I'm swooning and simping as a fangirl because Parth looks so freaking handsome in his Ghudchadi promo interviews, literal Greek God bhaisaab! :")

Anyways, let's not derail, previous update was the first update to get 20+ votes for less than 100 reads :") That's an amazing ratio, thanks for making that happen and I feel so grateful for having good quality readers that leave no gaps in spamming me with their comments <3

For those who are silent reading/don't usually comment, please drop a "hi" or "hello" here to let me know how it's going for you!

Previous part felt fairly short to some, so here you go with the new update, let me know how you feel :P Enjoy!

𓆩𓆪

Harshad was at the grills, clinging on to them impatiently awaiting someone. Those bastards were ordered to be there before visitation started but it had been ten minutes past that and they were still not there. He scanned the emerging guests with plummeting hope. 

In a scuffed white T-shirt and jeans that were muddied at the hem, one of his henchmen arrived. Harshad grumbled, "If Shahid isn't here, I take it that the plan flopped." His fingers tightened on the frame.

"It's Nawab, we didn't stand a chance." His frail henchman sighed.

Harshad's eyes narrowed. "I thought I told you to take reinforcements!"

"They bolted as soon as they saw him."

Gritting his jaws firmly, Harshad clawed the chamber and hissed out, "Tell me something, have you guys always been so spineless or are you taking advantage of the fact that I'm here... behind bars? Because if it is the latter, let me tell you, I will be out of here real soon, and you..." He snapped his fingers, pointing at the man on the other side. "...you better watch out."

His henchman gulped, and rethought his initial decision of revealing the other snippet of intel. It would on one hand not be wise, knowing how temperamental Harshad already was, but then again, withholding such information had proven to be life-threatening in the past. "Sir, we also..."

"Cut to the chase," Harshad uttered sharply. 

"At the fight... he... he was with a woman." Harshad's brow arched. That was some juicy information which would come in handy in the future... when he was out of the lock-up. He would make sure he ruined that woman to the point that walking – no, standing –.would cause her unimaginable pain, and she will forever remember who had been there, each time she was with Nawab. "It looked like his wife and daughter."

"Huh? Didn't think the bastard had it in him to raise a child."

Considering Harshad's involvement in the story amongst other things, the henchman had a hunch that the information would go down well on him. "She called him with a name." He said proudly.

Harshad glowered at him. The asshole was taking forever to come to the point and his patience was wearing thin. "Are you mucking around with me?"

The henchman shook his head vigorously, and closed his eyes to steel himself from backlash.

"His name... his name is Manik."

Harshad recoiled as if a thunderbolt had struck him in the chest, and then narrowed his gaze ferociously."Manik? As in Manik Malhotra?"

"I think so,"

Rephrasing to make sure he heard it right, Harshad proclaimed, "The Manik Malhotra, the primary beneficiary of SPACE Academy? You mean, Nawab is Nyonika Malhotra's son?"

Because that changed everything.

𓆩𓆪

With the way he claimed her wrists, Nandini's body blazed with adrenaline as she felt an aura of imminent danger around him. Something she had never felt before. Her anger was riding an infuriatingly beautiful high as she met his fierce eyes, smouldering her with his looks.

Her body was betraying her by finding a thrill in dangerous proximity with the monster. The lump in her throat grew, halting her plans to be assertive and strict, and morphing her speech into weary discontent. "Kitna naatak karoge, haan? I'm so sick and tired of your lies." Her fist dabbed his chest in an entitled manner, taking him by surprise, resting on his left pec. "Why can't you just let me be? Kya chahiye, paise chahiye tumhe, haan? Kitna ch –"

"Seriously, Nandini?" He snapped, irritated that of all things, she would assume he wanted her for money! Money?! Then again what could he say, why did he kidnap her like this? She ripped her eyes away from him, as if disgusted by him for his actions, and the act had been unbearable. Roughly, he tugged her.

