That Night..

The Sangeet came to an end and everyone eventually went home. Manik was in his room, thinking about Kritika.

"Did Kritika really try to hurt Nandini?....No No she cant, why would she? Nandini is her sister." Manik mumbled to himself.

"Maybe she isnt what she pretends to be." A voice said from the door. Manik turned and saw Navya, behind her stood Cabir & Abhi. "Manik...main Nandini ko kaafi saalon se jaanti hoon and by default main Kritika ko bhi jaanti hoon. Woh ladki puri ki puri fake hai....she acts like woh Nandu ki chinta karti hai and pretends to be a careing loving sister par asal mein usse koi farak nahi parta...she doesnt care about Nandini one bit."

"But...Nandini uski behen hai..." Manik tried defending Kritika but even he knew somewhere that Navya was right.

"Right....woh behen jo der tak jagti thi waiting for Kritika to come home taa ki woh uske saath dinner kar sake par Kritika used to eat with her friends aur Nandini ke baare mein puchti bhi nahi thi." Navya scoffed. "You know school ki annual fair mein....Nandini made an awesome fully functioning robot and Kritika made a simple volcano par woh bhi kaam nahi kar rahi thi and last minute mein Kritika emotionally manipulated Nandini to switch projects. Nandini failed aur Kritika ko first prize mili....that was the start of Devyani Aunty picking favourites. Kaunsi behen aisa karti hai Manik?"

Manik couldnt believe his ears and he was actually disgusted with what he was hearing and felt so bad for Nandini.

"Woh marble wala kaand humne bhi dekha..." Cabir spoke up. Manik looked at him in surprise. "Yeah...tu kuch imagine nahi kar raha hai. Kritika ne marble pheka taa ki Nandini gir jaaye. Humne wahan sabke samne kuch nahi kaha kyunki we didnt want to cause a scene...lekin Manik, its time you take a stand."

"Haan yaar, yeh rishta chahe jaisa bhi juda ho...par 2 din mein tum dono ki shaadi hai. Tujhe iss rishte ko nibhana hoga." Abhi agreed.

Manik nodded and he left the room without saying anything. He drove to Nandini's house and msged both Nandini & Kritika to come down.

A few moments later, they both came.

"Manik...tumne hum dono ko kyun bulaya?" Nandini asked. "Woh bhi itni raat ko?"

Manik didnt answer Nandini and instead looked Kritika straight in the eyes. "You threw those marble to hurt Nandini....didnt you?

Kritika looked like she was shocked.

"Manik....how dare you? Tum mere Di ko aise blame kaise-" Nandini got angry.

Manik just held up her palm to stop her and continued to talk to Kritika who wasnt saying anything. "I know...main tumhare pyar mein andhi ho gayi thi. Lekin mere bhai toh nahi ho gaye na....maine bhi dekha tha and even Cabir & Abhi saw you with those marbles. Isi liye jhoot bolna bhi mat."

"Di....kya keh raha hai Manik?" Nandini looked at her sister. Deep down she knew her sister didnt really care for her but still she couldnt believe she tried to hurt her....she didnt wnat to believe that.

"G...galatfemi...Manik baby...galatfemi hua hai tumhe. I know marble mere haath mein they par woh galati se gir gayi. I didnt wnat to hurt Nandini." Kritika lied.

"Really? Toh tum sangeet mein...marbles ke saath kar kya rahi thi?" Manik asked.

"I...I..."

"I was always so crazy about you Kritika." Manik said. "Mujhe tumse shaadi karna tha....lekin you always had an excuse. Kabhi tumhara career toh kabhi meri family ki reaction toh kabhi kuch aur. I accepted everything...jo tum chahte they wahi hua humesha. I trusted you blindly....isi liye yeh 6 mahine ki shaadi ke liye bhi main maan gaya. I tricked my family and parents because of you. Shaadi jaise pavitra rishte ki mazaak bana rahi hoon main...tumhare liye. Lekin you know what....shayad, Nandini se milna mere liye zaroori tha...shayad uske saath yeh contract shaadi bhi zaroori tha hai because uske meri life mein aane ke baad hi mujhe tumhari asli chehre dekhne ko mila."

"No....Manik, baby...its all a big misunderstanding." Kritika tried to defend herself.

"We are over Kritika Khanna. Tumhare jaise manipulative lakdi ke saath main kabhi nahi reh sakta. Apni khud ki behen ke saath jo aisa kar sakti hai...woh dusro ke saath kya karegi?" Manik said.

"You cant do this Manik." Kritika started to get angry and grabbed his collar. "Tum mere ho...sirf mere! Maine jo bhi kiya tumhare liye kiya! I hate sharing you isi liye main Nandini ko chot pauchane ki koshish ki."

Nandini gasped and had tears in her eyes.

