This update is dedicated to everyone whose name starts with letter "X"
...

There were no buildings in my view for the past one hour. If this truck is going to headquarters then there would be many buildings and the gates for different territories.

The vegetable barrels also seemed different. Some are dented, some are punctured and some are rusted.

Is this truck even going for stocking vegetables from the headquarters or not?

A few more minutes later a different stench filled my senses. I tried to cover my nose to block that smell from reaching me but I failed as it was too bad.

There was smoke in some places and a few trucks which looked like the one I am hiding right now.

What's happening?

My truck now formed a queue behind the other trucks and moved as the front truck moved. I peeked to see what's happening here.

The truck which was five vehicles ahead took a turn and lifted it's box so that the contents in it dropped to the ground. They further went into a huge pit which is now burning with fire and smoke emanating from it.

While I was lost in my thoughts my truck is now in second position ready to dump the contents into the pit of fire.

Will be burned along with the barrels?

"Hey, I am here." I screamed but it was no use as the machines were making louder noise.

"Help. I am struck here." I banged the doors of the truck.

Shortly, I noticed I was out of breath as I inhaled too much of the smoke. Combine that with my stomach who didn't get it's dinner, breakfast or lunch. I tried my best to shout and hit the doors with my frail voice and arms but failed miserably and fell unconscious.

"Manik." His name was the last thing I uttered as my eyes burned with the thick smoke.

"Nandini." I felt someone tapping my cheeks and I coughed before opening my eyes.

"It's okay, I am here." I heard his voice and I opened my eyes to have a clear look at his face.

"Manik?" I tried to sit up by holding his arms as my support. I am now in a tiny room which looked like an office. I could still see the trucks moving with the load and dumping them from the window.

"Are you okay?" He questioned cupping my cheeks with frown lines forming on his forehead.

I nodded my head positively and he sighed. "What are you doing at the dump yard?"

"Dump yard?" I bit my lip. "I thought the truck was going to headquarters and climbed it. I wanted to meet you."

His nose flared with anger slowly taking his form.

"When will you listen to me, huh? All I asked you was to stay in the mansion but no, you have to disobey me every single time. Why do you have to land in the trouble? What would have happened if the security didn't see you and dumped you in the pit? Nobody wouldn't even get a clue about your whereabouts, dammit." He paced around the room trying to release his anger.

"Sorry." I said softly. This made him stop in his tracks and he looked at me.

I looked at his face with my eyes full of tears. "I am really sorry, Manik. Sorry for getting into trouble. Sorry for not listening to you. Sorry for doing things without telling you. Sorry for doubting you for killing my family. Sorry for stabbing you the first time I met you. Sorry for hurting you every time." I sobbed loudly and Manik immediately sat by side and took me into his arms.

"Shh. Nandini." He cradled me in his arms and kept rocking me front and back.

"Sorry for not being a smart person. Sorry for scoring zero every single test. Sorry for being dumb and sorry for everything. Manik I don't want to be a doctor, I just want to be with you. Nothing else matters to me. I am such a failure who understands nothing. Studying is very hard, Manik."

I didn't stop crying and spoke my heart out.

He wiped my face with the sleeve of his shirt and tucked my hair behind my ears properly. "You don't have to be sorry for anything. There is no fault of yours in any matter. You are my precious gem, Nandini. My life and my love. You are by my side and that's more than I could ask for in my life."

"Aren't you mad at me for not becoming a doctor? Aren't you disappointed in me for scoring zero in every test?" I said rubbing my nose.

"What? No. I was just supporting you to achieve your dream, that's it. You don't have to score highest marks just be with me or impress me." He paused and touched my forehead with his forehead. "I am so madly in love with you, Nandini. Your absence makes me go crazy that I wouldn't hesitate to burn the world."

My tears stopped hearing him speak with his heart after so long. The happiness I feel when Manik is just Manik and not a Boss around me is something else.

"I don't want to become a doctor. I don't want to read those books and give exams. I just want to be in your arms, Manik. Don't get angry on me. I will stay anywhere you ask me to stay only if you are there. Please don't push me away." I said still keeping our foreheads attached.

"What part of I am crazy for your presence you don't understand, Nandini?" He detached from me and stood up. "I was crazy for Alya one time, she had this powerful aura and confidence which would make me crazy for her. After she was engaged to by brother I was heartbroken and didn't let anyone inside my heart. I became a Boss and there was no chance anyone could impress me. Except you."

