"Bhai, slap me." Mukti asked Manik, killing Nandini with her looks.

"Mukti." Manik uttered in disbelief before standing up. He raised his hand and slap her slightly as he doesn't want to hurt her. Nandini laughed out.

"This is called slap, Manik." Nandini said after giving a hard slap to Mukti. Her cheek burned, she held her cheek and her eyes became moist.

Manik took a deep breath and gave a very slap to Mukti that blood oozed out from the corner of her lips. Tears welled up in his eyes and now Mukti is silently crying, looking down, her hand is placed on her cheek.

Nandini went to her room leaving them alone. She knows Manik must be feeling guilty after this but she isn't understanding how she should make him understand that Mukti deserves this.

"Mukti, I'm sorry." He apologised, placing his hand on her head. Alia and Cabir are silently looking at them.

"Bhai, I don't want to live here. Please take me away." Mukti cried out, hugging him by hiding her face in his stomach. He wrapped his arms around her and tears trickled down his cheeks.

He wanted to never slap her and harm her physically but today he was forced to do that because for her betterment only. But he is feeling bad for his sister, his daughter. He is filled with remorse.

He left from there while Cabir and Alia consoled Mukti.

Manik came to the kitchen and searched for the knife. He found it and gave a deep cut on his hand. He squeezed his eyes shut to bear the pain and blood oozed out. After that he gave a few more cuts on his hand, feeling extreme pain, he is thinking that he deserves this for being a bad brother.

Nandini entered the kitchen and her eyes widened in horror, seeing the blood dripping down his hand. She rushed to him and hastily snatched the knife from his hand and hurled it before he could give one more cut on his hand. In this, she also got a small cut on her hand.

"Manik, are you out of your mind?" She shouted at him, he is standing like a lifeless soul in front of her.

"It's bleeding so much." She said concernedly, holding his bleeding hand and looked at his hand with sorrowful eyes welled up with tears.

Then he led her to the room. Now it doesn't matter to her that what will happen if someone sees them because she is only thinking about his wounded hand.

But luckily nobody saw them.

She made him sit on the bed and hurriedly brought the first aid box. When she cleaned his wound after kneeling before him, he hissed in pain. She stared at him grimly.

"It must be paining a lot?" She asked, crying silently while applying ointment on his wound properly and hissing in pain. She did his dressing and placed a kiss on his wound. She wants to take away his all pain with this kiss.

"Manik, I know why you did this. Now I can't take this anymore. I can't see you getting hurt every day. You know seeing you in pain hurts more than any other pain. I'll go from here, you don't have to do anything anymore." She said, wiping her tears and listening to her words, he finally came out of the trauma of slapping Mukti.

"I'm sorry." He apologised after cupping her face because he hurt her by hurting himself.

"No, Manik, you did very wrong today." She removed his hands from her face and stood up.

She dashed out of the room and he followed her. He stopped when he saw Mukti, Alia and Cabir sitting in the hall. Nandini went out of the Mansion, hurt. He rushed back to the room.

He saw her sitting in the car from the window and called her, "Nandini." But she didn't respond to him. He hurriedly called her after taking out his phone but she didn't even answer his call.

"Oh God what I did? I hurt her again. Why I always hurt people whom I don't want to hurt a bit even, the people whom I love so much, why?" He asked from himself, crying and slumped down on the floor.

On the other hand, servants are making Mukti Alia and Cabir do household works instructed by Manan before only.

Manik came downstairs. Mukti is cleaning the table in the hall and she saw him leaving the mansion and became suspicious. He went to find Nandini.

"Where Bhai is going?" She thought, looking at the door.

"Mukti, complete your work." Servant chided her and she glared at the servant before again started dusting the table.

_____

Manik is thinking all the time while driving the car that where she can go. He was regretting everything he did.

He reached Abhi's house and asked the security guard about her. He smiled with relief when he got to know that she has come here only. He hastily parked the car and rushed inside. He entered her room and a broad smile flashed on his face as he saw her coming out of the bathroom in a simple blue salwar suit. She is looking heavenly beautiful in that simple outfit also.

Nandini glanced at him and sat on the sofa, ignoring him. He saw her eyes, they were puffy from crying. He mentally scolded himself for making her cry again.

He strolled to her and knelt before her. He bent down and as he held her feet and she freaked out. "Manik, stop, what are you doing?" She asked, moving back her feet.

"Sweetheart, please, let me touch your feet as you're my God and let me do this honour. I want to worship you." He uttered after looking at her with so much love and respect for her in his eyes. Nandini became just speechless after listening to his words.

"I love you so much, Manik and therefore I don't want to hurt you more by doing this drama of becoming a bad person." She said, placing her hand on his face and fresh tears trickled down her cheeks.

"I know, Nandini, please don't cry more." He wiped her tears and continued, "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry that I hurt you a lot by hurting myself today. I don't know what happened to me all of sudden after slapping Mukti. I was feeling like I did something wrong and needed to be punished." Manik cried out his all pain by placing his head on her lap.

She cried too, moving her hand in his hair. "Manik, Mukti deserved the slap, you haven't done anything wrong. Why are you not understanding that we have to hurt Mukti to bring her on the right track so that she understands what is pain? Manik, you have to make your heart hard like a stone for this. I know it's difficult but nothing is impossible in this world." She explained to him calmly and kissed his hair. He's sitting on the floor, placing his head on her lap and she is sitting on the sofa.

"Thank you for always making me realise that you're the gem of the person and a perfect woman for me." Manik said, looking up at her but didn't raise his head from her lap and he kissed her hand.

"A perfect woman for her perfect Man." She smiled at him, caressing his hair.

After seeing the cut on her finger, he sucked it before apologising, "I'm sorry for this too."

"Baby, it's okay. It's a small cut."

"Whatever, you got it because of me. Now let me sleep. Yesterday you made me sleep on the sofa and I couldn't able to sleep." He said like a small baby, burying his face in her stomach and tightly wrapping his arms around her waist. She smiled broadly.

"Aww... my adorable baby." She ruffled his hair.

"But the truth is that you weren't in my arms last night, therefore I couldn't able to sleep." Now he said, looking at her. She leaned down and touched her face with his face. They closed their eyes, smiling with utter contentment and got lost in each other. Their love is becoming deeper and deeper with time and now no power can separate them.

________