Hello Fam :)

A/N - There has been a question mentioned about 'discontinuing the Manan stories' and I wanted to clarify it for everyone since many of you might have the same questions too. 

1. I know what's going on in the fandom. There has been so much negativity and hatred around. Until people explicitly throw hatred on me, I would try not to respond. If that happens, max would be blocking them. I don't have the patience for unnecessary drama. 

2. Niti's married. We are happy because she's happy. That's the only emotion. I know people love Manan/Pani/Parth/Niti. I love them too but as two individuals, they have the only right to choose what happens in their life as much as we have for ours. People who are heartbroken, shippers or not, please don't be sad. We are in this together. Reach out to friends, drop in a message to me whenever you want, rant out your emotions, cry how much ever you want, but at the end of the day, let's be happy for something positive happening. Life doesn't always gives you happy chances. 

3. My stories? I write because that relieves me. Writing is my stressbuster. I don't watch TV or series or serials. KYY was an exception. It's not the regular ITV drama which is the biggest advantage. I write Manan because theirs is one of the purest of love stories in the ITV. (Not comparing with anyone because I haven't watched much.) I add my own twists to Manan and bring forward the characters I love, the issues I want to address and the people the world deserve to know. (How many Maniks did I make you fall in love with? Or Nandini? :P) I am proud of my work, proud of who I have met because of it and proud of the person I have grown into after I had started writing. It's a privilege which I don't want to lose ever, even if I am posting it or not. 

Finally, no, I am not stopping any of my books or writing in general ever or until I could. :)

I am really sorry if I am hurting anyone's feelings. Shipper or not, I respect your choice and feelings until you don't hurt anyone. :)

Happy Reading...

Manik woke up to someone slapping him on the face.

After his talk with Nandini, he sneaked into Cabir's room. He had a lot to think about and it wasn't possible with Nandini in the same room. He couldn't help but observe and analyze every single twitch in her. It was there even after meeting Abhimanyu or Mukti but in Nandini's case, it was more painful. And then there were a few calls to be made. It was almost morning when he went to sleep. He needed his sleep badly but looks like the stars weren't in his favor at the moment.

"There would be only one idiot who would sneak into his brother's room on the first day of his wedding night. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Mr. Manik Malhotra."

It was Cabir announcing it to no one in the room. "Cabir, yaar, I didn't sleep for days. Let me sleep", he groaned and turned away from his brother. He didn't understand why he was being dramatic in the morning. There was no gentleman or a lady except them in the room.

"Manik, you married Nandini, remember?"

That woke him up. "Nandini", asked Manik, "is she fine?"

"Good morning to you too, Bhai. No, I don't know about Nandini. I haven't met her yet. I thought I would surprise you by coming early but you gave me the biggest one. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that Nandini would require a man to save her. She is our fighter. She-"

"Baby, baby, breathe a little. Give me some time to process. I just woke up", he said, earning a punch from his brother. Manik chuckled and pulled him into a side hug before briefing Cabir about their conversation from the previous night without going into much detail.

"Why didn't we guess it before, Manik?"

"Ask me about it, kid. This is more messed up than we have initially thought. They had cut her freedom completely, the one thing she wanted the most in her life. Do you think I have made a mistake by marrying her? I didn't ask her permission even", he told. Because what difference did it make between him and the Murthys?

"Bhai, she did ask you to marry her and you saved her life, although a bit dramatic. Since when are you the dramatic one?"

He sighed. "They were talking nonsense about her. They have had her under house arrest. What is the one possible way to take her away from them without causing any legal issues? I couldn't think of anything else."

"See, you have done it to save her from them. You did the right thing, Manik. Why questioning now?", asked Cabir. "Wait, as far as I know, you still love Nandini. Did you move on?"

"Cabir, Nandini is as precious to me as she was before years but that's not the case. What's important is, she doesn't love me. I was just an escape route for her from them and I don't want to take advantage of her situation. Whatever the little trust she has on me, I don't want to ruin it."

"How about we first concentrate on getting her to settle down first? The rest can wait, right?"

Manik nodded and rested his head on his brother's shoulder. "What would I do without you, kid?"

