Hello Fam :)

A/N - There might have been some confusion regarding Manik's stern words to Nandini during the last chapter to many of you. It sounded okay to me while writing the first draft because I had Manik's PoV with me, which, unfortunately, didn't make it to the final version in that chapter. Hence, I am repeating the scene again with Manik's PoV. Hopefully, it would clear the confusion. 

@Dweeb_Dork Thank you for pointing the confusion. Talk to me after reading this. :)

Happy Reading...

"I will take my mobile and come", said Cabir.

Manik nodded absentmindedly as he twirled the spoon between his fingers.

"Eat your food, kid. I will make sure your wife is well-fed", teased his mother.

Manik gave her a smile. She was the one person he had on his mind lately and constantly. Nandini was ignoring him. He was caught up with the work in the office and was often late to home. But he knew when someone's sleeping or pretending to sleep. Her entire frame would be rigid as soon as Manik entered the room. She was avoiding eye contact with him. She was skipping food but Nyonika assured him that she was forcing Nandini out of her room to eat her food and take medicines.

The first time when Nyonika told him that, Manik thanked her and almost cried in relief. He didn't want Nandini to spiral back after making the progress in her recovery. It also made him question his decision to hand over the divorce papers to her but he calmed himself down. It's not as if he was giving divorce to her. He never would. She was one of his most precious people and he only had got her after all these years.

But the biggest issue wasn't some stupid divorce papers. It was Nandini not considering herself a part of their family. Even though she had started addressing Nyonika as mom, (he was the most surprised and happiest when he had heard it) Manik could see the way she threw a glance at the twins every time she called that to their mother. It's as if Nandini was expecting them to be angry at her for calling their mom hers. He could see the surprise on her face when Cabir made any hypothetical plan of a family outing in the forests and included her in it as if she wasn't a part of their family already.

Manik knew her recovery wouldn't happen overnight but what bothered him the most was that she wasn't even trying. He felt as if she was waiting for them to wake up one day and inform her to leave the house. There was a twitch in every muscle of hers whenever a conversation got a bit heated, she was cautious, walking on the eggshells and that wasn't healthy.

Nandini was his strongest girl, surviving her parents her entire life and then those four years and when finally she was free and could happily live a comfortable life, she had donated her whole property to the Murthy trust. Why? Because she didn't want to be associated with the wealth that only caused her pain. And if that girl was struggling to accept a family or the place she was living as her home, the universe was doing something really wrong with her. And if the universe isn't trying to give Nandini whatever she rightfully deserves, Manik promised himself that he would make sure she gets everything that the universe had denied her.

He was brought back by Nyonika trying to free the spoon from his hand. He didn't realize when he had started gripping it tighter during a little adventure to fight with the universe. "I apologize", he muttered and avoided her eyes. It was embarrassing.

Nyonika raised an eyebrow. "Manik, are you fighting with Nandini? Do I need to be an ideal mother and take her side?"

Manik rolled his eyes at his mother. The two women had now started to defend each other but he didn't know that if Manik and Nandini were fighting someday, his mother would choose his wife's side. It should have made him angry but he was on cloud nine. His mother was the family he was trying to give Nandini. "Mom, why would I fight with Nandini?", he asked her, instead.

She shrugged in reply. "I don't know, kid. It looks like that. She's upset. You are upset. Angry even to the point of losing inside your head and that doesn't happen unless you are overthinking about something. I don't want to interfere in your married life but I would like to see my kids happy."

"Give me some time? I will sort this out", he asked.

"I know you would", she said and ruffled his hair. Cabir would have whined for messing up his hair but Manik loved when his mother did that. It brought a huge smile on his face which dropped when he saw Nandini coming down and avoiding his gaze.

"Mom, can I go meet Mukti? She needed help with the wedding preparations", she said.

Manik mentally cursed himself. He totally forgot about that. Abhimanyu wanted to meet him too in the evening at the Thakkar residence and he mentioned the Vardhans being there too. Maybe Nandini was going there. Cabir was invited too until he suggested a forest-themed tribal wedding and Mukti banned him from any further wedding preparations. There might have been a lot of poutings and pleadings involved that Cabir made Manik promise not to reveal it to anyone. Manik wouldn't hamper the dignity of his only brother but he wasn't sure the other three would keep quiet about it.

