"Hello Mr & Mrs Chatterjee.....Happy Anniversary." Manik greeted the couple at the door & handed them the gift that Raj sent with them.

"Oh hello kids! Pls...call me Pritam Uncle." The man, Pritam Chatterjee smiled.

"Aur tum log mujhe Aparna Aunty bula sakte ho." His wife chimed in. "Come in...let me introduce you to my two sons."

Aparna led the three of them to the bar area where two guys who looked about Manik's age stood, drinking.

"Armaan...Jeet, inse milo. Yeh hai Raj Malhotra ke bache." Aparna introduced the youngsters to each other. As Armaan greeted them, Manik noticed Jeet staring at Nandini with lust and he took a step to block her from his view. Jeet looked annoyed but Manik just forced smile as he didnt want to cause trouble. The kids ran off to play while Manik & the others started mingling with guests. After awhile, a waiter accidentally spilt a drink on Nandini.

"Oops...Im so sorry ma'am."

"Its okay...yahan washroom kis taraf hai?" Nandini asked. 

"Wahan uss hallway mein." 

"Ill come with you." Navya offered.

"Nahi its ok bhabhi....main bas abhi aayi." 

"Are you sure?" Manik asked.

"Bachi nahi hoon main Manik." Nandini acted coldly, still going along with Dadi's plan. Manik felt hurt and just kept quiet. She went off to the hallway which was empty and the lights were turned off as none of the guests went there. Nandini then turned the light on in the washroom and started gently wiping her dress with a soaked hand towel. While she was busy wiping her dress she heard the door close behind her and sensed someone behind her. Thinking it was Manik, she sighed. "Manik, I said I didn- t...tum?"

She turned and was shocked to see Jeet behind her. Nandini looked at the door and saw it was locked.

"Yeh...darwaza band kyun kiya?" Nandini asked.

"Well...ghar mein bohot saare guest hai." Jeet smirked as he stepped closer to Nandini who backed into a corner. "We dont want anyone....disturbing us now do we?"

"Disturb Matlab?" 

"Oh..playing hard to get are we? Thats okay....I like games." Jeet reached out and stroked her cheeks.

"Shut up!" Nandini smacked his arm away from her. "Kya bakwas hai yeh? What do you think you are doing?"

"Come on now Nandini....Im just having a bit of fun! Dont act like you didnt want this...Jeet Chatterjee ke saath time spend karne ke liye saare ladkiyan marte hai and here I am coming to you myself."

"Main saare ladkiyan nahi hoon...I am Nandini Manik Malhotra! How DARE you suggests something so disgusting? Chodo mera raasta!" Nandini said angrily. She pushed Jeet out of the way, unlocked the door and started towards Manik & her family. Jeet grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her into the dark hallway.

"Bohot hua Mr Nice Guy....Nobody says no to me, do you hear that? So stop being a b*tch and just behave!"

"Leave me...chodo mujhe!" Nandini struggled, trying to get free but Jeet had a tight grip on her arms.

PUNCH!

Jeet fell to the ground holding his nose which was now bleeding. Infront of him stood a furious Manik. He had come looking for Nandini when he notice Jeet pulling her to the side.

"How dare you touch her!?" Manik growled.

"Manik!" Nandini cried in relief seeing him. She ran to him and buried her face into his chest. Manik hugged her protectively and carassed her back. "Yeh...yeh zabardasti kar raha tha mere saath! I told him to stop but he just wouldnt!"

"Jeet! Kya bol rahi hai yeh?" Aparna asked her son in horror. Jeet stood silently, trying to control his anger. By this time the guests had all gathered to see what was going on. The kids came and hugged Nandini seeing her cry.

"IM GONNA KILL YOU!" Manik lunged towards him but Cabir & Abhi held him back.

"Manik dont...Control yourself." Abhi said. 

"Haan isse maar ke khud problem mein par jaoge. Its better we contact the police." Cabir said.

"No pls....pls dont call the police. Im so sorry Manik." Pritam apologized. "Im...mortified. I just cant believe mera beta iss hadh tak niche gir sakta hai....pls forgive us. I promise Jeet phir kabhi aisa nahi karega. Ill deal with him....pls dont call the police."

"Your son tried to force himself onto my WIFE! Kyun na bulaun main police ko?" Manik yelled. 

"Manik..." Nandini stopped him. "Jaane do....Chatterjees Papa ke dost hai, its not worth ruining a friendship over. Aur phir isme uncle aur aunty ki koi galat nahi hai na?" 

