrist watch.

"After 2 hours." she replied, and Shekhar smiled. "Love you too! Khayal rakhna, aur haan orange juice ke barein mein don't forget." and he hung up on the call, leaving Nandini to take a sigh of relief.

"Yaar Malhotra kid! Was it so necessary of you to open that mouth? FYI, My Appa isn't interested in that horrendous voice that you were so eager to let him hear it." Nandini cried out, but all Manik did was staring at her.

"You're my father's best friend's daughter." he replied, almost in a daze, and Nandini sighed before motioning a waiter towards her.

"Ek glass lime juice.!" she ordered, and all they both did were staring at each other. Nandini was annoyed, while Manik was shocked.

***

"Bhai! Phone dhe." and Rudr snatched Asad's mobile from his hands, who was about to type a mail to his client.

"What the heck, Rudy!" Asad growled out loud, only to wince in pain, for his right ear was getting twisted.

"Oww! Ma." Asad winced, while staring at Sujata, who was glaring at him. "Who asked you to swear, Asad? Kaha tha na mein, ghar pe ye sab nahi chalega." Sujata scolded, and Asad bobbed his head.

"Okay! I am sorry, Ma. But please leave my ear, Ma. It's hurting." Asad cribbed, and Sujata left his ears. "Ask for forgiveness." she said, and he groaned before scowling at Rudr. "Sorry!" he gritted his teeth, but Rudr just waved his hand in air as he was busy making a call from Asad's mobile.

"Rudr." Sujata warned, and Rudr looked up at his mother, who was narrowing her eyes at him. He grinned. "It's okay, Bhai." Rudr grinned at Asad, who looked at him like he could murder him.

"Tujhe mere mobile ke kya zarurath hain?" Asad asked, angrily and Rudr pouted. "Cutie isn't picking my calls. I thought she'd attend if I call from your mobile. But it's not working. I'll try from others' as well." he replied, before keeping Asad's mobile back on the table, and left.

"If she's not picking your call, then she's busy. Why would she pick up, just because you try with our phones, Rudy!" Asad exclaimed, disbelievingly. 

"Pari phone kyu nahi utha rahi hai? Waise, it's been so long since I've talked to her. I'll call her tonight." Sujata said smilingly and walked towards the kitchen, while Asad kept staring at her retreating figure.

"Should I tell her or is Princess gonna surprise them?" Asad asked himself. "Lekin if they get to know about it in one glance, wouldn't they be shocked to death?" He pondered over it.

"Soch kya raha hai, Asad?" Rithvik got settled beside him.

"Rithvik! Shouldn't we say to Mums that Princess is in India.." Asad asked, and before Rithvik could reply, they heard a screech.

"Pari India mein hain?" and they turned to see the ladies with their jaws dropped down.

"Or..not?" Asad muttered, and Rithvik gulped. "Marr gaye!" Rithvik added, and the duo exchanged worried glances.

***

"So...haalath kaise hai? Still in shock? You going to be paralyzed or back to normal?" Nandini asked, while sipping on her orange juice, and Manik kept staring at her.

"How can you be so casual with it? You are Nandini Murthy. Shekhar uncle's daughter. The same Shekhar Murthy, who is away from his family due to--" Manik started to rant, and Nandini held onto his hands, making him go still.

"Due to his love for an orphan, Shamishti, who's now Shamishti Murthy, his wife and mother of his child, Nandini Murthy. You don't need to provide me with the information about Shekhar Murthy and Shamishti Murthy, because I am a living outcome of their love." and she let go off his hands, which made him stare at his hands, and then shook his head. Shouldn't she ask for his permission before touching him?

"I am so casual about it, because I'm aware of it all, for the past 15 years of my life. Why should I act like I just am about to lose my kidney, then?" Nandini shrugged, and Manik gaped at her.

"You..you are weird." Manik stated, and Nandini sighed. "It's far better than being a stone faced sanskaari. Now, can we talk about the main topic?" Nandini asked, and Manik let out a sigh.

"Explain me your motive, Nandini." Manik said. "Nothing much. Mujhe mere Appa ko unke family wapas dena hain." Nandini said, and Manik let out a dry chuckle after a while of staring at her. "You mean..you'll convince Yashjeet Murthy to forgive Shekhar Uncle? Do you even know your grandfather's personality?" Manik asked, and Nandini leaned forward.

"Yashjeet Murthy-cold faced, too much lost in traditions, believes that if he makes a decision then others are supposed to follow them willingly or not, doesn't believe in romantic relationships for there's no true love in relationships but only in marriages, stubborn and strictly disciplined." Nandini described her grandfather's personality, and Manik's jaws dropped down in shock.

"How--How do you know a lot about him? Does Shekhar uncle talks this negatively about him?" Manik asked, dumbfounded and Nandini frowned. "Has Appa ever talked anything about his father, then it's all with love. Even though his father doesn't care about him or his little family." Nandini said.

"Then how?" Manik voiced out. "There's a lot that you don't know, and I don't think just now is the time to tell you the same." Nandini replied, and Manik sighed.

"Nandini! I get it. You want to unite your Appa with his family, but that's not so easy." Manik said. "Did I say it's easy, Malhotra kid?" she asked, and Manik scrunched up his face, at the way she addressed him with. "Nandini Murthy doesn't do easy stuffs. I don't believe in stuffs that I get so easily. I want to earn it. And to earn something, we need to sacrifice something else." Nandini said, and for once Manik saw a matured and determined woman in her, unlike the ignorant self she's been portraying herself to be, all this while.

