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Manik had number three at the back of his mind when his alarm went off in the morning. It was the third consecutive day when he hadn't gotten proper sleep. After he had started telling his mother about Nandini, they hadn't realized the time and it was already past midnight. What bothered him the most was the fact that he hadn't touched any book, non-office ones, to compensate for the lack of his sleep but it was fine. Today was different from the past days. Today, there was business to be done, there were answers to be found.

After getting ready, Manik glanced at his watch. It was six in the morning. As far as his memory went, Meera was an early riser, so he called her on his way to his car. "Good morning, Meera. Did I wake you up?", he asked. He hoped he didn't because he would have called her irrespective of the time but he could do that without feeling guilty about it.

"Morning, Sir", she replied. "No, I woke up sometime back."

He sighed. "I need a favor actually. I will be out of the city limits for the day. Could you manage at the office even today for me?"

"But sir, what about the signatures I might need during the day? Shall I come home in the evening with the files?", she asked.

Manik recollected the important dates, if any, but couldn't point anything out. "I don't know when I will return. It might be too late even. I don't remember if there are any important signatures but if there's an emergency, contact mom. She would be available throughout the day", he told. "Anything else?"

"No, sir."

"Thank you so much, Meera. Have a nice day."

The office is handled. It's time to meet his head girl.

XXX

Manik loved the morning breeze. The way the cool air teased on his face while driving was refreshing and whenever he got a chance, often because of an early morning meeting, he preferred driving on his own. It calmed him down.

It took Manik more than an hour to reach the outskirts to the Murthy Villa, thanks to the lack of traffic in the morning. Before entering the house, he gulped a good amount of water. Unlike the general belief of people, pure dihydrogen oxide energized the nerves more than any alcoholic drinks.

All the calmness he tried maintaining, since the morning, evaporated as soon as he saw the scene playing in front of him. The house was decorated inside, the Murthy couple heavily dressed, and Mr. Kapoor of ASK estates had a grin on his face as he had a conversation with Mr. Murthy. Amidst all the festive mood, there was his head girl in bridal attire, crying openly as she struggled against her mother's hold.

Manik felt a rush of pure rage inside him as he stalked towards the center of the Murthy's living room. "What the hell is going on here?", he asked, maintaining his composure.

Nandini stopped struggling at her place but the tears weren't stopping. It broke his heart to find his head girl, a girl who could rule an entire college, in such a state.

Mr. Murthy had a smile on his face. "Mr. Malhotra, I am sorry. My daughter is in love with Mr. Kapoor. We didn't know about it yesterday. If only we had known it, we wouldn't have invited you for the alliance." He tried to act the regret in his face, but Manik knew better. "I would send my heartfelt apologies to Mrs. Malhotra", he added after a moment.

Manik rolled his eyes. "I don't need your heartfelt apologies, Mr. Murthy. I am here to take my fiance out for our wedding shopping. I don't think I would get your permission, Sir'', he told, before turning to the girl. "Nandini, come on, it would take hours to reach the city and you already know about Mumbai's traffic."

As Nandini gaped at him, in shock, probably, Mr. Kapoor kept his hand on Manik's shoulder. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Malhotra. But do you think, it is an ideal Malhotra behavior to claim someone's would-be wife as your fiance."

Manik crossed his arms and frowned at the person in front of him. "Mr. Kapoor, excuse me, but I don't think you have a requirement of a spouse right now." The person was around sixty-years-old and, as far as Manik remembered, had three kids from his first wife.

Mr. Kapoor laughed at that. "What to say, Mr. Malhotra. At my age, it's difficult to look after my kids alone", he told and to Manik's utter disgust, the person winked at him.

"Are you serious?", asked Manik. "Nandini is a kid herself." He didn't know until when, but he was only a few minutes away from losing his cool.

"The girl is well above the ideal marriageable age", argued Mr. Kapoor. "I know, Malhotra, it would be difficult for you to accept our relationship considering your history with her during your college days but I can't help it. She had histories with many people during her college. Wasn't she house-arrested all these years to teach a lesson to her?", he asked the last question to Murthy, who smiled in return.

