"Lo....khaana khaa lo." Lavanya slid a plate of dry roti and sabji towards Nandini. She then roughly untied Nandini's mouth and hands. "Main yahi khadi hoon toh zyada chalaki mat dikhana."

"Bua....kyun kar rahi ho aap aise? Maine aapka kya bigara hai?" Nandini asked. "Aur...Di...Di ne kya bigara tha aapka?"

"Uss Roshni ne kuch nahi bigara...uska mauth toh ek accident tha. Par acha hua maar gayi....sab sach paata chal gayi thi usse." Lavyana sneered, "Aur rahi baati teri...toh tune mera bohot kuch bigara hai Nandini. I hate you!"

"Par kyun?"

"Kyunki, tu ek anath hai!" Lavanya yelled shocking Nandini to the core.

"K...K..Kya? Kya keh rahi hai aap Bua?"

"Main koi teri Bua Vua nahi hoon...kyunki tu mere bhai Ravi veerji ki beti nahi hai!" Lavanya said. "Tujhe toh Ravi veerji raaste se utha ke le aaye they....paata nahi kyun. Unke paas Rishabh they phir bhi tere jaise anath ko le aaye humare parivaar ki hissa banaya. Ma aur Bauji bhi tujhe itna pyar karne laage ke tere chakar mein meri beti ko bhool gaye!"

"A...Aapki beti?"

"Haan...meri beti...chauk gayi na? Tujhe toh paata bhi nahi thi ki meri ek beti thi...ek beti jiski tere aane se pehle mauth ho gayi thi. Tujhse pehle meri beti Khanna parivaar ki ek lauti beti thi....tere andar humara khoon hai bhi nahi phir bhi....meri beti ko bhula diya inn logo ne. Nahi poti jo mil gaye they mere Ma aur Bauji ko!" Lavyana cried. Nandini go emotional, think how terrible her bua must have felt. "2 din...2 din nahi hua tha meri beti ko maare hue aur Ravi veerji tujhe leke aa gaye usko replace karne ke liye....aur tune replace kar bhi li. Ma aur Bauji ne apne will mein bhi Khanna parivaar ke bachon ke saath saath...TERA naam likh di....tujhe jaisi raaste ki ladki ko itne paise mile....jiska tu haqdar hi nahi thi. Jab Vijay veerji aur Malini parjaiji ki mauth hua toh mujhe ek mauka mila tujhe iss parivaar se door karne ki liye. Main tere Papa aur bhaiyyon ko tere khilaaf ki thi. Maine Ravi veerji, Kartik aur Veer ki dimaag mein dala tha ki tu hai Vijay veerji ki mauth ki zimmedar....sab uss waqt dukhi they...Ankita bhi coma mein thi isi liye asani se woh teeno mere baaton mein aa gaye. Par jitni asani se mere baaton mein aa gaye utni hi asani se pigal bhi gaye....itna pyar karte hai tujhse se ke agle din tujhse maafi mangna chahte they sab. Meri good luck thi ki tu bhaag gayi ghar se....par phir itne saalon baad phirse vapas aa gayi. Itna koshish ki maine tujhe mere parivaar se door karne ki par tu phir bhi vapas aa gayi isi liye maine soch liya ki agar tu iss parivaar se door nahi jayegi....toh main tujhe iss duniya se hi bhej dungi....maar dungi tujhe taki tu phir kabhi vapas naa aa sake!"

"Bua...aap mujhse itni nafrat karti hai? Maine toh humesha aapse bohot pyar ki hai...."

"CHUP! Teri in meethi meethi baathon mein main nahi aane wali. Hogi tu sabki laadli par main sirf aur sirf nafrat karti hoon tujhse." Lavanya yelled.

Meanwhile, the hooded person managed to slip away from the rest of the family and went to his/her room where he/she took out a burner phone and wrote a msg.

Text: Yahan sab police ko phone karne ke baare mein baat kar rahe hai. Jaldi se iss Nandini ko maarke thikana lagana hoga.

Just as the person was about to hit send, a hand grabbed his/her wrist and snatched the phone out of his/her hand. Startled, the person spun around to see Manik standing there with Abhi, & Cabir. Manik read the msg and then furiously grabbed the person, slamming him/ her against the wall.

"Nandini kaha hai....Jiju!"

Yes....the person was none other than Shravan Thakkar. (I dont know what secret powers you readers have. Always reading my mind and figuring out who the villians are....and I tried so hard to keep it a secret! 😭😭😭)

"Ma...Manik...jaisa tum soch rahe ho, vaisa kuch nahi hai."