Cabir smirked. "You are lucky enough to get an amazing brother all to yourself."

"True", he muttered.

Cabir shook his head before giving a kiss on top of Manik's head. "Stop overthinking, Manik. You are good at everything. You will be damn fine at this too. I promise." When Manik smiled at him, he grinned in return. "Can I meet Nandini now?"

Manik rolled his eyes. "Kid, you don't have to take permission to meet her. Let's go see what she's doing."

XXX

When they went to Manik's room, Nandini was looking at the photo frame kept on the bedside table. He doesn't remember what the story was but Manik had his hand around Cabir's neck as he laughed at his brother, who had stuck his tongue out at the photographer. It was one of their candid bests.

"Would you keep staring at our handsome faces or do you want to introduce your gorgeous self to us?", asked Cabir.

Manik thought he was asking for Nandini's punch. He saw the girl stiffen as she turned around to look at them. It brought back a few memories too. That was one of the initial lines Cabir had used when he had met her.

Cabir wrapped his hands around Nandini, pulling her into a hug. "I missed you, fighter. Never disappear again."

Nandini was the first one to break the hug as she nodded at him. After the initial excitement was over, she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. There was an awkwardness between the two.

Manik jumped in to rescue his two most precious people. "Why don't we go for breakfast?", he asked. There was an instant grin on Cabir's face. Of course, food. But Nandini had a frown when she looked at Manik. "What happened? Do you need something?", he prompted.

"I am in my pajamas", she muttered.

"We aren't going to a meeting. It's okay."

"But Nyonika ma'am", said Nandini.

"Nandini", said Cabir, "today is Sunday. It's a pajama day for mom too. You can borrow from her if you want to. She had a decent collection or from me. I have all the cartoon ones. Don't even try to borrow from Manik. No one can differentiate between his work clothes and pajamas. They are so plain."

"Baby, you are just being overdramatic", told Manik. His pajamas were fine. Of course, they were plain. Why would he want the television programs on his pants?

"Do you two still call each other baby?", asked Nandini. If Manik wasn't wrong, there was even the slightest of smiles on her face. It brought a smile on his face as he pulled Cabir beside him. "He will always be my baby. Right, kid?", he asked his brother, who grinned in return.

XXX

They have asked Nandini to wait for them at the breakfast table while they freshen up. Minutes later, when they went down, Nandini was staring at Nyonika, a slight tremble in her body at the sight of the older woman screaming at the butler. Manik motioned Cabir to take care of the girl through his eyes before slipping into the kitchen. His coffee could change her mood in an instant.

A steamy mug of coffee really did wonders when Manik kept it in front of Nyonika. "Manik", she grinned and inhaled the aroma of the coffee before taking a sip of it. "He messed up my coffee", she complained.

"Or you are just getting addicted to bhai's coffee", teased Cabir.

"I wouldn't regret getting addicted to his coffee. It's the best."

Manik chuckled. "Now since that's established, can we stop the screaming match?", he asked and silently pointed out at Nandini. She was sitting opposite to her with her head bent down.

Nyonika gave one glance to Nandini and mouthed a sorry to Manik. He shook her head in disbelief. He really wondered sometimes how did his mother go all those years suppressing her original self.

Manik took a seat beside Nandini, opposite to Cabir and Nyonika. As Cabir started explaining about the recent deal, for which he went out of town, they had ignored Nandini to herself. It was better not to put too much attention on her when she wasn't comfortable facing many people all at once. Irrespective of whether he was talking or not, Manik kept an eye on Nandini, ignoring the identical smirks on both Nyonika and Cabir.

They were in the middle of their discussion when Manik noticed Nandini pushing her plate away. She hadn't eaten at least half of her food. "Nandini, are you okay? Why aren't you eating?", he asked.

"I am done eating", she muttered.

"Nandini, didn't you like the food", asked Nyonika. "Do you want me to get something else?"

"No, ma'am. This is the best food I had. I can't eat more. I will be sick", she muttered.

She didn't meet Nyonika's eyes while talking and her sentences felt more broken to Manik.

