Manan SS: Modern Cinderella ✔

Chapter - 5

Hello Fam :)

Warning: Separate books mean separate warnings. So, today we are dealing with two chaotic idiots who scream before they think :P

Happy Reading...

Nandini was engulfed in a protective embrace as soon as she stepped inside her house. Her dad was alternating between kissing her hair and tightening his arms around her. If she wasn't wrong, he was close to panicking. There are only a handful of things that would make her dad lose his cool.

"I would have come sooner if I had known you would miss me this much", she joked, forcing her dad to break the hug, to look at her properly. It was also the first time Nandini looked at him properly and it worried her. Yash looked aged somehow. His beard was two inches longer than his usual stubble, his eyes were dead tired. "Dad, are you okay?"

"You tell me, Nandini. What's going on with you?", he told and went in, taking her bag.

Nandini followed him. He dropped the bag near the couch and took a seat, asking her to sit down. There was a plate covered, probably food and water.

"You don't call me for days and a guy picks up suddenly saying he is your friend, a friend I have never heard about. The next day, the King of Amritpuri comes to my home, not my office, my home asking you for his son. He says you have met each other in the party, a party I never knew you went to and I was there. He thinks you both love each other or something and continue seeing each other in Delhi. I know if you love someone, you would tell me and for a fact, I know you hate them. So if he is thinking anything that would put you in harm, I am ready to file at least fifty cases but he is also my boss and I don't want to be impulsive when I don't have all the facts on my table", said Yash.

"You said, he is not your boss", she pointed out.

"Baby girl, don't sass with me. Concentrate on the point you are supposed to."

Nandini sighed. It was going to be a long night. She would better get comfortable. "Can I take a shower? Change my clothes?"

Yash rubbed his forehead. "Go, I have switched on the geyser. The water should be hot by now. Food is warm too. I have just taken out the oven. Do you want me to charge your mobile?"

"No, leave it. Let's not bother about the world for the night", she told and smiled. This was her dad. The one who would care about the smallest needs. She had already sent a text to both Cabir and Manik about reaching safely. Cabir asked her about the updates and she promised him to tell once she gets to know about it. Manik, on the other hand, didn't reply.

She had the time to think in the shower. Raj Malhotra knew about her even after she went in as Alya Murthy. She wasn't sure why he didn't ask about her sister. Second, her dad knew about her sneaking into the party. She needed to give a good excuse or truth. Third, Raj Malhotra wanted her to get married to Manik? Manik was going to be really pissed off. The guy needed a break from all the matchmaking his family was doing.

When she returned from the shower, her dad was on a call with Alya. Looks like her sister wasn't at home. Thank God for small mercies. "Where's Alya?", she asked after the call.

Her dad handed her the food plate. "Went to some conference. Representing her designs."

She nodded and started having her food. She was a decent cook, Cabir too but her dad was a goddamn Chef. It was one of the things she missed in Delhi. There was a silence in the room which was getting awkward. Her dad was scrolling through his mobile but she had no distraction except for her thoughts. After eating, she put the plate in the kitchen before returning to the living room.