Manik & the others had returned as soon as they found out what happened....and Manik was not happy.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOUR GUARDS REHAN? SECURITY KE HOTEY HUE YEH KAISE HO SAKTA HAI?" Manik shouted.

"I dont understand, security toh apne jagah pe hi thi phir bhi...I'll find out Manik, dont worry." Rehan assured Manik.

"Woh sab toh thik hai par Manik, tu Nandini ke paas jaa. Bechari kitni zyada darr gayi hogi." Nyonika said.

"Mom, we have to find out who did this. Iss aadmi se hum yeh paata lagwa sakte they ki attacks kaun karwa rahe hai....and now he is dead." Manik explained.

"Woh sab karne ke liye Cabir, Abhi...Dhruv aur Rehan hai. Tu abhi ki abhi meri beti ke paas ja." Nyonika demanded. She usually refrained from interfering in all this which is why everyone was surprised. Manik was also surpised to hear his mom call Nandini beti instead of bahu....but deep down it made him feel happy. 

"Ok Mom...par can you do one thing?" Manik asked.

Meanwhile, Nandini was in her room, shaking in fear. Images of the man's bullet ridden body flashed through her head. Riya & Ishaan were sitting by her trying to comfort her. They both felt terrible seeing her like this.

"Bhabhi...dont worry. Ek baar Manik bhai aa jayenge toh woh paata laga lenge ki yeh sab kisne kiya." Riya tried to console Nandini. She leaned her head on her shoulder.

"Haan bhabhi, bhai will fix everything. Pls dont cry." Ishaan hugged her from the other side.

Manik entered at that moment and both Ishaan & Riya looked up at him. He motioned for them to leave so they did...quietly. Nandini still had her head buried in her arms. Manik slowly walked towards her and sat on the bed, placing a hand on her head. Nandini finally looked up and her face was stained with tears.

"Im sorry you had to see that Nandini. Mujhe paata hai tumhe iss sab ki aadat nahi hai..." Manik trailed off, not really knowing what to say.

"Manik....woh....he was...woh chakku wala...." Nandini mumbled.

"Haan....I had him tied there. Kyunki main paata lagane ki kosish kar raha tha ki usse kisne bheja. I didnt have any plans on letting him die, not yet anyways."

"Matlab...yeh sab usne nahi kiya?" Nandini asked.

"Nahi.....he was just hired. Mastermind koi aur hai....jo baar baar mujhpe attack karwa raha hai. Humari shaadi se pehle se mujhe marne ke koshish kar rahe hai....and that day jab mujhe goli lagi. Its the same person." Manik replied. "At first mujhe laga yeh sab Harshad karwa raha hai...lekin I think Harshad ke saath koi aur bhi mila hua hai. Someone smarter than him...shayad ussi insaan ne aaj uss aadmi ko maar dala."

"But...ghar ke bahar toh itni security hai. How did someone get past that?" Nandini asked.

"Wahi toh samajh nahi aa raha hai...." Manik replied. Seeing Nandini so stressed about it, Manik thought of something. " Lekin jo bhi hai, you dont need to worry. Tum apne kaam pe dyaan do...kal se tum hospital jaa rahi ho."

"Ma mujhe jaane nahi degi...yeh stupid chot jo lagi hai." Nandini frowned cutely. 

Manik couldnt help but chuckle and lightly squeeze Nandini's cheeks. "Tum bhi na bilkul bachi ho! Ma ne manna kiya aur tum mann gayi? I mean this is Mom we are talking about...thoda manati toh chutkiyon main mann bhi jaati. Ill talk to her....tum bhi pura din ghar pe baite baite kya karogi? You're not in any pain right?" 

"Nahi." Nandini shook her head.

"Good...toh phir kal se tum hospital jaa rahi ho." Manik said. 

"Tum jitna busy rahogi...utna iss sab se door rahogi....aur utna hi safe rahogi. I cant let you get hurt again." Manik thought to himself. Then he saw Nandini get up and get the first aid box out.

"I thought tumhe dard nahi ho raha hai?" Manik asked.

"Haan nahi ho raha hai par.... dressing badalna hoga na?" Nandini replied. She then started to unwrap the gauze that was around her arm with a bit difficulty.

"Here...let me." Manik took over and finished unwrapping her wound. Then he poured some medicine on a cotton to clean the area. Nandini took a sharp breathe in, shutting her eyes as the medicine stung. "Sorry..sorry."

Manik leaned in and slowly blew on the wound as he gently dabbed more medicine on. Nandini slowly opened her eyes and just admired the way Manik was caring for her. 

"Yeh Golu Monster jab Golu Sweetu bante hai toh kitna ache lagte hai.....kitna care kar rahe hai mera. Kaun kahega ki yeh Mafia King hai...."  A gust of wind came from the window and Nandini brushed her hair back out of her face with her fingers as she smiled to herself.

Once he was done applying the medicine, Manik took a new strip of gauze out and wrapped that around her arm. Then he looked back to Nandini and just saw her smiling like a crazy person.

"Uhm...Nandini?" Manik waved his hand in front of her face but she was lost in her own thoughts. "Hello? Earth to Mrs Nandini Malhotra!"

Finally Nandini snapped out of it. "Huh?"

"Kya hua? Kya soch rahi ho?"

"Woh..." Nandini tried to think of an excuse. "Aloo ke parathe toh banne hi nahi."

"What?" Manik gave her a weird look. "Tum aloo ke parathe ke baare mein soch soch ke aise haas rahi thi? Weirdo..."

"Haan...matlab....Nahi, not exactly...par dinner mein kya hoga ab? Main aloo laane hi jaa rahi thi niche jab...you know."

