Tangled Beliefs

Chapter-22: Caught Off-guard

My heart was a battlefield, torn between duty and the freedom I craved.

Nandini’s POV,

I sat on the edge of my bed, the saree draped over my body feeling too tight around my chest. My mind raced, tangled in a thousand thoughts I couldn’t make sense of. I stared at the floor, absentmindedly twisting a lock of my hair.

What was the point of this anyway?

I had made up my mind—I was going to reject this marriage, and that would be the end of it. Just a simple, painless meeting, nothing more.

I heard a light knock on the door, followed by Prisha Bhabhi’s voice, breaking through my chaotic thoughts.

“Ready to go, madam?” she teased, peeking her head inside with a mischievous grin.

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped my lips. “This is just for show, Bhabhi. At the end of this, I’m going to reject him. There’s no way I’m going through with this.”

She shook her head in disbelief, her smile fading just slightly as she walked toward me. “Calm down, Nandu. Everything’s going to be fine. You can’t plan everything. Just take it easy.”

I sighed deeply, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on me, but I nodded.

I had no choice, did I?

As we descended the staircase, my nerves tightened with each step. Bhabhi held my hand, offering silent support, but I could barely hear her words over the sound of my own heartbeat thumping in my ears. I kept my head down, hoping to avoid any eye contact, trying to lose myself in the rhythm of my footsteps. My heart pounded as we neared the living room.

There was no turning back now.

I heard the murmur of voices as we entered the room, but it felt so distant, as though I was hearing it underwater. The Murthys—my family—were already seated, and a group of unfamiliar faces sat with them. I swallowed, forcing myself to look up.

And then everything stopped.

I looked up just as someone said my name and the world around me seemed to freeze.

I froze in place. My blood ran cold. The words felt surreal. My mind tried to reject what my eyes were seeing, but there was no denying it.

I stared up at him, my breath caught in my throat.

Manik.

Manik Malhotra, my boss.

“Miss Murthy,” he repeated, his tone confused.

I swallowed hard, trying to grasp onto some semblance of reality. My head was spinning. What was he doing here?

He was here, in my house, in front of my family, for this marriage meeting? It didn’t make sense. There was no way this could be happening.

“Mr. Malhotra?” I whispered under my breath, unsure if I had even spoken the words out loud. My heart thudded so loudly in my chest that I wondered if he could hear it.

The room fell silent. The sound of my heartbeat was all I could focus on as everyone’s gaze shifted between Manik and me. I saw confusion in their eyes.

The reality of the situation hit me harder than a freight train.

He was here for me. For this... marriage meeting.

I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.

We had been nothing but professional at work. The man I saw every day at the office—commanding, ruthless, and calculating—was now standing here, in my family’s living room, about to be a part of my life in a way I never expected.