I'm back here with the new chapter. Do have a look at my new book "Kiss Me Under the Moonlight" and share your response. It's a pure college romance with the much needed family drama. I'm sure you'll enjoy the new shade of Manik and Nandini.

Next chapter after 220+ votes.

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"The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day." ― David Foster Wallace

Aryaman calmed down hearing about the proof. He thought of Manik's words for a second, then agreed to him. "Let's see what you have to show. But trust me, if it's not enough, then I won't leave you." He gritted his teeth.

"We will see that."

Manik was about to leave to grab the proof when Nandini stopped him holding his hand. Then she turned towards Cabir and Dhruv.

"Cabir, take him to the sick bay as I had sprayed pepper spray on him. I will also take Manik to the hospital. He needs to see the doctor. Then we will talk about this matter."

They nodded hearing Nandini, then she dragged Manik with her.

Manik also didn't object to her. He was enjoying her care and he also loved the way she was showing her rights to him. He loved it whenever she showed her rights to him. So, he happily kept being dragged by her.

Nandini stopped reaching the sick bay. She walked in with Manik. Aryaman and others would be here soon.

"Manik? You are here! What happened?" The doctor asked, looking at Manik.

"It's..." Manik was about to say something but he was cut by Nandini.

"Doctor, please check him. He was unconscious." Nandini glared at him asking him to be quiet.

Manik chuckled and stopped, letting her take the lead.

"How did you get conscious?" The doctor asked while cleaning the corner of his lips which was bleeding due to the punch.

Manik looked at Nandini who was staring at him with a serious face. He didn't want to say it in front of her that he was hit by Aryaman on his head but he has to. "I was hit on the back of my head. That's why."

Nandini looked at him with wide eyes. "What!!! You didn't tell this to me before? You are hurt on your head and you were leaving without treating the wound! Are you insane, Manik?" She shouted gritting her teeth.

"Don't worry, girl. Let me check."

The doctor checked Manik and his wounds carefully. It had bled a little but it was not much deep. He banded the place and cleaned his face.

"Is he fine doctor? There is nothing to worry about, right?" Nandini asked as she was feeling anxious.

The doctor smiled a little seeing her concern. "Yes, there is nothing to worry about. Thankfully the bruise isn't very deep. So, he can go home without any worries. Just take care of the place that it doesn't get wet within 24 hours and have the medicines timely as it might pain. I hope he will be all fine in a week."

Nandini nodded her head and took the prescription from him. "Thank you, doctor."

Manik passed a smile to the doctor and left with Nandini. As they walked out of the sick bay, Nandini didn't say anything to him. She was walking quietly with Manik behind her. He realized his wife was damn mad at her for pulling such stunt on her.

"Nandini...."

He called her out but she didn't respond and kept walking.

"Nandini... Listen..."

Again there was no response from her. He sighed. "It seems Mrs. Malhotra is really very angry. She is gonna give you a tough time. Manik Malhotra, be ready to face her wrath. She is no less than a mini monster when she is angry and who can say you won't be rewarded with another famous punch of Nandini Murthy oops sorry Nandini Malhotra?" Manik was thinking all this in mind while following his beloved wife.

"Baby, listen no. Don't be angry. I am fine see." Manik said in a loving tone only to earn a glare from her.

They reached the stairs. It was time for all the classes to end. So, the corridor was filled with students. They were staring at Manik as if they had seen some ghosts. Manik Malhotra running behind a girl was no less than a wonder to them. That too the girl was Nandini Murthy who had punched him in front of the whole college and also who was not aware of their infamous fights? Even though Manik had announced about them in front of the whole college, they didn't think they were actually serious. But now Manik's changed behavior said it all.

Manik noticed them staring at them. He frowned and threw a glare towards them. "What???" He shouted angrily. "Is there some movie going on or am showing some circus. Mind your own work."

No matter what happens, Manik Malhotra's anger was still the same scary for them. No one wanted to face his wrath. So, they immediately moved their gaze away from Manik and Nandini getting back to what they were doing. But it was not difficult to guess their topic of discussion is Manik and Nandini only.

