Manan SS: Modern Cinderella ✔

Chapter - 3

Nandini was surprised when she found herself near Sahara hospital two weeks after their Sunday outing. One of the companies wanted to sponsor the hospital for conducting some health camps all over the country and in return wanted the hospital to deal with all the advertisements and other technical areas. Hence, the contract landed with Saxena Industries and Nandini has been working on that. In some sick twisted logic, Harshad refused to declare the name of the hospital until now, except for the essential details, because he wanted it to be secret even from her who had done the majority of the work.

They were in the middle of the meeting and one of their interns was giving a presentation when someone opened the door. Even though she knew Manik worked here, she didn't expect him to attend the meeting with all the high-ranking people of the hospital. The chairman and all the head doctors were present when Manik entered the room, gaining the attention of everyone.

"You fool. This isn't someplace to barge in whenever you want", screamed Harshad.

"I am sorry. I was in surgery", told Manik.

He hasn't seen her yet.

"Doesn't give you an excuse to barge in a place you don't belong", said Harshad.

Manik looked so small and out of place under the hatred glare of Harshad and she never wanted to punch her boss more in the face. Before Manik could defend himself, the chairman cleared his throat. "It was a life-threatening situation and my doctor volunteered to save the kid even when he wasn't on duty. I think it's acceptable for him to come a little late. Dr. Malhotra, how's the kid?"

Manik smiled. Small and sweet. "He survived. Breathing for now. I had put him under observation for a few more hours. We will allow the parents in a few minutes."

"Good, Manik. Thank you for taking the necessary action. Please, have a seat."

So apparently Manik was a significant person at the hospital and something tells her it was all his own hard work. The thought made her proud. As Manik took a seat next to her, his eyes landed on Nandini and they widened for a moment. Nandini winked at him, making him smile and something settled inside in her chest that arose when Harshad tried to insult the Prince.

Half an hour later, when the kid reached the last slides, Nandini's anger climbed up so suddenly that she wanted to throw her glass of water on top of her boss's head. He changed the last slides without informing her. Of course, the guy only cared about profits and it was clear from the slides towards the end. Nandini raised her hand, interrupting the intern. The boy panicked for a moment and when she followed his confused stare, she found Manik in front of her, raising his own hand. Beside her, Harshad glared at her for questioning their team. She dropped her hand and asked Manik to go ahead.

"No, please go ahead. I insist", said Manik to her.

She nodded and turned to the intern. "The idea you are pitching in, what's the hospital going to get out of it? Why should they sign you if we are representing some other company instead of the ones who hired us?" Because yeah, it was clear the project favored the company who was sponsoring them more than the hospital and in return theirs.

"Nandini, you should be supporting us instead of them", hissed Harshad.

"They are in the list of best hospitals for five years in a row, Harshad. A contract with them would only increase our reputation. Do you want to throw that for some sponsor who only cares about his benefits?", she muttered back.

Harshad glared at her before turning to the chairman. "Why should we sign with you if we don't have our profits?"

She gave a long-suffering look to Cabir who shrugged because yeah, it was Harshad and he only cared about profits.