Finally Nandini was allowed to go home and as Nyonika handled the paperwork Manik helped Nandini get her things ready and then to the car wjich was parked in the parking lot. A few of Manik's men were waiting by another car as security when they saw Nandini.They had heard she was injured but didnt really know how much.

"Haha ha! Dekho toh....yeh toh apahij hai!" One man laughed as Nandini was wheeled towards the car.

"I know...Boss toh Mafia King se Caretaker King ban gaya!" Another man whispered laughing. Nandini felt her eyes tearing up.

PUNCH!

"HOW DARE YOU!" Manik heard him and punched the man. Then he turned and punched the other man as well.

"B..B..Bos.s...m..main..."

"SHUT UP! MERI BIWI KE BAARE MEIN WOH SAB KEHNE KI HIMMAT KAISE KI TUM DONO NE? HUH?" Manik shouted. Nandini wheeled her wheelchair over and grabbed Manik's arm.

"Manik! Jaane do....pls, just leave it." Nandini begged. Not wanting to stress Nandini, Manik let them go and took Nandini to his car.

At Malhotra Mansion, she was welcomed like a queen. Everyone cheered and hugged her warmly.

"Ishaan...tu apni bhabhi ko upar kamre mein le jaa. Main aata hoon." Manik told his cousin. Nandini caught his wrist as he turned to go.

"Manik...kaha jaa rahe ho?"

"Oh Bhabhi chill..bhai aapke paas hi ayenge." Ishaan joked, earning himself a glare from Manik. Manik then looked at Nandini and gently placed his hand on her head.

"Mujhe bas kuch kaam hai Rehaan ke saath. Ill be back....tum aaram karo kamre mein."

Nandini nodded and Manik went to his study where Rehan was holding the two men by their necks. Their faces were all bloody and swollen from being beaten. Manik smirked and sat on his chair.

'Kaafi himmat ho gaya hai tum logon ka huh? Mere samne...meri biwi ko apahij bola, usse hurt kiya....baaadd idea, very bad idea."

The men gulped in fear and were shivering. "B..B..B..Bo..Boss...so..s..sorry...phirse nahi hoga."

"You're right...phirse nahi hoga. Kyunki agar hua....jaan le lunga main tum dono ka." Manik threatened. "Uss waqt main sirf Nandini ki wajah se chup raha...lekin main uske ankhon mein ansun nahi dekh sakta...now, apna saman lo aur niklo yahan se. You're fired."

The two guys begged and pleaded with Manik but he just walked away with Rehan.

"Rehan....make sure they never come back here again."

"Dont worry Manik...agar unko apna jaan pyara hai toh dubara yahan nahi ayega." Rehan assured him. "Tum jao...bhabhi ke saath thoda time spend karo."

Manik then went back to the main hall where Riddhima stood with her parents.

"Oh Uncle, Aunty...aap log kaise hai?" Manik greeted.

"Beta ab toh paata chal gaya hai na..ki tu humara damaad hai? Mom Dad bol humme." Harsh smiled.

"Ji Harsh Dad." Manik agreed.

"Vaise hum iss liye aaye they kyunki....do hafte baad Nandini ki janam din hai." Neelam told everyone. "Aur hum uske liye ek surprise party rakhna chahte hai. Itne saalon baad humari beti humare saath apna janam din spend karengi."

"Birthday? Mujhe toh usne kuch bola hi nahi." Manik wondered.

"Nandini toh aise hi hai Manik bhai." Riddhima chuckled. "She doesnt like to make a big deal of it....par Gupta house mein nobody celebrated her birthday and even though she never said anything.....mujhe paata hai usse burra lagta tha." 

"Well....we will celebrate. Bohot badi party rakhenge Nandini ke liye and Ill make her feel the most special person on earth. She deserves that." Manik declared.

Harsh & Neelam smiled happy to see their daughter had such a loving husband. They all started planning for the party while Ishaan & Riya kept Nandini busy in her room.

Meanwhile in an Unknown Location...

Aryaman & Madhyam were still alive. They had been in the hospital for a long time but eventually came out and were underground...just waiting for the right moment to strike back. 

"Maddy....chodenge nahi na uss ladki ko?" Aryman asked.

"Of course not. Look at us...this happened because of that B*TCH!" Madhyam shouted. Both the brothers had ugly burn scars across their bodies and face."Vaise sunna hai she's wheelchair bound now, phir usse kidnap karna zyada asan ho jayega."

"But...Manik humesha uske saath hoga na?" Aryman asked.

"Dont worry bro, Ive planned everything...do hafte baad party hogi. Ussi party ke beech hum Nandini Manik Malhotra ko kidnap karenge."

2 Weeks Later...

In the next two weeks Manik didnt mention a thing about Nandini's birthday. In fact, nobody did. Nandini knew she had never told the Malhotras when her birthday was but she had hoped that her parents and Riddhima would remember but even they never said anything. She felt a bit sad but since so much had happened she didnt blame anyone for forgetting.

Finally on the day of her birthday, Nandini woke up and didnt find Manik beside her....which was strange as he never left the bed without her.

"Manik....Manik?" Nandini called out as she pulled her self up in a sitting position.

"Hello sister dear." Riddhima came in with a smile.

"Ridhs...tu yahan itni subha subha?"

"Haan actually....I've decided to start dating." Riddhima lied.

"What?"

"I know...it hasnt been too long but, kab tak yun Dhruvji ki yaadon mein apni jawani waste karti rahungi?" Riddhima said.

