A/N: Hello readers! Here we are again! So let's start with the good news first. We are #3 in Manan stories out of 5K+ stories & I can't even begin to tell you how thrilled I am, about it! When I started off on Wattpad some 3.5 years back, I wouldn't even get 20 votes in days for a chapter. I still remember my first MaNan story would get an average of 30 votes/week, and this was about 2 yrs back! What a journey it has been from an average of 30 to 300 votes/week! A stellar readership, a staggering rise in readers, and lots of votes, are what I got for reward of sticking to writing & telling my stories no matter what! If there is one thing, I am proud of in this journey, it is that, I never bullied my readers for votes! I never put targets, I have only ever requested & that bore fruits! So, my votes are organic, my readership is real & my love & gratitude for you folks are heartfelt! 

Thank you so so so much! On that note, happy reading!

***

"What?!?!" Manik shrieked into the phone. "Have you checked properly? Knock the washroom door, you moron! Don't barge in first though!" He barked orders to a flustered Shyam, who hurriedly did his bidding before responding over the phone.

"I rechecked the attached balcony, she is not there either. The washroom door is open, ma'am is not there either..sir I think she left" mumbled poor Shyam with a freaked out voice. Manik was in a momentary blip. She disappeared? Again? How? No, no, no. It wasn't safe for her. First the mobs, now his family being after her! What if she went to the press and said something against them? Would his treaty with the senior Malhotra's to keep Nandini safe still stand?! What if..what if they shoot her like Abhimanyu?

"No!!" Manik screamed loudly, breaking free from his reverie.

"Manik, what happened?" Cabir's panicked voice got his brain working again. He barked back at Shyam asking him to check the whole premise and ask the security guard at the gate & get back to him.

"Cabir, I think we lost her. Nandini has run away. Again." He confided in Cabir, as his voice shook in dismay. Cabir sighed.

"Manik, you can't say you didn't see this coming. She left you after your divorce too, remember? Plus this time she was only here to help you, bro. After the amount of backlash she received, I am surprised that you assumed she'd stay put in your farmhouse!" he reasoned with Manik. Manik kept mum. If Cabir knew half the complication this could create in her life, Cabir wouldn't be as calm and accepting of Nandini's choice of walking away!

"Cabir that's why I stationed my most trusted home staff Shyam there & kept the security on alert & even got security cameras installed before I took her there." Manik snapped, and at the same time it hit. Of course! Security cameras! If Nandini left, the cameras would capture that, and maybe he'd get some clues to head start his search mission? He immediately called the commissioner of police in Panvel to meet him at the farm house; he had a good rapport with this man, since he helped him with press restrictions of his farmhouse when they built it & helped keep it hidden from the press.

"Don't freak out, Manik. We will know about her whereabouts soon, like we did last time too.." Cabir assured him and for once he nodded. Well if she's not at home, that means at least she didn't overdose on the sleeping pills, which was his biggest fear.

***

As Manik reached Panvel and barged into the farmhouse, the commissioner was already there going through the security footage and he briefed Manik that Nandini had walked out of the farmhouse in the middle of the night around 3.30am and left on an unidentified dark four wheeler. Unfortunately due to darkness and reduced visibility due to trees present in the line of vision, they couldn't catch the number plate but it was safe to assume that the car was a private one, because around the area all rented cabs were mostly white. A raging Manik was about to charge at his security for not stopping Nandini or informing him, when the commissioner further informed him, the guard was caught on camera sleeping!

"I will either kill that bastard or.." snarled Manik in outrage and was about to charge at the poor guard but, he was stopped by the commissioner who had further informed him that Nandini had in fact made rice-pudding for everyone that evening with her own hands and fed everyone lovingly, and if the used strip of sedative pills lying in the kitchen trash can are any proof, she had mildly sedated everyone in the house; that's why no one could tell when she had escaped. While this was a working hypothesis, blood samples of all the staff were collected & post test results, they could be sure.