When Manik was talking to be more precise busy in threatening them, Nandini didn't wait for him. She walked away leaving Manik behind. Manik turned back to find the way empty, Nandini was not there. She has left already. "This girl!!!" He muttered under her breath, rubbing his forehead with his forefinger.

He ran in the direction where Nandini must have gone. He found her a few blocks away talking to Mukti and Navya. He went near them.

"Are you okay?" Mukti asked as Manik reached there. She noticed the dressing on his forehead.

Manik nodded his head in response.

"Areh, Mukti, of course, he is fine. After all, he is the Manik Malhotra. Does he feel any pain? No!" Nandini muttered sarcastically still glaring at Manik.

Mukti and Navya shared a look. They were confused, not getting what was happening there.

"Why? What happened?" Navya asked.

Nandini moved her face away from Manik. "Aryaman had hit his head to make him unconscious. He woke up just a few minutes back. Then instead of going to the doctor, he was running to get evidence against Soha."

"Are you serious, Manik? Cabir and Dhruv were there to handle that jerk and your health is more important than proving anything to him. What's wrong with you? Have you also lost your mind or what?" Mukti muttered in an irritated tone.

The discussion could have stretched but it broke as Nandini's phone buzzed with a call. She took out her phone from her bag. It was flashing Cabir's name. Nandini picked up the call.

"Hello, Cabir."

"Yes, Nandini. Did you and Manik visit the doctor? How is he?" Cabir asked as Nandini spoke from the other side.

Nandini looked at Manik for a second and let out a breath. "Hmm... He is fine now. The doctor has done the dressing and given some medicines. What about you guys? Where are you?"

"We are still in the store room. College will end in some time, then we will come out. We can't take Aryaman out like this in front of everyone. They will make unnecessary gossip." He replied in a matter of fact tone.

"I can understand." Nandini sighed.

"I was trying to call Manik but his phone is with Aryaman so I couldn't reach him."

"Manik is here only, talk to him." Nandini handed over her phone to Manik mouthing 'Cabir' and looked back to Navya.

"Yeah, Cabir?"

"No, there is nothing to worry about. I'm fine."

"Just a little bruise. Nothing much. The doctor has dressed it already."

"Yeah... I was thinking the same."

"Do one thing. I am leaving with others for my place. You and Dhruv come there only with Aryaman."

They couldn't hear what Cabir was speaking from the other side but they guessed he must be asking about what to do with Aryaman and stuff like that. It was necessary to end his matter soon.

"Dad has gone to Pune. He won't be back tonight. So, there's no risk in taking him there." Manik said the last line, looking at Nandini.

"Okay then see you all there."

"Bye."

Manik said and hung up the call. He gave Nandini her phone back.

"What was he saying?" Mukti asked.

Manik ran his hand through his hair. "He was asking what to do with Aryaman. We can't do anything with him here. Nyonika is out here so we can't create any mess that would give her a chance to pick on us. She won't leave a single chance to plot against us. Our album is coming up in a few days and it won't be good for us. So, it's better if we keep all this away from people's eyes."

They nodded getting his point. They surely didn't want to take any risk with Nyonika at this time. It's not that they were scared of her because they had been handling her all their lives. But the thing is they didn't want stains on their music career because of her.

"So what will you do now? Are we going to your place now?" Navya asked.

Manik nodded. "Yeah, all the things are there only. So, it would be good, if we go to my place. Also no one is there, we will get the needed privacy." Then his gaze fell on Nandini who didn't utter anything amidst all this. "Also I need rest. I am hurt so it's not good for me to roam around. I can relax there as well."

"Where is Alya?" Nandini asked ignoring whatever Manik said showing that she was still angry at him.

Manik nodded his head in disbelief looking at her. He knew he was going to have a hard time pacifying his angry wife.

"She is with them only. Aryaman was not well. Dhruv and Cabir couldn't leave his sight as they have no idea what must be running in his mind. That's why they needed help and Alya gave them a hand."

Nandini nodded.

"Fine then. She would be coming with them only. We should leave now. Alya has her car so there won't be any problem." Manik uttered and they agreed to leave.

