"Yay! Manu!" Nandini ran to Manik & hugged him as soon as he came back from work. Cabir wasnt happy but he didnt say anything because he didnt want to upset Nandini. "You're just in time! Hum picnic karne wale hai!!!"

"Picnic? Ab?" Manik asked.

"Haan Manik bhaiyya....bahar lawn pe picnic karne wale hai. Nandu ki idea thi." Rohan told Manik.

"Tum bhi chalo Manu." Nandini said.

"Uh...nahi...tum enjoy karo. Mujhe bohot kaam hai." Manik avoided and went up to his room. Nandini frowned sadly but Rohan distracted her and took her to the lawn. While everyone else was setting up for the picnic, Nandini was playing with the kids and Manik watched sadly from his bedroom window. Then he closed the curtain and started doing some office work.  

"Nandu lets play catch!" Kuhu suggested.

"Okay..." Nandini clapped. Kuhu, Rohan & Nandini started throwing the ball around...unaware that they were being watched by a man. This man was none other than Harry. Beside him stood Atul. Seeing everyone busy, the two of them snuck into the mansion, wearing masks and hid....waiting for the perfect opportunity.

"Bacho...aa jao." Nyonika called out.

"Kuhu! Rohan...bohot hua khelna! Ab khaa lo." Barkha called her kids. The three of them skipped over and sat down on the grass.

"Lo cutiepie....sandwich banaya hai." Cabir tried to feed Nandini but she turned away with a pout. "Kya hua? Sandwich nahi pasand?"

"Manu!" Nandini said.

"Woh khud se khaa lega." Cabir replied sternly.

"Cabir, ab bohot hua. Manik apni galati samajh gaya..." Nyo said, feeling bad for her son.

"Haan ab bchare ko kitna ignore karega tu?" Niel asked. "Usse bhi bula lete hai."

"Fine...." Cabir finally gave in. "Bula lo...par main maaf nahi karne wala."

"Yayyy!" Nandini cheered. She ran inside to go get Manik. Suddenly everyone heard a high pitched scream. They ran in and found Harry & Atul holding Nandini. Manik also came out of his room hearing her and was shocked to see her in danger.

"Nandini!" Manik stepped forward.

"Eh! Piche hath! Koi agar aage aaya toh yeh ladki gayi!" Atul threatened.

"AAH! MANUU BACHAOO!" Nandini screamed as she was held at gun point.

BANG!

"NANDINI!" Everyone yelled in fear. However, instead of Nandini..... Manik got shot in the arm as he ran forward & pulled Atul's gun away from Nandini.

"AAH!" Manik yelled out in pain as everyone watched in shock. Atul took this moment to attack Manik but a hand punched him in the face, making him drop his gun. It was none other than Cabir....while Abhi grabbed Harry who was trying to run away.

"Manik...tu thik hai?" Cabir asked in concern.

"Manu!" Nandini cried and hugged Manik.

"Hai bhagwan....kitna khoon nikal raha hai." Nyo gasped.

"Im fine...Im...fi-ne." Manik said, trying to hide his pain.

"Kaun ho tum don?" Raj asked Harry & Atul who were being held by Abhi & Vikram. "Kya karne aaye ho? Huh?"

The two of them exchanged looks but kept quiet.

"Main abhi police ko bulata hoon. Wohi inn dono se sach nikalwayega!" Niel glared at them. 

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

The police came & took the two men away while a doctor was called and he treated Manik.

"Chinta karne ki koi zaroorat nahi hai....goli bas chu ke nikal gayi." The doctor informed them before leaving. 

"Tera dimaag completly kharab ho gaya hai kya?" Cabir scolded Manik. "Aise gun ke samne kaun aata hai? You are such an idiot Manik!"

"Paata hai....wohi toh thik karne ki kosish kar raha tha main." Manik mumbled, looking down cutely.

"Tu- Yaar Chachi main karun aapke iss bete ke saath?" Cabir sighed. Then he hugged Manik tightly. "Tu mujhe chain se gussa bhi nahi rehne dega na?"

"Im sorry..." Manik whispered, tears in his eyes. "Im really really sorry Cabir. I know...main jo Nandini ke saath kiya it was terrible. Mere paas koi excuse nahi hai....but I promise Ill NEVER do anything like that again. Main uska pura khayal rakhunga....I'll always protect her. Pls...pls mujhe maaf kar de. Sabka gussa...narazgi, mujhse bardasht hi nahi ho raha hai. Especially not yours....tu sirf mera bhai nahi, mera best friend hai."

"Haan toh...naraz karne wala kaam bhi toh tune kiya tha." Cabir replied. 

"Cabbu Bhai...." Nandini came over and hugged both of them cutely. "Please Manu ko maaf kar do! Pleaasseee!"

"Haan haan okay!" Cabir chuckled. "Koi choice hai kya mere paas?"

"Yaay katti khatam!" Nandini jumped happily while the others smiled.

At that moment the police entered.

"Humme yahan bulaya gaya tha? To arrest some intruders?" The inspector asked.

"What?" Everyone was shocked. 

"Par...abhi abhi toh arrest karke gaye aap log." Manik explained.

"Im sorry, you must be mistaken sir....hum toh abhi aaye hai. Kisi...Niel Sengupta ne call kiya tha?" The inspector replied.

"Haan...yeh hai." Barkha pointed to Niel who was standing beside her. "Mere pati hai...inhone hi call kiya tha."

"Yes...I did call. Par uss inspector na kaha tha that he was the one I spoke to...." Niel told them.

"Lagta hai....unn dono intruders ke saathi aaye they police ban ke." The inspector said.

"What?! Matlab woh dono bhaag gaye?!" Cabir shouted. 

"Cabir...calm down. Hum paata laga lenge ke woh kaun they." Manik said.

"Dont worry Mr Malhotra....they impersonated the police, and shot at your brother.....we will find them no matter what." The inspector assured them.

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

The fake police took Atul & Harry to their hideout and finally took of their disguise.

"Thank god you arrived....varna humara band baj jaata aaj." Harry sighed in relief.

"Nahi...thank Boss for informing us before they could call the real police." The fake inspector smiled.

"Dont be so happy....we failed." Atul grumbled. "Humme uss ladki ko maarna tha, jiska dimaagi halat thik nahi hai...jo ek bache ki tarah hai and we couldnt even do that. Boss must be furious."

"Yeah....he didnt sound that happy on the phone." The fake inspector replied.

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So Manik is forgiven...because I didnt want to drag that out too long.

Did you like this chapter?

Who do you think Boss is?

How does he know everything thats going on?