"Save it bhai!" Abhi yelled. "Aap bhool rahe hai ki aapka yeh chota bhai ek ACP hai. Aap par mujhe shak uss beach wale incident ki baad hi ho gaya tha. Jab baad mein maine aapke kamre mein woh scuba diving ki kapre dekhi thi. I just didnt have the proof aur phir...aap bhai hai mere. I didnt want to believe for a second ki baby doll ke saath aap..."

"Aur jab Di ki mauth hui, tab woh Dhoka Dhoka bol rahi thi....and she was looking right at you!" Manik yelled."But again...humare paas koi pakka saboot nahi tha.

"Manik....I can explain.." Shravan reached out to touch him but he just jerked away.

"Explain aap sabke samne karna." Manik growled, he grabbed Shravan by the collar and dragged him out to where the two families were waiting. Lavanya had also left Nandini tied up and slipped back so nobody suspected her and she was shocked to see her partner in crime was caught.

Back at the hut, Nandini was thinking about how to get free.

"Mujhe yahan se nikalna hoga...kya karun main?" Nandini looked around until she saw a sharp nail sticking out from one of the pillars. Struggling, Nandini wiggled over to the nail and tried to rip the rope that had her hands tied behind her.

"MMN!" Nandini yelled in pain as the nail pierced her skin. "Dont give up Nandini....you have to get out. Bua ko jeetne nahi de sakta tu."

Nandini kept digging the nail into the rope despite the pain. A few minutes later, the rope came loose and she quickly untied her feet and her mouth before she ran out.

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

SLAP!

"KYUN? KYUN KYUN KYUN!!???" Smita screamed, slapping Shravan like crazy. "Humne tumhe bete ki tarah rakha...tumhe humesha itna pyar kiya aur tumne....meri beti ko maar diya tumne?"

Anand punched Shravan angrily, Ravi & Raj held him back. "Main iss insaan ko chodunga nahi! Meri beti ko maar diya tumne! Apni khud ki biwi ko! KYUN?"

"Aur Nandu....Nandu ne kya bigara tha tumhara?" Devendra spoke up, looking at his grandson-in-law with digust. "Usne humesh tumhe itna samman diya...jiju bolti hai par bhai manna uss bachi ne tumhe aur usse maarna chahte ho tum?"

Up until now Shravan stood silently but hearing Nandini's name, he couldnt control his anger any more. 

"Kyunki main pak chuka hoon!" He yelled. "Uss Nandini ki jai jaikar sun kar main pak chuka hoon."

"Maine aur mere bhai ne itne saal diye hai iss parivaar ko. Main ek lawyaer hoon aur Abhi ACP phir bhi hum dono ghar jamai ban ke rahe kyunki hum aapke betiyon se pyar karte hai. Kyunki Ma baap manna humne aapko...iss family ko apna manna par....Nandini ki aage sab kuch kam par gaya. Beta manna aapne hume? Phir haar baat ki liye Nandini ko bulaya jaata hai, haar situation mein Nandini ki importance zyada kyun hai?"

"Yeh bewakoof toh sab kuch bak dega....isko raaste se hatana parega varna kahi sabke samne mera pol na khol de." Lavanya thought to herself. While everyone's attention was on Shravan, Lavanya slowly snuck  upstairs, back to her room to get something.

"Meri apni biwi....Roshni ki liye jab Nandini ki baat aati hai toh mere bat ki toh jaise koi value hi nahi. Mera bhai, baby doll baby doll karke sar pe charata hai usko....aur mera beta, mera pana khoon apne parents se zyada apni Nandini Mami ki kareeb hai!"

"Toh isme meri neti ka kya kasoor hai!" Ravi shouted. "Agar sab usse pyar karte hai toh woh uski personality, uski achai ki vajah se hai!"

At that moment, Nandini finally made her way back to the main guest house, exhausted and in pain. Hearing everyone yelling, she stopped behind where nobody had seen her yet.

"Achai?" Shravan laughed. "Usne jhoot bola hum sab ko, apne identity ko leke, apni parvaar ke baare mein...she lied and hid facts about her life! Par aap log na toh usse naraz hue aur nahi koi sawal pucha...ulta aur bhi zyada important ban gayi aapke liye. Nandini yeh Nandini woh...Nandini Nandini Nandini Nandini NANDINI! I just had it with everyone's Nandini jaap. Itni mahan hai woh ladki? Itni perfect?"

Everyone looked on in shock at Shravan's outburst but the most shocked was Nandini. She couldnt even imagine that Shravan was involved in all this.