"Why a contract marriage with me?" he asked, and she stared at him. "Because you are a Malhotra. My initial plan was to befriend any of the Malhotras. Although I'd be a loyal friend even if I know why I'm befriending a Malhotra, I would have also used the Malhotra tag you had to get close to Yashjeet Murthy. Being a friend of Malhotra, would take me to Murthy's place. Lekin, tum logon se friendship na mumkin tha. I kinda realized your personalities and how wise you'd be in choosing friends." Nandini said, and Manik couldn't help but to admit that he liked the honesty in her.

"So you thought of marrying one Malhotra, to get closer to Yashjeet Murthy?" Manik asked, and Nandini nodded her head in negative, briskly. "Of course, not. I mean, I don't go around doing contract marriage every hour, to come up with such an idea. I came up with this idea, after realizing that you wanted to get rid of your mother's anger for not having a girl in your life, and also on realizing how Yashjeet Murthy accepts marriages over relationships." Nandini said, and Manik kept staring at her.

"That's absurd." he stated. "You cannot simply marry someone just because your grandfather accepts marriages over relationships, even though it's just a contract-based. People marry out of love or for respect, Nandini." he added, rather calmly.

To say that she was stunned, would be an understatement. For sure, Manik Malhotra has impressed Nandini Murthy, even without trying.

"I know!" Nandini sighed, after a brief silence. "Look! I know, you are against this idea. I told you about everything because you were adamant to know about it all. You didn't give me a choice, which might I add is a first time, but if you still can't cope up with my idea, then it's fine, I understand your character and intentions well. I'll think about something else. I'm just not gonna back off from this plan. I'll get my Appa his happiness back." Nandini said, and stood up while collecting her mobile and sling bag.

"It was nice meeting you, Malhotra kid." and she turned around to leave, which stirred something in Manik's heart. "Oh yeah.." she turned around abruptly and bent to face him, as he was still sitting. "If anything that you now know goes out of this mouth to someone else's ears, then you should know that I am a doctor, and I know which vein to be popped out of your body to make you lose your memory." she added, and left the place, leaving Manik to gape at her.

"She--she--that Lilliputian girl is so dangerous. She just threatened me. Me? Manik Malhotra!" Manik muttered to himself, lost in a daze.

***

"Choti yaar, why don't you answer any of our calls?" Om chided on call, and Nandini kept staring at the files, lying on her table, in her hospital cabin.

"My mobile was on silent mode, Bhayyu." she replied, lost in thoughts. She didn't know how her next step should be. Moreover, she was guilty for even deciding for a contract marriage, which would have gained hatred and disappointment from her brothers and her parents.

"You should stop doing that, then. Now you are in India, Nanni and it's a new place for you. For girls, Mumbai is really not a safe place." Shivaay scolded, and Nandini sighed. "Bhayyu!" she spoke meekly, and that got 8 pairs of ears' attention.

"Kya hum selfish nahi bann sakthe?" she asked, leading the brothers to be attentive. "Yaani--To become selfish for your loved ones. To become selfish to provide them with happiness, even if it meant gaining hatred from the entire world." she added, and the line went silent for a while.

"Jaan! It's true that Love is selfish. One becomes too selfish to think about anything else, but their loved ones. They prioritize their loved ones over others. But Jaan. Loving someone to an extent where you could hurt others could lead you to miseries. Maybe you could get everything for your loved ones, but do you think they would have wished for others to be hurt to achieve that happiness of theirs!" Rithvik explained, calmly and Nandini listened to it patiently.

"But what if we don't have a choice, Bhayyu? What if we don't have time before getting everything that we wanted for them, we love?" She said, and then shook her head. 

"You do have time, Baby. You have an entire life for everything that you want to achieve." Sidharth chimed in. "No Bhayyu. I've got only 6 months to unite Appa and DJ. Appa ko lagtha hai, it's a six months course that I'm doing in America." Nandini said, while sighing.

"And how are you being selfish in here?" Asad asked, straightforwardly. "Uff AI, you get to read the hidden meaning behind my every sentence." Nandini deadpanned, and Asad bobbed his head.

"What is it, Murthy?" Viren questioned.

"Can we meet to talk about it?" asked Nandini and the 8 of them knew something was really up, with their sister.

***

Manik was staring at the ring in his hand, playing with it. He always felt relieved while playing with it. A touch of his ring, would give him peace and answers to the unanswered questions.

"Nandini!" he muttered to himself. 

He did not know why he was thinking about her, when it's all done. She had left his life, promising not to harm his reputation with that recording or to bug him with the contract marriage proposal.

Yet, he couldn't ignore the nagging feeling in his heart.

He wanted to help her. She seemed so genuine and determined about getting her father reunited with his family. Yes, she was selfish and her reasons were illogical, yet he couldn't blame her.

Who is he to judge her when he hasn't lived her life?!

Living away from such a big family, she would have wished to have it all, for herself. Moreover, she wanted to see her father happy. And being an obedient son to his father, he knew he would never wish to see him sad.

If she was selfish, she was a good daughter as well, and that's why he wanted to help her.

However, he didn't know how to help her!

He ran his hands through his hair, when suddenly a bulb lit up in his head. His eyes twinkled, yet he felt it wrong. But he wanted to do it. Not for Nandini. Not or Shekhar. But for himself. For his peace of mind!

Thus, he decided it. 

To become Nandini Murthy's Contract-Boyfriend!

***

How was the chapter?

Well yeah, this chapter is a bit messy since I came up with this twist lately. It wasn't pre-planned. Hope you'll like it.

Love,

Affu.