"She is stupid music teacher...aur main ek supermodel! Hum dono mein koi barabari hi nhai hai...phir bhi tum pichle kuch dino se uske tarf keechte chale gaye. This whole marriage was supposed to be fake!" Kritika said. She turned and glared at Nandini. "Tum meri behen ho iska matlab yeh nahi ki jo mera hai tum usse hatiya sakti ho!"

"ENOUGH!" Manik shouted, pulling Kritika away from Nandini and making her face him. "Meri ho, mere ho bolti jaa rahi ho...main koi cheez nahi hoon. Im not a f*cking inanimate object!"

Nandini & Kritika both got scared seeing him.

"You know what Kritika...you're right, tum mein aur Nandini mein koi barabari nahi hai...cause she isnt a spoilt rich, selfish, badtameez, money-minded B*TCH like you!" Manik yelled.

"What did you just say to me?" Kritik asked, angrily.

"Wahi jo tumne sunna." Manik replied. "Haan main Nandini ki taraf zyada keech raha hoon...you know why? Kyun Nandini is kind, big hearted....bohot sweet hai...and dsepite the fact ki humara rishta fake hai, uske saath jab main hoti hoon toh it feels right. When I was with you, maine khud hi realize nahi ki thi when I stopped feeling like my own person....tumhara puppet ban ke reh gaya tha main bas....but enough is enough. Tumhari sachai finally mere samne aa gaya and if I STILL ignore it toh...mujhse bada idiot duniye main koi nahi hoga."

"Toh kya kar loge? Mere saath breakup karoge?" Kritika asked. "Fine then...chalo Nandini. Main abhi jaa ke Mom ko keht hoon that the wedding is off."

Nandini was still in shock from what she heard and didnt react as Kritika grabbed her arm and started taking her inside. Manik quickly grabbed onto her other arm, stopping her.

"I said...we are over. Maine yeh nahi kaha ki mein Nandini ke saath yeh shaadi thod raha hoon." Manik clarified.

"What? Matlab tum mere saath rishta tod rahe ho par iss loser ke saath nahi?" Kritika asked. "This whole wedding was a sham...tum toh isse pyar bhi nahi karte na?"

"Shut up Kritika!" Manik shouted. " Haan, its true I may not love Nandini lekin tumnse pyaar karke dekh liya maine....Tum hogi supermodel par aaj itna toh saaf ho gaya ki tum sirf bahar se hi khubsoorat ho. Whereas Nandini bahar se jitni khubsoorat hai utni andaar se bhi hai. Woh tumse hazaar gunna zyada achi hai....isi liye Im sure ki aaj nahi toh kal mujhe usse pyar ho jayega."

"And I cant leave Nandini while she is sick...I just cant. Woh galat hoga." Manik added mentally. "Shaadi ke baad bhi toh pyar hota hai...Mom Dad ko hua tha."

"You think Im just going to stand back and let this happen? Tumne mujhe...Kritika Khanna ko chodke isse chuna na? Just you wait and watch...tum dono ki shaadi main hone nahi dungi. You will marry me and ONLY me!" Kritika announced.

"Karlo jo karna hai Kritika...shaadi toh meri Nandini se hi hogi." Manik replied. Kritika left from there angrily and Manik turned to see Nandini kneeling down on the floor sobbing silently. "Nandini..."

"Maine...Maine aaj tak Di ka yeh chehra nahi dekha hai. i mean, I knew ki woh jitna dikhati hai utni woh meri care nahi karti. Im not a complete idiot...par she tried to actually hurt me? Aur yeh pagalpan...yeh sab...Ive never seen her like this? Mujhe aisa lag raha hai jaise main apni di ko jaanti hi nahi hoon."

"Yeah...mujhe bhi aisa hi lag raha hai." Manik sat down on hs knees, beside her. "Ive been with her for 4 years and mujhe paata hai ki mere dono bhai usse pasand nahi karte and still I never once stopped to think why. She portrayed an image infront of me and I believed that....sab kuch ignore kar diya maine."

Nandini wiped her tears and looked at Manik. "Manik...tum kya serious they? Ki tum mujhse shaadi karoge?"

"Haan...I am serious. 2 din mein shaadi hai, I think we should try to make this relationship work. I mean you arent the most terrible person in the world and although main bohot bada wala gadha hoon, main bhi thik thak hi hoon so.." Manik joked.

Nandini let out a little laugh but then became sad again. "But Manik...main toh vaise bhi marne wali hoon na?"

"You really need to stop saying that. Nandini....tumne chemo ke liye haan bol na? So maybe you will get better...but, I dont want to think about future mein kya hoga. Yeh shaadi vaise bhi hum Kritika ke liye nahi damage control karne ke liye kar rahe they...for that night. Only difference is, ab hum actually koshish karenge to make it work." Manik said. "Deal?"

Nandini smiled and shook his hand. "Deal."

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Thoughts?

What do you think Kritika will do now?

Will Manik realize he actually loves Nandini?