"You did what?", asked Manik, his eyes wandering to the only person that mattered to him. What have they done to their Nandini? How would Abhimanyu or Mukti react if they look at this side of their best friend? Manik shook his head. He needed to tackle the situation at the hand.

"We need to do our best to discipline our kids, Mr. Malhotra", told Mr. Kapoor, breaking Manik's chain of thought.

"With due respect, Mr. Kapoor, would you please shut up talking rubbish about Nandini?", said Manik. That didn't go well with Mr. Murthy and when he raised his hand on Manik, to slap him, he snorted. "I dare you to try, Mr. Murthy. One scratch on Nandini or I, you would have to answer to my mom. She knows about my trip to your home and I don't think I need to explain to you about how much she trusts you."

Apparently, it was the right thing to say. Everyone halted at their place. Mrs. Murthy had finally loosened her hand from Nandini. Whereas Nandini was gaping at him without believing anything for a moment. Manik didn't need Nandini to believe the situation right now. His priority was more to save her from these people.

He took a step towards the ritual stage and raised an eyebrow at her mother until she took her hand completely away from Nandini. Manik forwarded his hand, instead. "Nandini, come on. Let's get you out of here." He knew she wasn't safe here but the Murthys had crossed all their limits with this plan and he didn't want to leave Nandini with them even for a moment now.

Nandini was still in a daze as she put her hand on top of Manik's. The boy felt a part of him returning. After all these years, holding her hand assured him that it wasn't a dream. He gave a light tug to Nandini's hand to make her believe. He would repeat it a hundred times for her to believe but not right now and instead, guided her out of the mandap after removing the garland from around her neck. Road, Car, home. Manik chanted his plan of action inside his mind. He was losing his energy every moment and he can't fall weak among the people he didn't trust.

Mr. Murthy halted his steps as he glared at Manik. "You can't take my daughter away, Manik. Even your mom can't help you nor could any of the court."

"Aren't you ashamed of calling yourself as her parents?", he asked. One of his hands, which was holding on to Nandini's, was the only thing keeping him grounded at the moment. "Forget it", he muttered. "Nandini is of legal age as mentioned by your esteemed guest here. She has a right to choose whom to marry and that is what the court would be in favor of."

"Step away, Manik. You have created enough drama as of now. Leave and we will forget whatever has happened. Mr. Kapoor is Nandini's to-be husband and it's decided", told Mr. Murthy.

"Mr. Malhotra", said Mr. Kapoor, "the half of Murthy property would be nothing as compared to your wealth. Why are you bothered even?"

Beside him, Mr. Murthy smirked. "Since the truth is out, Mr. Kapoor offered us a better profit in exchange for getting married to Nandini. We didn't like your deal and it's our decision. Is It satisfying enough for you?"

"And what are you going to tell my mom? That Nandini had run away with someone more than twice her age to gain sympathy from her?", he asked.

Murthy gave a disappointed look towards his daughter before turning to Manik. "It isn't new for her to disgrace her family name. You wouldn't be taking her side if you know about half of the affairs she had during her college."

"DON'T YOU EVER GET IT?", screamed Manik. He punched the pillar of the temporary mandap to stop himself from punching him. They flinched at his tone. No one had ever seen Manik Malhotra scream or lose his control. The pillar had distorted and there was blood oozing out of his hand. He brushed his thumb over it and before anyone could say a word more, he had put it on the partition on Nandini's head.

There were several gasps at once. Nandini's hands went over her head and she was in utter shock. Ignoring her, Manik turned to the Murthy couple. "From right this moment, Nandini is my wife. One step near her or one word from your mouth to malign her character, there would be consequences", he told. Mr. Kapoor was glaring at him but it wasn't fiercer than Nandini's parents. He couldn't care less though. "Mr. Murthy, you will be hearing from us soon. Please make sure you are available."