One moment Nandini was making an excuse to skip the food to Nyonika and in the next, she had slapped his baby brother. Cabir was just excited to see her after all these days after driving him mad about why his fighter was upset. Manik's first instinct was to pull Cabir beside him and to check if he was fine but instead, he had his attention on Nandini. The girl was sweating and it was the horror on her face as she watched Cabir that caught Manik's attention because Nandini Murthy had slapped and punched guys alike, including Cabir, but never did he see her this terrified after accidentally slapping someone. She wasn't breathing and it was all a repeat of the time when the police had visited their home a while back.

Nandini, screamed Manik, to gain her attention, away from Cabir. His voice had snapped her out of her head. Manik held her gaze as he walked towards her, never once wavering it away. She needed to know that this was her family if she accepted them. He saw the fear in her eyes. Nyonika had explained to Nandini the meaning of a family through love, Cabir by fun, dropping hints casually into the conversations. If Nandini's isn't getting the meaning by that, fear should be the next strategy because fear teaches you lessons that not even life manages to do. Who would be a better example than the man who was once afraid of the whole world?

Nandini Manik Malhotra, welcome to the family, announced Manik because she would never be a Murthy anymore.

XXX

Manik waited near the car for his brother to come back. He would never want to create a misunderstanding between his family. Cabir might have felt as if Manik had taken her side but he would never do that to his baby brother. Nandini needed to understand and he didn't know how else to do that.

Manik straightened up as soon as he saw his brother, to apologize to him.

"Bhai, she is our Nandini and that was an accident", said Cabir.

Manik couldn't have asked more. He has the best brother in the whole world.

XXX

Manik, are you serious?

Maybe giving the honor of being the best brother in the whole world to Cabir might be an exaggeration. He was leaning on the table of one of the guys and all his staff had surrounded him, some sitting, some standing as they were having a casual meeting. It might look like they were just gossiping when their boss is away by the way they have gathered around but it was only their comfort level with Manik.

Nyonika might have scared everyone into working but Manik believed in making people comfortable and himself available and approachable to his people. There is an open invitation that if anyone is having an issue at work or in their personal lives and if they need to talk it out, they can drop by his cabin anytime. He tried to be their friend more than a boss. Anyways, if he really had to be a boss and had his work done by someone a stern look from him is more effective along with 'the look' (as dubbed Cabir) that he had mastered, all thanks to the two most powerful women in his life.

"No, I am Manik", he told his brother out of habit.

"This isn't a set of a Harry Potter series", screamed Cabir again.

"Glad you realized", said Manik, flashing him a smile before signing the papers that Meera wanted him to. The people, who were mostly used to their banters by now, rolled their eyes at them and scrambled to get to their respective works done.

"You can't ignore me", yelled Cabir.

Seriously, why was his baby brother in a mood to scream so much today?, thought Manik. "Kid, why don't you wait in my cabin while I finish my work here and come to you and give all my attention to you?", he told. If there was sarcasm in his voice, his brother ignored it. Of course.

"I am not moving an inch from here", he announced.

"As you feel comfortable", answered Manik. Why were they having this discussion in the middle of their workplace? Instead of finding an answer to that, Manik discussed the meeting points and the things that needed to be done with Meera before finally walking to his baby brother, who was in disbelief at being ignored. Guess, there was a first time for everything. He wrapped an arm around Cabir and kissed the side of his head. "All my attention is on you now, baby."

Cabir slapped his arm away and walked off towards Manik's cabin as the other twin followed him.

Inside his cabin, Manik took his usual chair but Cabir stood in front of him, refusing to sit down until Manik answered his questions. The older twin didn't bother with the formalities because who could even make the Cabir Malhotra obey their orders unless he absolutely wants to?

"Are you serious?", asked Cabir again.