The bangled hand that had collided with his chest throbbed. His touches usually evoked involuntary sensations from Nandini from within, not from the outside! It wasn't her, it was a rhythmically pumping organ underneath her fist had been erratically beating. His heartbeat, it was betraying him; it was something akin to a miracle. She blinked in a trance, her eyelashes magically fluttering as they registered him.

Why was she looking more beautiful than all the stars in a no-moon sky combined?

A part of Manik's heart was parading in solitude at her mere presence – after seven long months, while the other scrutinised his actions and critiqued him at her unhappiness.

What did he truly want? Did he even think about that?

He had no agendas, that was fine, that in itself was not wrong. At the first sight of her, he had decided all he wanted was to spend time with her, which was also fine. So he handcuffed her to himself, and presently wanted to take her on a long drive. 

Did he stop to think what was the point of all that if she wasn't going to have a good time with him?

Abrupt crackling of the radio sparked both their attentions to the source, and the grip on Nandini's wrists instantly disappeared. It took her a moment to realise what had transpired between them, and by then, Manik was already cursing at the radio and shuffling through the stations for a clean one – to make her ride pleasant henceforth, and give her something to vibe to.

She heaved deep breaths, trying to reel in her mixed feelings, because what the hell was that?

On one hand, she had been scared out of her guts thinking about all the possibilities of what he would do to her, now that they were secluded in a confined space where nobody could intervene. Who would ever rescue her from a moving car? But now... now when the car had stopped, why had he held her like... like he never wanted to let her go?

Why did it seem like she had an effect on him?

How the hell did any of that matter? He was her molestor, he had taken advantage of her, it was disturbing in the first place that Nandini was considering her effect on him, when the trauma he caused her still thrived in every cell of her body.

And how could she raise her voice like that at him as if he had wronged her... he was her kidnapper, for God's sake... did she completely lose it or what?

Had she forgotten she was at his mercy?

What if this outburst of hers led to something horrifying, who was to blame then?

Nandini leaned on the window and tapped her forehead rhythmically, needing some alone time to regain composure and do damage control. If only she could talk to someone regarding this... someone more experienced in matters concerning feelings, who would explain to her without ridiculing her how to navigate those feelings... someone like Zubin...

The name struck a chord. She blinked at the radio, as she recollected a conversation from a few months ago: 'the biggest telltale sign that a signal jammer is in place is when any radio within range gets glitchy.'

Manik violently banged a fist at the volume dial, completely muting the system itself.

Didn't Smaran mention the crew they had busted in their insurgency operation were enroute Mangalore and changed plans midway through? Could there be something of significance in Mangalore?  

Craning her neck, she scanned the land behind the trees that led to a valley, at the bottom of which a few houses remained.

She needed to go towards them, and that too now, while the car was still stationary. Out of pure impulse, she unbuckled the car door again only to be met with resistance from the lock. "Nandini!" Manik growled, alerted by her action. Nandini turned and kept her gaze at her locked wrist, her face paler than ever.

"Suno, I'm very sorry for yelling at you, it's just... I am just tired and want some fresh air... Please yeh khol do."

Manik's jaw clenched firmly, all those soft feelings buried underneath a surge of his anger. He had made a grave mistake in contemplating her wishes and pausing for a tad too long for her sake. Irritated beyond measure, he engaged the clutch and vroomed out of the area at a steadfast speed, without even indicating. Nandini's breath caught in her throat and she clutched the hand-pocket of her door as he seamlessly shifted gears as and when needed.

What could be worse, dying with him in a car-crash or being murdered by him in a secluded space? 

Neither! She needed to be home. Actually anywhere that was away from him.

She began pleading but made fleeting eye contact, so as to not be smitten by those gorgeous things that snatched souls, "Mujhe jaane do please, I have a family who's waiting for me and they'll be worried."

