The Mafia Bride

Chapter 23

Later that evening, Manik & Nandini decided to go for a short drive. Nandini pouted as she stood outside waiting for Manik.

"Kya hua jaan?" Manik asked.

"Hum sirf ek drive ke liye jaa rahe hai....itni saari kabab mein haddis ko bhi aana hai!" Nandini motioned to Rehan & the 3 other bodyguards.

"Woh log alag gadi mein aa rahe hai....its for your safety."

"Bhabhi dont worry.....we will stay far enough to not disturb you but close enough to help if needed." Rehan assured her.

"Lekin mujhe toh paata hai na ke tum log saath mein ho? Manik...I want privacy toh tum bol do inko ki yeh nahi aa sakte varna Im not coming!" Nandini insisted.

"Acha ok..ok...Rehan, tu yahi ghar pe rukh and tell the others." Manik said.

"Are you sure??"

"Haan...its fine." Manik nodded. Nandini smiled happily & they left.

"Manik ice cream!" Nandini yelled out as she saw a stall by the side of the road.

"What? NOW?" Manik asked. "Kaafi raat ho gayi hai Nandini...."

Nandini started to frown & Manik felt bad.

"Ok Ok...Ill go get it. Tum gadi mein rukho." 

He got out of the car & crossed the road. Meanwhile, Nandini started playing a game on her phone. A few moments later, Nandini looked up wondering what was taking Manik so long but she didnt see him by the ice cream stall.

"Yeh...Manik kaha gaya?" Nandini looked around but the street was basically empty. Getting worried, she got out and crossed the road. She walked over to the man at the stall. "Bhaiyya...mera pati yahan aaye they abhi. Kaha gaya?"

"Woh lamba aadmi?"

"Ji...wahi." Nandini nodded.

"Unko toh kuch log pakad ke uss taraf le gaye." The man pointed in the opposite direction.

"KYA!?" Nandini panicked. "Manik....yeh....oh god!"

She took her phone out and tried calling Rehan but nobody answered. She then called her brothers but again nobody answered.

"Koi phone kyun nahi utha raha hai?!" Nandini started crying. "I have to do something....."

She decided to go in the direction that the man had pointed towards. but the street was completely empty. While walking, she saw some dragging marks on the ground that led off the main road into a forest. Nandini followed the marks while trying to call her brothers and Rehaan. Finally she saw the other end of the forest which led to a cliff. She could hear voices and quietly hid behind a tree, peaking out. Near the edge of the cliff was Manik who was being held by two men and infront of him stood Raghav.

"Tere itni himmat.....Raghav Sharma, tune mujhe pakad ke khud apne mauth ko invititation diya hai." Manik said in a dangerous tone.

"Manik....oh no....main kya karun? Koi phone bhi nahi utha raha hai...." Nandini panicked.

"Hahaha!" Raghav laughed. "Manik Malhotra....you know, agar kuch waqt pehle ki baat hoti toh main shayad darr bhi jaata. But not now.....kyunki sabko paata hai that you went soft after marrying that Nandini."

"AYE! MERE BIWI KA NAAM BHI LIYA TOH-"

"Toh kya huh?" Raghav taunted. "You are powerful because of your men....lekin ab yahan koi nahi hai. Tune khud sabko manna kiya hai...tere biwi ke kehne pe."

Nandini teared up as she felt guilty. At that moment she felt her phone vibrate as it was on silent and she saw Rehaan was calling her. Going a bit more into the forest so nobody could hear her, Nandini answered the call.