Manik along with the girls left for his place. He wanted to drive but Nandini asked Mukti to do so. She had no problem with that. Navya took the passenger seat. Manik and Nandini were at the back. Manik was staring at her but she was looking out of the window. Her one hand was kept on the empty seat. He slowly moved his hand near her and placed it on hers. She turned her face for a while to look at him but immediately turned back taking her hand back.

Sigh!!!

U N K N O W N    P L A C E
We can see the girl was getting restless as she couldn't sit at one place. She was continuously pacing here and there to calm herself down but nothing worked. She felt her palm getting sweaty, she rubbed them over her face. Her throat had dried up. She was about to grab the water glass but hearing her phone ringing, she ran to get it.

"Hello? What happened? Did you get to know anything? What's happening there? Is everything okay there?" She threw all her questions to the man opposite side as soon as she heard his voice.

"What!!!!" She shouted.

"They got him! Do you know if he has revealed everything to him or not? I hope he didn't say anything to him."

"What do you know then? If you can't say this little thing, then what the hell are you doing there?"

"Fine. Can you tell me where he is now? Is he still there or is taken to somewhere else?"

She was taken with the reply. "Are you sure?"

"Okay. Continue keeping an eye on them. I want all the information about him."

She kept the phone away and threw the vase on the floor which was beside her breaking it into pieces.

"How can he catch him like this? As far as I know, if he got to know everything, then he won't take him there. I am sure he didn't know anything." She sighed in relief.

M A L H O T R A    M A N S I O N
Manik was in his room taking out the necessary things while others were down there in the hall. Cabir, Dhruv, Alya had not reached here yet. He gestured to Nandini to follow him but she pretended as if he didn't exist there. She neglected his presence. Manik made a bad face and came back to his room.

He was opening his laptop when he saw Mukti coming in.

"Have you got everything?" Mukti looked at the screen.

Manik nodded. "I never knew I would reach a point when I have to use these. When I took the hard drive from Soha's farmhouse, it was just because...." He stopped. He couldn't tell her that he had taken it because it had recorded his and Nandini's private moments. He didn't want anyone else to find out about those clips. Except Cabir no one knew about this till now.

"Because? Why did you stop?" Mukti raised her eyebrows as she saw Manik getting lost while saying this.

Manik came back to his senses and gulped thinking what he was about to say. He passed a smile to her nodding his head in no. "Nothing. Soha was recording us secretly without our permission that was wrong. Illegal. I took them so that she didn't have anything against us. I had almost forgotten about them but today I have to show them to Aryaman. These disks are gonna save me today." He let out a sigh.

"It's okay, bro. It happens. We don't know where our future would lead us. It's not in our hand. But I am happy that you handled the matter calmly without losing your cool." Mukti patted his back. "Else I was thinking you will get angry and beat the shit out of that guy. Nandini is really affecting you. In a positive way I must add."

They both shared a round of laughter.

"If it was some other time, then I would have for sure. But the thing is Aryaman is not at fault. Technically. His father lied to him. He isn't aware of the reality. Nandini said Mr Khurana and his wife have been separated a long back when they were kids. I can understand what they must have gone through. Aryaman is genuinely concerned for his sister.

Even though they were apart but Aryaman loved her a lot, I can't say about Soha. Still they lived away so it wasn't possible for Aryaman to know everything about Soha. Also it's not something which Soha will tell him. Mr Khurana didn't share it with him either which led him to take this step. Let's see what happens when he knows the reality." Manik let out a breath.

"Don't worry. He will understand. He seems to be a sensible guy but on the wrong track."

Manik nodded. "By the way, why were you here? I was about to come down only."

Mukti slapped her forehead. "See I forgot why I came here. They are here waiting for you. Aryaman is getting impatient."

"Let's go. It's time to end the matter."

Manik smirked before walking out of the room.

~~•°•~~
That's all for today. I hope it was up to the mark. Do vote and share your reviews.

•Aren't Manik and Nandini giving already typical husband wife vibes?

•What's your opinion on Manan's banter?

•How was Manik and Mukti's scene?

•Now that Nandini is angry with Manik, guess what he's going to do?

•What do you think of the mysterious character?

•Share your favourite moment.

03.03.2024