"No..actually bilkul sahi faisla hai yeh." Nandini genuinly felt happy for her sister. "Vaise bhi...Dhruv ke saath tera rishta, it was never real at least not for him. This is a great idea....toh? Did you join a dating app or..."

"Haan I did...aur ek ladke ke saath pehla date bhi fix ho gaya." 

"Wow! Kaun hai? Do I know him?"

"No...woh ek...ek doctor hai."

"Cool...humare hospital mein?"

"Nahi...dusre hospital. Anyways I was thinking tu ghar pe bore ho rahi hogi na? So lets go shopping aur phir salon chalte hai...you can help me get ready for the date." Riddhima said. "Bhabhis bhi aa rahi hai."

"Of course Ill come. Sach mein main bore hi ho gayi hoon....this should be fun."

So Riddhima helped Nandini get ready and then they went to the mall with Mukti & Meera. Meanwhile....The Dhawans & Malhotras started to decorate the place.

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

Hours later, Nandini returned to Malhotra mansion with Riddhima, Meera & Mukti. 

"Yaar Riddhs...date teri hai aue tune mujhe sajaya." 

"Arre...humne bhi toh naye kapre aur jewelry kharidi hai." Mukti replied. "Kabh kabhi aise khud ko treat karna achi baat hoti hai."

"Haan I guess....hey, yeh lights band kyun hai?" Nandini asked as they entered and saw it was bitch dark.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANDINI!!!!!" The lights turned with everyone shouting. Nandini was surprised and looked around speechlessly.

The whole mansion was decorated with pink, white & golden balloons.

"Happy birthday bacha." Neelam bent down and hugged Nandini warmly. "Kya laga tujhe? Kisi kp tera janamdin yaad nahi rahega?"

"Woh itna sab hua hai isi liye..." Nandini softly replied.

"Pagal ladki....tu beti hai humari." Harsh said. "Humara ansh hai. Chahe kuch bhi hua ho.....jis din tu humari zindagi mein aayi woh din hum kabhi nahi bhool sakte." 

Nandini was in tears as she hugged her Dad. Cabir & Abhi also came forward and handed her two gifts. 

"Happy birthday Nandini." 

First she opened Cabir's gift. It was a small photo album of their childhood and he had photoshopped Nandini into every single photo. Nandini couldnt help but laugh because...well Cabir wasnt the best at photoshop.

"Kaisi lagi?" Cabir asked. "Now all our family photos are complete."

"Abe ghadhe...yeh kaisa gift hua? You spend nothing on it...upar se thik se bhi nahi hua photoshop." Manik rolled his eyes at Cabir.

"Mujhe bohot pasand hai." Nandini said, cheering Cabir up. "Cabir bhai ne paise kharch nahi kiya hai...par jo bhi kiya hai woh dil se kiya hai. So...I absolutely love it."

"YES!" Cabir cheered and hugged Nandini. Then Nandini opened Abhi's gift  which was a new phone. Nandini looked at him.

"Manik ne bataya tha...accident mein tera phone toot gaya na?" Abhi asked. Then one by one the others also gave Nandini their gifts. Finally it was time for Manik. He knelt down on his knees so he was eye level with Nandini then held his ears.

"Maine in do hafton mein kaafi tumhe zyada attention nahi diya na? Uske liye Im sorry. Actually we had to keep this party a surprise aur bohot saari planning thi so...thats why." Manik explained.

"Koi baat nahi Manik." Nandini moved his hands away from his ears. "Thank you...yeh sab karne ke liye."

"This is for you..." Manik brought out a small velvet box and handed it to Nandini. She opened it to reveal a silver infinite necklace which had pink jewels and the word MaNan written.

(Imagine MaNan instead of Love)

"MaNan?"

"Ma for Manik...aur Nan for Nandini. Aur yeh infinite sign...matlab Manik and Nandini forever." Manik explained. Nandini smiled and admired the gift.

"Its beautiful Manik....pehna doge?" 

Manik nodded and gently put it on her neck. While this was happening, they didnt notice Aryaman & Madhyam were there disguised as two waiters.

Soon they got busy with the guests but Manik didnt leave Nandini's side for even a second.

"Bro...yeh Manik toh abhi bhi uske saath hai.What do we do?" Aryaman asked. Madhyam just smirked and mixed a liquid into all of the drinks then handed two glasses to Aryaman.

"Here...yeh jaake Manik aur Nandini ko pila de." Madhyam said. "Bakkiyon ko main dekhta hoon."

Madhyam went around offered the drinks to all of the guests and other family members while Aryaman gave the two glasses to Manik & Nandini. In a matter of a few minutes, people started fall to the ground unconscious. Even the security were unconscious. 

"Ma...manik...I feel dizzy." Nandini mumbled.

"Wha...what the...he..hell...sab...be...hosh...ka..kaise..." Manik's vision started blurring and then he fell to the ground too.

"Manik..." Nandini reached for Manik but also lost consciousness.

"HaHaha Haha!" Aryaman & Madhyam laughed as they wheeled Nandini away from everyone else.

======================

Teaser:

"MANIK!!!" Nandini screamed helplessly as the goons kept punching and kicking Manik on the ground. "FIGHT BACK PLSS! PLSS!"

"Dont even think about it Manik. Tune jaise hi apna haath utha...teri biwi ki jaan gayi." Aryaman warned him. Madhyam held a sharp knife to Nandini's neck.

Manik held his hands in a fist, stopping himself from fighting back. Just bearing the pain as they kept hitting him. He fell to the ground coughing up blood.

"MANIKKKK!!!" Nandini cried.

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Thoughts? 

Do you think Manik & Nandini will be safe?