"So that you can call the cops on me?" He glowered at her, his gaze capable of catching a few stray heads and guillotining them. The infamous smirk emerged once again, affirming that she had been delusional in her speck of hope – that she could ever affect him. "Tch, good try, but not happening." His flirtatious pout amidst his otherwise monstrous demeanour got Nandini feeling hot and cold at the same time. 

How was her Aiyappa watching all this and letting it all happen to her?

Wringing the hand that was not linked to his, she desperately brainstormed more ideas. More excuses. "I... I need to use the bathroom." She blurted, eyeing him from a corner only to see him not even budging. Haw. "Umm... It's kind of urgent." If she had to pull the 'I am on my period' card to get him to comply, she would gladly do so. Sure, it would be an extremely private piece of information that would have little to nothing to do with him, but hadn't it worked with her PT teachers in school? 

Instead, she was met with a curt order, "Chup chaap baithi raho! You're giving me a headache, do you even know that?" He complained, pulling his cuffed hand to the steering wheel and pressing his temple with the other.

After all the chaos with Mukti and Adira, he had resisted the urge to consume. He should have at least acquired some once he landed in Mangalore, but he had to be so macho... he had to prove to himself that he was completely capable of handling himself. The effects of depriving his body of the habitual drug were wearing down on him, and it had to be perfect timing that Nandini was driving him nuts.

She bit her lip and silently gazed at him. He was repeatedly palming his mouth, his frown lines were apparent and it appeared that he was writhing from the dull ache. After a short thought, her free hand dipped into her pink tote and she shuffled through the pockets of it.

What was she up to now? Manik narrowed his eyes to slits.

Out of her bag came a single blue strip of pills, and she mechanically popped one into her hand, as if pill-popping had been a habit for her too. She extended it to him, along with her Tupperware bottle half-filled with water, and he gave her an indifferent glance.

Perhaps he didn't know people could take painkillers for headaches. She calmly educated in the same tone she used with her patients, "Sarr dard ke saath gaadi nahi chalaani chahiye."

He scoffed, staring back into the windshield. "I'm okay."

"Jhoot bolna band karo!" She scolded, and he turned with a startle. Why was it so hard for her to just have a normal conversation with the monster? Besides, why was she getting worked up about him lying now, when everything between them itself started with a lie? Huffing to herself, she corrected her phrase and tone. "Waise bhi maine already nikaal diya hai. So just take it."

When he saw her rolling her eyes and looking elsewhere, a small curve of amusement played along his lips, but it transformed to nonchalance before she turned to him again.

"Bola na nahi chahiye, phek do! Kya pata usme zeher milaaya gaya ho..."

She fisted it in her hand and murmured to herself irritably, "Bhalai ka koi zamaana hi nahi hai!"

The car progressed some more metres, then Nandini's window automatically came rolling down, much to her surprise. Was it because she pleaded for some space to breathe earlier? Between a casual whistle, Manik beamed, "Fresh air is nice waise,"

Spiteful, Nandini rolled back her window with a pressed fake smile, "No, thanks!" She did not want any favours from him... most of all, him.

"Main toh apne liye keh raha tha," He smirked and dragged both their windows down. The breeze beautifully kissed his cheeks. Letting the steering go for a second, he proudly ran his fingers through his hair. He had never been happier!

𓆩𓆪

Yeh bhi kaafi short tha kya? :P Waise phirse clues jud rahe hai :") What was your favourite part of the chapter?

Not sure if you guys remember but Nandini had once wished for a day to come when Manik will be more flustered than her about being around her... it's already started :") <3

Harshad is taking a fairly dark turn I didn't anticipate writing waise toh, I told you these characters surprise me sometimes... mujhe khud bhi nahi pata yeh kya kar baithege :P

Filhaal Manik is in no mood to leave Nandini :P How will she get his help and explore what she wants without putting aside her reservations?

And Manik... woh maanega kaise to go along with Nandini to see what's happening in that valley?

Vote comment and keep sharing please! Lots of love to you guys!