Hey Pearlies, that you very much for your votes, comments and adding this book to your library. A big shoutout to  its___V isharai16 mayamadhuvanthi  fathimasafy MeryJane044dishtaniya   ShiningLine Taareyians heartfollower28  PriyankaBhati4   for your lovely comments. 

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All the women claiming to be Nandini Murthy stood outside the mansion, in the Malhotra backyard. Everyone were wearing the staff uniform except me and Navya, she was wearing my frock and I am wearing Manik's blazer. Nobody owns their clothes here but we all have a similarity, that is everyone were dressed in black. 

Alya stood in front of everyone observing the ladies. The yard was filled with many outdoor stoves and pans. Plenty of guards stood around the area but far enough to give the ladies some privacy. 

"All the best, Nandini." Niyonika shouted with excitement. 

"Thank you, my queen." All of us replied back including me. 

Okay, it was only for Navya but looks like it's our habit and it will be difficult. Niyonika covered her ears not expecting everyone to shout like an army. 

"Don't worry, my queen. We can solve this issue," Alya looked back to us and folded her arms above her chest. "Since you all claim to be Nandini Murthy, we shall be calling you according to your serial number. Please stand according to the time you have entered the mansion."

Navya was the first woman to enter the mansion and she stood first in the line followed by others. I was in the center, there were dozens in front of me and dozens after me. That's impossible!

"I object!" I said coming out of the line standing in front of Alya. I don't know how to cook, I am sure I can not win this task at least I can buy some time as Harshad instructed earlier. 

"What is it now?"

"I can not be in the center. I am the main character, I must either stand first in the line or at the last. But Nandini 38? What the hell is that number for a main character? I deserve the limelight especially during the challenging phase of my story." I said waving my arms as dramatically as I can.

Alya was unmoved by my act. "Don't waste time and get back to your place, Nandini 38." 

Really? "Not until I get, Nandini 1 or Nandini 50. I got to be in the mainframe." There is no way Alya is agreeing to my terms. How would she know the value of being a main character. I have my trouble and no body understands. "If you are not giving me my numbers I am forming my own line. In this way I will be Nandini 1." I said standing apart. 

Shortly another woman responded. "I agree with her, I want to be Nandini 2." 

As soon as she stood behind me half of the queue proceeded to stand behind me forming an equal two parts of the queue. Everyone looked puzzled as to what queue to finalize. 

"Girls, if you join my queue I will ... help you identify the vegetables. I am so special in recognizing food." I said and everyone cheered for me and joined in my queue leaving Navya alone in her line. 

Navya glared at me as I mouthed, "Nandini 1 and Navya 0."

She immediately made an innocent face and looked at Niyonika for help. "My queen, this is so embarrassing. As you can see these cheaters do not want to stand with the original person." 

Niyonika pushed me back and made Navya stand in the first line. "Stop being childish everyone. Let's concentrate on the main issue."

Really? She could have placed Navya behind me if this line is not important. It's clear who is her favorite in this game and I hardly believe this game is going to be fair. I tried to be calm as Navya mouthed Nandini 1 and Navya 1. It's okay, the main character must fight the villain to win. 

"Everyone please stand next to the stove according to your number and wear the number card in your neck." Alya announced. "My queen, I don't want to be disrespectful but if you are standing here our participants might think this game might be unfair due to your support towards Nandini 1. Please sit in the chair as you can watch our players." 

Wow! Atleast she understood what's going on here. Cheers to Alya! With much difficulty Niyonika went back and sat in a distance where she could hardly see her favorite player of the game. 

I looked at the number card 2 and sulked. I am not going to wear that, it can stay on the table. The player 3 kept smiling at me encouraging me to carry on. What's her problem?

"Nandini 2, you are causing delay for everyone with your stubbornness. I would not tolerate this from next time." Alya spoke as she walked towards me and made me wear the number card in my neck. "Be bad, to be best." She whispered and walked away.

What does it mean? I better not remember all this stupid things and concentrate on my game. I have to win at any cost. 

"All the players have the same ingredients on their left, and recipe book on their right. You have 30 minutes to complete the task. And your time starts now." Alya announced and everyone hurried. 

Spanish omelet! It's the recipe on the book. I read it thoroughly before doing anything. Once I am done with reading I opened the food bag and saw eggs, potato and salt. Thankfully all the items are packed in a box with the labels on it. 

Except Navya, nobody started their cooking. That's weird!

The recipe asked for 2 eggs, 1 potato and a pinch of salt. But I have 4 eggs with me, is it a test. Could it be that 2 are real eggs and other are fake? And whose eggs are these? Chicken, or Ostrich? The recipe also did not inform about the egg and I don't know which egg to use. 