Manik groaned. He was too tired to play the games at the end of a working day. "God, kid, are we playing this again?", he asked, "No, I am not Sirius, I am Manik."

Cabir glared at him. "Do you think we are talking about the stupid Sirius Black now?"

"Just because you hate him doesn't mean everyone does. And FYI, he isn't stupid", defended Manik. "How can you even hate Sirius Black?", he asked. Because who in their right mind would even hate the best godfather and the dramatic best friend in the whole world. He is like the coolest character one could ever meet.

"Because he died after being the cool one. Of course, I hate him. I rather like his cousin, Nymphadora", he said.

That's even more stupid. "That's only because you haven't read or watched Deathly Hallows", said Manik. "How can you not be curious about what would happen in the last part?"

Cabir shrugged. "Because there was a rumor that everyone dies and I don't want to read it either. Anyways you are distracting me", he told and glared at Manik for an effect.

The man in question just sighed. "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"Are you really divorcing Nandini?", asked Cabir.

Manik sighed heavily. So, they were really having this conversation at the end of a tiring working day. "How do you even know about this?", asked Manik.

Cabir finally sat down on the chair. "My twin is the boss of this company and I know how to exploit my sources."

Yeah, Cabir was really good at exploiting his sources. "Yes, I am", answered Manik, instead of ignoring it. It's better to get this conversation over with. Knowing his brother, Manik wouldn't be going anywhere until he answered that but first he had to make him understand because if Manik was good at reading his brother, there was disbelief laced with disappointment on his face.

"Manik, you can't be serious right now. You got married to the girl you are so in love with and you want to divorce her. Just why?", asked Cabir.

"Because it feels like a Whatsapp forward. You are in love with a girl and got her in an arranged marriage."

"Which idiot sent you this?"

"You."

His brother spluttered, scrambling for the right words. "That's a forward message. It's a golden rule to ignore all the Whatsapp forwards. You are married to her now and that's it. I am not going back on that fact now."

"Cabir, the circumstances under which we got married..."

Cabir threw a magazine at him, cutting him off in the middle. "Don't give me the same speech you gave to your lawyer. I very well know all the circumstances."

Manik glared at him for throwing the book at him. Magazine or whatever, it was still a book. He wanted to then bang his head on the table. This was one of the reasons why he wanted to keep this a secret because it was really difficult to make Cabir understand logic when he doesn't want to. Manik took a breath, drank some water, and sighed all under the fierce glare of his baby brother. "Cabir, this isn't real, our marriage. On that day, if you were in my place with mom, she would have asked you the same. Hell, I might be the first person she had seen except her parents and those people kept to watch her. Yes, I married her in spite of knowing all this because that was the only reason I could think of at that moment to bring Nandini out of that place legally. I managed to save her just by a coincidence. It could have been anyone really."

His brother at least was listening to him now. "So, now you want to divorce her."

Manik shook his head. "No, kid, I would never want to divorce her. This is just an option for her to choose this marriage. People haven't really given her the freedom and I don't want to do the same to her. Her reports were there. Drug abuse, Cabir. They were controlling her every breath. What has Nandini ever done to undergo such a thing ever? On top of that, what did I do? Declared our marriage just because I couldn't control my emotions. Even if it was in a heated moment, you know what would have been at least made it a bit better? Just one single question right before putting that vermillion on her head, that if she was okay if I do that? Isn't consent the most important thing ever? Isn't that what you have told me all those years back?"

When Cabir nodded, Manik sighed. His brother was coming to understand his point.

"I have done something similar to what her parents would have done to her and I don't want her to remind her parents when she looks at me", he muttered. "And hence, I don't want to continue this marriage if she doesn't want to because we all know how much she loves her freedom. How can we bind her into something so big like a marriage for the rest of her life?"

"But it isn't binding her because Nandini loves you. She is happy staying with us."