There was so much more to say but Manik wanted to breathe and everyone at the Murthy house was suffocating him. He could not imagine what Nandini might be feeling. Manik dragged her along with him to the car, opened the door for her, before making her sit inside. Making sure she was comfortable, Manik drove them away from the Murthy Villa. He only stopped once they were inside the city limits to take a breath. The sudden stop of motion made Nandini snap her head towards Manik as he handed some water.

"Your hand", she pointed out.

Her voice was hoarse and Manik guessed it might be because of her constant crying. He didn't want to make any calculation that would give him a rough idea about the number of hours she was struggling in that house. It wouldn't be healthy for his mental sanity. "It's fine", he told with a smile. She didn't return it and her gaze was still at the red on his hand. "Leave it. It's okay. Why don't you rest for a while? I will wake you up when we reach home."

Nandini nodded and closed her eyes. He knew she wasn't sleeping. Nandini was far too agitated to go to sleep but Manik let her be. He drove them back to Malhotra house as he thought about his further action plan.

XXX

Manik had startled Nandini when he shook her after reaching home. He smiled at her in assurance. "Hey, it's me", said Manik. "Are you okay?", he asked. When Nandini nodded, he gave her another smile. "Let's go in." He led her in, holding her hand. Nandini looked scared and he didn't want to startle her even more due to any possible reactions of his mother.

"Manik, surprise", yelled Cabir, who came running out of the house but halted up on looking at the two. "I am surprised", he muttered.

Manik glanced at Nandini and she had her head bent down. Before he could assure her anything, Nyonika followed Cabir to the entrance door. "Mom", said Manik but she was furious.

"What is the meaning of this, Manik?", she asked. "I would have understood if you had done something like this before yesterday but couldn't you have waited a few more days to get married to her? Am I a joke to you?"

"Mom, give me a chance to explain, please?", said Manik. He saw her eyes wandering to his injured hand. It was another thing he had to explain. Nyonika was always against letting the emotions dictate them especially, in front of people like Murthy.

"Ramu, Kaka", she called their butler, "please welcome both of them with all the rituals. I am in my room."

When Manik looked at Cabir with pleading eyes, his brother blinked his eyes at him before following his mother. If Cabir was handling the situation, they would be fine. Manik trusted his baby brother to twist or manipulate the situation into Manik's advantage.

Manik waited patiently beside Nandini, as Ramu kaka did whatever he wanted, before taking her to his room. Making her sit on the bed, he knelt in front of her. "Nandini, will you be fine by the time I talk to mom and return?"

She nodded.

He sighed. "Nandini, you are safe here and no one would harm you here. Mom would understand once she calms down. Just relax, okay. Take a nap. I will be here as soon as possible." When Nandini nodded again, he managed a smile. He was yet to have a proper conversation with the girl and he didn't know why the entire universe was pushing their conversation further. After assuring her once again, Manik went to face the storm.

True, Nyonika was in favor of Manik getting married to Nandini but the haste at which Manik took a decision without thinking or the fact, as his mother has pointed out, that he got married all by himself after Nyonika had agreed might not sit well with her. But he had his arguments ready. Now that Nandini was here, he would fight the entire world to keep her safe. He just prayed it didn't have to start with his mother.

A/N - A few points - 

1. I was really serious when I told multiple times that the story would revolve around the Malhotras. Wouldn't you welcome Nandini Manik Malhotra to the family? :P

2. How could you even think I would stretch a breakup track? This was what I had planned. 

3. I love the way Manik argued. He could politely punch a guy on his face with all the respect in the world. 

4. The story of Manan has legally started. It's just Nandini falling in love. Who's up with this plan?

5. To people feeling sad about Nandini, would  you think our hero would leave her as it is? 

Next Chapter - Lots of conversations. Finally, Nandini will talk about her life. 

Also, since, Manik talks whatever he thinks, I think it would be better if the plot shifts to Nandini's POV with Manik's inputs. Let's see.