"Im sure Mom aur Chachi ne handle kar liya hoga. Tum bhi na bohot ajeeb ho...mujhe laage tum kuch aur soch rahi thi." Manik rolled his eyes.

"Kya laaga tumhe?" Nandini asked. Manik opened his mouth but for some reason couldnt say what he had thought.

"Doesnt matter...but I def didnt think tum Aloo ke Parathe ke baare mein soch rahi thi. Anyways, lets go down. Mom and Chachi usually has dinner ready by now." Manik changed the subject. They went down and by then Cabir & Abhi had left. Nyonika & Sakshi had made half aloo paratha and the rest paneer paratha along with sabzi.

Nandini took one bite of the paneer paratha and knew it was made of paneer. She immediately got very happy. "Paneer ke parathe! Yummy"

"Bhabhi, aapko paneer ke parathe pasand hai?" Dhruv asked.

"Mujhe paneer ka sab kuch pasand hai. Paneer is my absolute favourite!" Nandini replied. Manik smiled seeing her happily eating the food, completely forgetting about what had happened. 

He looked across the table at Nyonika and mouthed. "Thank you, Mom."

*Flashback*

"Ok Mom, par can you do something?" Manik asked his Mom.

"Kya beta?"

"Aap Riddhima ko call karke paata laga sakte hai what Nandini's fav food is?" Manik asked. Everyone was surprised at that. "Ive noticed ki jab khaane ki baat hoti hai toh she forgets everything....last night when she was upset, she said she didnt want to eat lekin mujhe khaate hue dekh ke jealous bhi ho gayi thi. Maybe if you make her something she likes for dinner toh yeh sab bhulane mein asani hogi usse...just so we can distract her from all this."

Vasudha lovingly kissed Manik's forehead while the others looked proud.

*Flashback Ends*

*****************

Next Day...

Aliya was still fuming about what happened at the party and called Harshad who was sitting in his office with a man sitting across from him. The man was sitting in the shadows so his face was not visible but he could hear what Aliya was saying while Harshad just laughed. 

"What the hell? How can you laugh? Uss ladki ne meri itni beizzati ki. Main behen hoon tumhari Harshad!" Aliya yelled through the phone.

"Haan toh kisne kaha to do what she said? Its not my fault you are an idiot....and actually dekha jaaye toh its not really her faut either." Harshad taunted. "The whole world knows what Manik's new wife looks like...lekin tum newspaper ke beauty section ke elava kuch paroge toh paata chalega na?" 

"You....forget it. Tumse kuch ummed karna hi galat hai." Aliya sighed. 

"What do you even want from me Aliya? Im a little busy...." Harshad said.

"I want revenge! Mujhe badla chahiye...that Nandini embarrassed me infront of everyone! Aise nahi jaane de sakti hoon main! I want her dead!"

"Dont you think thats a little extreme?" Harshad rolled his eyes.

"Really? Tum Manik ko marna chaho toh its fine lekin main agar Nandini ko marna chahti hoon toh its extreme?" Aliya asked. "Fine dont help me....main akele Nandini ko maar dungi."

"Wait..." The man spoke up.

"Who the hell is that?" Aliya asked.

"That doesnt matter...lekin agar tum Nandini ko maarna chahti ho toh I can help. I have a plan." The Unknown Person said. Harshad gave him a questioning look. "Attack the hospital hostage....woh aaj waha hai. Sab ko lagega ki its a robbery gone wrong...kisiko tumpe shaq bhi nahi hoga. And its important that noone suspects you kyunki agar manik ko paata chala ki tumne uski wife ko maara toh he will kill you."

"Lekin tum mujhe help kyun kar rahe ho?" Aliya asked.

"That also doesnt matter...Ill send some men to help you with this." The man then leaned forward and hung the phone up.

"Humara goal Manik ko maarna hai....now we are getting distracted by that nobody? Seriously? Nandini ke saath Aliya ka problem ho sakta hai par humara kya lena dena hai?"

"Who said we are getting distracted?" The man said. "Im just usding your idiot sister to our benefit."

"Matlab?"

"Matlab Nandini se mera sach mein koi lena dena nahi hai. I could care less what happens to her par Manik ko maarne ke koshish hum dodno ne bohot baar ki. Haar baar woh bach jaata hai...iss baar im trying a different tactic. Attack Manik pe nahi hoga....lekin Manik ke liye hoga."

"I still dont get it." Harshad looked clueless.

"Of course you dont...Aliya ki hi bhai ho after all." 

"HEY!" Harshad stood up angrily.

"Shut up and sit down!" The unknown man said in a scary tone. Harshad gulped in sat down. "Now listen.....jab hum attack Manik pe karte hai toh usse bachane haazar log aa jaate hai. This time hum attack hospital pe karenge....woh hopsital jahan uska wife, uski Mom kaam karte hai. I dont know about Nandini...lekin Manik loves his Mom alot. Woh khud marne ke liye aa jayenge. Sirf khabar uss tak pauchana hai."

"You think uski Mom aur biwi pe khatra hoga aur woh akela ayega? No way, he will bring all his men."

"Laane do...it will still be unexpected kyunki unlike other times hum directly usse target nahi kar rahe hai. And agar Mnaik phirse bach jaate hai....Aliya is the one who wanted to kill Nandini."

"Oh! Tabhi tum Aliya ke madat kar rahe ho?" Harshad smirked evilly. "Oh my poor sister....she has no idea."

"I already told you...Im just using Aliya. Manik ko maarna asan nahi hai....and we need a shield jisse hum dono safe rahe. Uske liye agar tumhari behen ko kurbaan hona paare toh...too bad."

-----------------------

Note: Thoughts?

What do you think will happen now?