"Can I help you, Nandini 2." The player next to me asked me. 

"Well, this is  test for you. Which one of these is Chicken egg?" I asked. Damn, Nandini! I am getting smart. 

She scratched her head in confusion. "I am not sure we are supposed to use chicken egg. Let me ask Nandini 4." She repeated the same question.

"Those are not eggs, they are potatoes and these are eggs." Player 4 pointed reverse.

"Come on! Everyone knows, eggs are white and potatoes are brown." I said with full confidence.

"Eggs come in different colors, it could be brown or white." Player 5 joined us. 

Soon this topic went till player 50 as we continued to see which one is an egg and which one is a potato. Our argument stopped as soon as Alya announced we have fifteen minutes left. By this time Navya finished her cooking and placed it on the plate with a winning smile on her face. 

"We must hurry!!" I screamed and everyone went back to their table. 

Player 3 called me and whispered, "Eggs have shells to crack and potato has skin to peel. Look at Nandini 1, she cracked these and peeled this, so it must be eggs and potato." 

That is so smart, gurl! We clapped our hands in excitement. "Thank you very much. You are very smart. What is your name?"

"I am Nandini 3." She said and my smile dropped. What an act!

I followed the recipe point to point and noticed something weird again, these ladies are not following the book but they are following me. As soon as I cracked the egg, they did it and copied each and every single movement. 

After a lot of chaos on my table I finally brought the broken tiny pieces onto my plate. Omelette is supposed to look round, yellow like Navya's but mine looks brownish bits. How is this possible when I followed everything?

Be bad to be best.

I remembered Alya's words. Did she gave a hint to win the game? I don't think so, I must stop thinking and try to perfect my food again. 

As there were last five minutes I prepared another omelet and this time it was almost close to Navya's. Not sure why mine looks different even after putting so much effort. Unknowingly I wanted to to be bad in this test following Alya's words. I don't know if I could trust her words but still I proceeded to add an extra pinch of salt. A bit wouldn't hurt right?

As my fellows were copying me Player 3 added a tablespoon of salt, Player 4 added double the salt and it continued till it reached Player 50 who emptied the salt bag on it. Oops! Looks like only Navya passes this test.

Time's up and everyone walked out of the yard and stood far away waiting for the judges to taste it. First round is done, Navya is the winner. She has been cook all her life and its an advantage for her. I am doomed! 

It's time for results and I have no interest in knowing about the winner. 

"Nandini 1 has the best taste, and food got bad along the line. So, the winner for this round is Nandini 50." Alya announced. 

What?

Navya had the same reaction as mine. What is happening here? Player 50 literally emptied her salt bag in the food. It must be the worst tasting dish. Navya questioned the same going bonkers. I can understand her considering the effort she put into this round.

"Well, a princess never steps into the kitchen which means the worst cook has higher chances of being real Nandini Murthy." Alya explained. 

Holy! Alya was helping me. She asked me to be as bad as I can but my stupid mind wanted to be the winner and ended up being the loser and that too in second place. Navya froze to the spot and I seriously feel so bad for her. 

I walked out of the yard escaping all this mess. Niyonika kept consoling seemingly disturbed Navya as the workers began cleaning the mess we created in this short span. I spotted Alya alone and ran towards her. 

"Before you begin your blabber, yes, I wanted you to win and congratulations you successfully failed my plan." Alya said before I could say anything. 

"But why? I thought you didn't like me, then why are you helping me?"

"I still don't and that's why I want you to win. You will be Mr. Malhotra's wife and will leave Manik." She shrugged. 

"Eww! I don't like both of them. I better be alone than marrying anyone of the brothers. You can keep them for yourselves." I said almost gagging with the thought of marrying one of them.

"I gave you a chance to run away but you came back, so you must win this game and become the real Nandini Murthy. I will make sure you will end up marrying Mr. Malhotra as per your family promise. All the best." Alya patted my shoulder and walked out of the scene. 

Why am I attracting trouble? I like the part of helping me and proving my identity but the end goal is to leave Manik. Why? It's not like I am interested in Manik anyway, all I care is about proving my identity which is more than enough. I will team up with Alya to win this game.

I sighed and walked into the mansion. I saw a worker walking into my bedroom and immediately chased after him. Nobody enters Manik's room and it's surprising to see anyone entering the room without permission. "Stop right there. Who are you?"

"I am here to clean The Boss laundry." A man in mid forties replied. 

Finally, the cleaner is here and I can get my map!

...

Whom did you expect would be the winner?

How will Nandini win this game? 

Will Nandu get her map from the locker?