"How can you be full without eating anything?", protested his mother, but there was a softness to her tone, as if she's accepting the girl, almost. "Try to eat a little more. Feel at home, Nandini."

"Mom, they were starving her", told Manik, interrupting Nyonika. While the others processed the new information, he turned to Nandini beside him. "Is that why you don't want to eat anymore?", he asked. Her silence was all the answer he needed to know. "No one would force you here, okay."

"It's okay, Manik", said Cabir. "Next month we are having a food competition and Nandini is competing with me. Nandini, prepare yourself. You have a month's notice."

"And who's conducting this competition? You?", asked Nyonika.

"Yes. Bhai and you are the judges."

As they went back and forth about the rules of the competition, Nandini gaped at them. If he wasn't too afraid to startle her, Manik would have laughed at her face. Instead, he bit his lip and gave a little squeeze to Nandini's hand under the table. "Don't worry. They get into things like this always."

She blinked her eyes at Manik and nodded. The Nyonika Malhotra, in floral pajamas on a Sunday morning arguing the rules of an imaginary competition that her son had created out of the blue, was a scene enough to startle a good normal human. After Manik had joined the company and while Nyonika was still the boss, the office went into a daze when she laughed a little louder or teased Manik in a meeting in front of them.

Personally, Manik thought this was the best side of his mother, which she hides from the world. How different was she from the Nandini he knew in the college, who had put a facade of being headstrong and rude to protect herself from the world? The realization had hit him so suddenly and Manik groaned into his hands. He wondered how his weird brain even correlated these things.

"Manik, are you okay?", asked Nyonika.

He nodded with a smile to assure her. "Do you have any program scheduled for today?", he asked. Sunday was for the family but today he had plans that needed his attention.

"Usually, the bride goes to meet her parents or something but that should be out of option right now", she told, shrugging.

Manik chuckled. Being an orphan, Nyonika was rubbish at rituals and by the time she had married his dad, who had strained relationships with his parents, his mother never bothered about it. He had half a guess, Nyonika created the drama the previous day to escape the rituals of welcoming the newlyweds.

"Mom, Nandini will go to her parents' place", he told. He felt Nandini snap her head towards him. There were questions in her eyes but Manik chose to ignore them.

"But bhai", protested Cabir.

"Cabir, we can't scrap the rituals", he told, with a look asking him to shut up. Thankfully, his brother listened. "I have called Mr. Khanna home. If he's coming, mom, will you send him to my study please?"

He turned to Nandini, who avoided his eyes. "Nandini, I have ordered a few pairs of whatever you usually wear. We can go shopping later. For now, let's start by noon."

With one final glance at Nandini, he left for his study room. There were a few things he needed to sort out before his afternoon meeting.

XXX

Study rooms were bad. Study rooms were always bad. Cabir was worried. His brother, who could read an entire novel in the middle of a chattering crowd, didn't need extra room to do his work usually unless it's serious. "Did something happen at the office? It's really bad if Manik's in the study room."

His mother shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, kid. As far as I know, the office is fine but we don't know what goes inside his head unless he achieves it or makes himself sick trying."

That caught Nandini's attention and she had a frown on her head. It broke Cabir's heart to see her silent. He wanted his Nandini to argue with him. The playful banter he had with her was one of the perks in their friendship. Another was food. She could give him a competition on a good day and today, she couldn't reach the halfway mark on her plate. Cabir wanted to kill the people who are the reason for all the mess.

When Nyonika left the room to receive a call, Cabir gave a smile to the girl in front of him. "Nandini, don't stress yourself. Bhai wouldn't willingly hurt you ever. Trust him okay?"

She closed her eyes, took a breath before nodding at Cabir. It was all he wanted from her, to trust his Manik. Because that idiot would do anything to protect her but for the life of him, Cabir couldn't figure out why Manik wanted to take Nandini to the Murthys just for some stupid ritual which he probably didn't believe. 

I want to say a lot about this chapter and the next one but let's leave it here. I would love to know about your opinions. 

I am busy with some tests and assignments. The next chapter is almost done. So, I might try to update during the weekend. I will try, no promises. :(