"Shravan jiju? Nahi...woh toh Di se itna pyar....aur mujhe bhi toh Nandu Nandu bolte hai....woh mujhse itna nafrat karte hai?" Nandini stood silently behind everyone in tears. "Maine toh humesha aapko meri bhai ki jagah di hai...itna pyar karti hoon aapse...aap..."

"Nandini ki liye itni nafrat bhai?" Abhi asked. "Sorry bhai nahi...aapko toh bhai bolne mein bhi sharam aa rahe hai mujhe....Chalo ek second ke liye mann lete hai ki aap bohot nafrat karte hai Nandini se. Even though she is the sweetest person on this planet, koi kaise nafrat kar sakte hai usse I dont know but just for a second mann lete hai....par bhabhi ka kya? I thought you loved her...lekin unko maarne mein aapke haath bhi nahi kaape?"

"I did love her! I still do! Biwi thi Roshni meri...mera pyar thi! Usse maarna kabhi plan nahi tha mera....its all that bloody Nandini's fault!" Shravan broke down. "Nandini ki vajah se maine apni Roshni ko kho di...sirf Nandini ki vajah se!"

Bang! Bang!

"NANDINI!/ NANHI!"

Everyone was shook to the core to see Nandini suddenly standing infront of Shravan with two gunshot wounds in her chest. Even Shravan was speechless, the girl he hated so much....the girl he was ready to kill just now saved his life.

"NANDINI!" 

Manik ran to her and caught Nandini just as she fell to the ground, breathing heavily. "Nandini...kya kiya tumne...kya kiya!"

"M...M...Ma..n..ik...B..B...B..u..a." Nandini slowly pointed to the stairs where a angry Lavanaya stood. Seeing that she was caught, Lavanya started running.

"LAVANYA!" Ravi yelled furiously at is sister.

"Guards!" Abhi called out,"Find her now!"

"M...M...an...i...k...Ji..j...ji..ju....(Gasp)...Ga..lat...nahi...hai.. (Gasp)...Bu..a..ne...bhar..kaya." Nandini said. 

"Shh..." Manik, in tears sushed Nandini...holding her face, "Kuch mat bolo. Ambulance bulayenge...kuch nahi koga tumhe."

"Ji...ju...burre....na..hi...hai." Nandini continued. "Pe...hle...ai..se...nahi they. (Gasp) Bu..a...ne meri...Pa..pa...aur bh..aiyy..on..ko bhar...ka..ya tha...va..ise..hi..Jiju (Gasp)..ko...(Gasp)...bhi...M...M...Ma..af...k..ar..do.."

"Nanndini...Na..Nandini...." Manik panicked and gently patted Nandini's cheek as she lost consciousnes. "Nandini!"

"Nanhi!" Kavita knelt down beside her daughter and shook. "Ankhen khol! Bacha...ankhen khol de pls."

"Di!/ Bhabhi!" Ankita & Laksh sobbed. 

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

Manik sat numbly in the ambulance as Nandini lay in the stretcher infront of him with an oxygen mask over her face. 

"Kuch nahi hoga tumhe....kuch nahi. Jab tak Manik jinda hai tab tak Nandini ko kuch nahi hoa sakta." Manik gently stroked her head as he mumbled to himself.

Finally the ambulance stopped at a hospital and Nandini was taken out. Manik followed, holding onto Nandini's hand until they reached the emergency room.

"Sir...you will have to wait out here." The nurse said.

"I cant leave her. She is my wife." Manik replied, not taking his eyes of Nandini for even a second.

"I understand sir, But you have to so we can take care of her...pls." The kind nurse gently told Manik. Finally, he agreed and stopped outside of the emergency. As Nandini was pushed inside, her hand slowly slipped out of Manik's hand and then fell softly onto the stretcher.

The whole scene of Nandini running towards Shravan and getting shot kept replaying in Manik's head as he slumped onto the bench that was there.

"Manik...meri beti kaha hai?" Kavita and the other family members came running. Manik just pointed to the emergency room.

"Lavanya Bua paata nahi kahan bhaag gayi." Kartik gritted his teeth. "We looked everywhere."

"I cant believe it...meri apni behen...kyun?" Ravi closed his eyes, leaning against the wall. "Aur ab meri beti zindagi aur mauth se lar rahi hai....sirf uski vajah se."

"Chinta mat karo Raviji.." Raj placed his hand on Ravi's shoulder. "Humari Nandini bohot strong hai...jaise kidnap ho ke bhi woh bhaag ke aa gayi vaise mauth ki muh se bhi vapas ayegi...dekh lena aap sab."

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

Note: This story is almost coming to an end, but what do you guys think? Will Nandini survive? Will Lavanya Bua be caught? Will anyone forgive Shravan like Nandini wants?