Manik stared at Nandini like she had 5 heads, "ARE YOU CRAZY?"

"Manik....calm down. Chilla mat Nandini pe." Cabir placed a hand on Nandini's shoulder protectively. He then talked to Nandini gently. "Nandu....Manik is right though. Itna maaf karna bhi sahi nahi hai."

"Main maaf nahi kar rahi hoon....bas bhulne ki baat kar rahi hoon. Just this once. Main phir kabhi yahan nahi aungi...Ill never trust them again lekin Papa ke saath inki dosti kaise kharab kar doon? Pls bhai....lets just go."

Finally everyone reluctantly agreed not to press charges while Pritam & Aparna profusly apologized for their soon. Armaan walked over to his older brother and pat his back.

"You okay bro?" 

Jeet wiped the blood from his nose and glared at his brother.

"Do I f*cking look okay? Main chodunga nahi inn dono miya biwi ko...Yeh punch bohot bhaari parega tere liye Manik Malhotra!" 

"Par tu karega kya?" Armaan asked. Jeet looked and noticed Mayank & Arohi were a bit behind the rest of the family as they got distracted by the huge fish tank.

"Im gonna get what I want...by hook or crook." Jeet gave an evil look.

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

The Malhotras left the party and Manik was still furious while Navya & Mukti consoled Nandini.

"I cannot believe you just let the jerk go....tumhara kuch naho ho sakta Nandini! Main ghar jaa ke Dad se baat karne wala hoon, he'll agree with me."

"Manik...." Nandini was going to explain her thinking to Manik but noticed Arohi & Maynak were not with Nikhil & Pihu. "Manik! Bache kaha hai?!"

"Matlab?" Manik asked confused. The others also looked and saw the twins were missing.

"Matlab...Mayu...Aru....kaha hai mere bache? Abhi do min pehle toh yahi they!" Nandini sobbed.

"Relax....andar reh gaya hoga? Ill go get them." Manik said, not worried yet. Nandini however had a very bad feeling and was panicking alot. She followed as Manik walked back up the Chatterjees driveway and knocked on their door.

A moment later, Aparna opened. "Oh...Manik beta? Tum?"

"Actually...humare bache, Arohi aur Mayank andar reh gaye...I think they got distracted by the fish tank, they love fish." Manik said.

"Oh?" Aparna looked back and saw nobody was near the tank. "Par whan toh koi nahi hai....woh dono tum sab ke saath bahar jaa rahe they na?"

"Lekin bahar nahi aaye....can we pls look inside? Shayad dusre bache ke saath khel rahe hai?" Manik asked.

"Of course....come in." Aparna let them in. Nandini ran straight to where the other kids were playing but didnt see her kids. Meanwhile, Aparna explained everything to her husband.

"Manik...bache yahan nahi hai!" Nandini said, worried. Now Manik was also a bit worried. He looked washrooms while Aparna & Pritam checked the rest of their house.

"Woh hume kahi nahi mile...." Pritam said.

"Where are they? kaha hai mere bache?" Nandini cried.

"Wait..." Manik looked around. "Mr Chatterjee....aapke bete kaha hai?"

"Manik....I understand you must be worried but to suggest ki mere bete ne tumhare bachon ko kuch kiya...they would NEVER!" Pritam looked offended. 

"Itna bhi shareef nahi hai aapke bete....Jeet proved that just a while ago. Yaad hai na aapko?" Manik said angrily. "I dont know about Armaan but iske piche Jeet ka haath toh hundred percent hai!"

"Umh excuse me...." One guest spoke up. "I dont know if this is important but...jaise hi aap sab ghar ke bahar gaye, Armaan aur Jeet piche ke raaste se kahi nikal gaye aur unn dono ke haath mein kuch toh tha par kyunki unka peet humari taraf tha toh humne dekha nahi."

Aparna & Pritam looked horrified & Manik's fingers were curled into tight fists.

"I knew it...I knew forgiving them was the wrong thing to do." Manik yelled. "When I get my hand son them....and trust me I WILL find them. Then I will either kill them or send them to jail lekin yeh baat toh pakki hai ki aapke dono bete ab aapke paas vapas nahi ayenge. To HELL with your friendship....mere Dad bhi iss parivaar ko kabhi maaf nahi karenge!" 

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

Thoughts?

Will MaNan save their kids?

Whats gonna happen now?