I gasped.

"I tried to avoid you as much as possible but you became my habit. You took my breath away. I didn't know when but you surely did and I am a lost case without you. Every morning I wake up and sleep at night with you only in my thoughts. The Boss of Malhotra Empire have fallen head over heels for you, Princess Nandini Murthy." He paused to calm his breath which he failed miserably. "I am so helplessly in love with you, Nandini."

"Lol."

He was taken aback by my words and frowned. "Why would you laugh out loud now?"

"No. It's lots of love." I explained and he laughed.

"See. You are something else. My precious little thing." He pulled me into a bone crashing hug.

I stayed there for sometime enjoying his embrace and started to speak. "Manik."

"Hmm."

"Please don't get angry but give me a reason for not wanting to marry me." I wrapped my arms tighter so that he wouldn't escape from me. "You said all these things didn't matter and you love me as I am, then what's stopping us to become one?"

He stayed mum. I could hear his heart beating faster than before and I looked up to see his face. "I can't lose you, Nandini. You are so important to me."

I came out of the hug not getting his point. "You won't lose me if I am married to you, right? I mean if we are not married then I have an option of marrying someone else, that's when you will lose me."

He covered my mouth with his palm. "Don't speak those words. I can't bear the thought of losing you." He took a deep breath and kissed the top of my head. "I will lose you the moment I will marry you. I have to count our time together as soon as my title gets attached to you."

I looked confused at him.

"Why? How is that possible? If we marry we can live happily ever after right?"

He gave out a chuckle, a sad one. "That happens when a princess marries her prince. I am a Boss and there is no happy ending for us."

I cupped his face with both of my palms and pulled him closer to me. "I will get a happy ending only with you, Manik. My own prince. If there is a princess in the story it surely becomes a fairytale. And every fairytale has a happy ending."

My hope added fire to his pain. He marched out and left the door open. I saw him struggling for something in the back of his car trunk and finally pulled out a cloth. As he came closer I understood that it was his shirt. It was filled with blood marks.

"Do you know whose blood is on it?" He questioned me.

"No."

"Same here. I don't know if it's mine or my enemies. Every time there's an attack and every time I have to put my life at stake to protect everyone. I am not a prince who can sit back and enjoy the luxuries with my wife. I can't stroll with my wife around the parks without the fear of the impending harm." He said clutching the shirt closer to him.

"Manik. I don't want any luxuries. I just want you, and only you. Why can't you understand that?"

"Why can't you understand what I am saying, Nandini? Why do you think you were not harmed during Harshad's fiasco? You are not the wife of the Boss. As soon as you get the title my enemies becomes your enemies." He yelled at me.

"Even if I am not your wife your enemies are my enemies. I can not be friends with the people who harmed you." I replied and he sat on the chair.

"You are not getting my point."

I kneeled infront of him and took his palms into mine. "When you were attacked and unconscious in the headquarters, I tried to visit you many times, Manik. Nobody allowed me to see you, because I am not related to you. I felt like someone punched me in my gut. Everyone told me I am nobody to you." I paused to take a deep breath.

"I don't want that to happen once again, Manik. I don't want everyone to tell me I am nobody to you."

"Atleast you are alive, Nandini." He said trying to look away from my face.

"I don't want to stay alive without you and me together. That life is useless if we keep spending our days without any meaning to it. I want to spend my life with you, The Boss of Malhotra Empire, Manik Malhotra."

"No. You are..." I cut him off.

"My fairy tale ends only when I want it to end. I am the main character of my story. As a princess I want nothing but a happy ending. We will fight for both of us Manik. Just say yes and we can set everything alright." I said with a bated breath.

"You...."

"Wrong. Say Yes." I whispered.

"Nandini..."

"Wrong again." I said with a pout.

A small smile adorned his face. "Yes."

"Wrong again. Say yes." I said not hearing him.

He gently smacked my forehead with his and repeated. "Yes, let's get married."

I froze.

Is it real? Is it happening? Am I dreaming?

"It is real and it is happening." He chuckled.

"Yay!!!" I screeched and jumped into his lap with happiness.

Finally, Manik and Nandini will become one.

...

How is the update?

Yay! Finally they are getting married.

What do you think of Manik's reasons for not getting married to Nandu?

Nandu is strong! She finally melted the Boss heart.

Suggest some scenes you would like to read from next.