Manik snorted. Another thing why he wanted to keep his love life away from Cabir. His brother could give him a reality check any day but when it comes to Nandini, he would exaggerate every small detail and live in a delusional world. In his head, he might even think Nandini would be hopelessly in love with Manik but only Manik knows what love means to Nandini and when would she be free enough to even think about it. "Nandini is happy with us? That's our biggest guess because we don't know what's going inside her head. All I know is, she is frightened to love. It scares her that people would leave her and she can't be truly happy until she is afraid to love someone. I am trying to remove that out of her head and to make her understand that family stays. No matter what."

"What if she falls in love with someone else?", asked Cabir.

Manik smiled. "My work would be done. What else could we hope for more than her choosing someone to love out of her own free will? She regaining control of her life in her hands, that's all I am wishing for."

"What about your love, Bhai?"

"I told you sometime back, Cabir. I don't need her presence in my life to love her. I have been in love with her for the past four years and I would love her for the next forty. But if she's happy in her life, if I could manage to make her trust the people around her or love them, I will be the happiest ever."

Cabir crossed his arms. "I don't want to be convinced", he whined and pouted.

Manik looked at his watch. It was about time to start for the Thakkar mansion. "Cabir, tell me something. If you saved someone's life someday and she confesses, she is in love with you, would you marry her? No, right? It's always Navya for you, right? Then why can't Nandini choose the person she loves when we all can?", he asked. Finally, Cabir was out of logic to argue with him and Manik mentally sighed. Ten minutes more, his brother would have convinced him to confess his love to Nandini again and Manik would have cried his heart out because he could never have Nandini even when she is staying right in his room. Before he could go on that path, Manik grabbed his car keys and mobile. "I need to meet Abhimanyu. He is on nerves about this entire marriage. I will see you at home, okay?", he said, kissed his head and when Cabir still didn't budge, Manik messed his hair, earning a protest from his brother. He chuckled to himself before walking himself out of his cabin.

XXX

Cabir stuck his tongue out at the retreating back of his brother until he couldn't see him any further before shaking his head at his brother's stupidity. "After giving me this long speech now, I am damn sure he went to meet his wife. Reading so many books has addled his mind. But I can't say anything either. Why? Because his logic is perfect as always. Stupid idiotic nerd brother. Where did he get such atrocious inventive ideas from?", he muttered to himself. Cabir looked around, running their recent conversation inside his head. When he couldn't find any flaw to disagree with his brother, Cabir Malhotra groaned and stood up from his chair before smirking at the empty chair of his brother.

"You know what, Mr. Invisible Malhotra? You are way past my normal senses and I bow to your logic but you know who is on a human level of logic and capable of being messed around by me? Your beloved wife. Because a good cupid always works from both sides. And guess what? The one and only Cabir Malhotra have appointed himself as the cupid of the epic love story of a stupid nerd and a fierce head girl. Lucky you", he announced to the empty room, before walking away from the cabin. He was a busy man and anyone who could question the authenticity of his declaration and appointment, the walls, and every object inside Manik Malhotra's cabin was a witness. Hence, Cabir Malhotra was perfect. 

A/N - 

1. There's no Nandini in this chapter but since Nandini is omnipresent, she is the whole chapter. :P

2. This is what's going inside Manik's head all this while. He is still blaming himself for their 'non-consensual' marriage, as put by him. By the way, the ball is in Nandini's court now. The story would move forward however Nandini wants to be. ;)

3. To clarify something, Nandini isn't in love with Manik yet because she hadn't given a thought about it. Even if we don't explicitly love someone, it's a better feeling to know that someone loves you. So, she's trying to find the answer to that before Manik gave her the divorce papers. She's confused about him right now. 

4. But don't you worry because look who just announced his presence to the business? The Cupid Malhotra and promises to clear all the confusion, be it his nerd brother or the beloved head girl. Hence, brace up. :P

Any questions or confusions are always welcome. I can't write a perfect book unless I don't have the outer inputs and judgments. Your comments and questions help, really, because keep on adding to the first draft after reading them. Hence, feel free to drop them anytime. 

NOTE: - Also, there might not be an update next weekend. I am trying to write a one-shot for the Republic Day (because why wouldn't I?). Hopefully, it would be finished by then and we could once again celebrate the sacrifice of our brave men. :)