"Woah, your betrayal has turned our little Nandini really smart!" commented Cabir and earned a glare from Manik. He knew Nandini was obstinate enough to pull this through but not cunning enough to plan it. Who was her ally? Was she safe? In his heart he thanked God a million times for not making Nandini weak enough to consume the pills, for that he was grateful, but how was he to ensure she stayed safe without knowing where she went? They couldn't even track the toll cameras without knowing which car they're tracking! Hundreds of cars travelled the Mumbai-Pune highway all through the night!

"Sir, can we find anything about the car that she used to escape?" Manik still asked the commissioner. His non committal responses gave him a fair idea of the possibility.

"Cabir, please tell me there's a way, we need to find Nandini, and find her fast!" he murmured, pinching the ridge of his nose, looking down, feeling defeated.

"Well, we can put out a police BOLO (be on lookout) with her name & picture.." Cabir replied, scratching his head.

"No!" Manik snapped instantly at a bewildered Cabir. "Absolutely not! No one should know she is on her own, Cabir. No one! Not the press, not anyone else. By chance, if the press tracks her, we will reach her before them, you have to arrange that; alert all your allies in the press. Also set up a private investigator on her trail, in case she is hiding away from the press and booking hotels, withdrawing cash from ATMs, we will be able to trace her; which is a good thing, at least we will get to her before anyone else." Manik commanded, pulling his act together. Now that he knows, she doesn't have a death mission, the situation seemed slightly more in his control. No, he was still in the game. As long as his family didn't know that Nandini right now was a loose cannon, she was safe. He still had time to find her.

"Sir, one last thing" Shyam's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He turned to look at the man, who with shivering hands handed Manik a ladies wallet which he recognised very well, and a phone. They belonged to Nandini. Once Shyam left, Manik slowly walked into the master bedroom, where he watched Nandini sleep just two nights back. The bed was still undone. The creased bedsheet still held the trace of her body, maybe even the pillows held the smell of her dewy fresh shampoo? Without thinking Manik slumped onto the bed, trying to take her last fragrances in, as he slowly opened her wallet. He was stunned for a moment; it was not because he saw all the cash & bank cards left untouched, which he realised she left behind so that they couldn't trace her, but because, in the picture holder inside her wallet still preserved was a photo from their wedding! A tear rolled out of Manik's eye as he softly traced his hand on the picture which due to years of damp had gotten stuck to the frame of the picture holder. There they were, looking much younger & smiling at the cameraman. He ignored his face & the smile, he knew it was fake, but her smile was real, so were the dreams with which she had agreed to marry him that night. Today, Manik could easily read all her happy dreams in her eyes from this photo, but back then he couldn't. Maybe this was good for her; she was better off without him, she deserved much better. As long as he could ensure she was safe, alive, breathing, he should be satisfied.

A sudden text notification from Nandini's phone caught his attention. He glanced at it. It was a text from Aryamann Khanna. Manik's face immediately contorted with anger, as he tried opening the full text; he thought he'd not be able to because Nandini's phone would be password coded, but it wasn't and soon the whole text opened.

[Nandini, I am sorry about letting all my anger out on you yesterday morning & projecting my suspicion on Manik over you. You were right, as long as I have no skeletons in my closet, I shouldn't worry. I have nothing to worry about, the cops cleared me too. Sorry, and take care & know you can call me whenever you need a friend. This too shall pass, friend :)]

Manik stared at the text. Well, one thing was for sure, Nandini wasn't taking his help. "Where are you, Nandini?.." Manik sighed.

***

"Here is your new phone, and wallet. There's some cash in it & a debit card & for now my add-on credit card for emergencies, and before you start whining, keep it till your own credit card is issued, and then you can return this to me. As for the cash & cards, guess who never got a chance to collect her settlement amount after resigning Hebbar & Sons?" smirked Smaran and Nandini rolled her eyes & let out an exasperated sigh.

"Don't you think you over compensate your ex-employees a bit too much? I mean, at this rate, I can see red in the ledger of Hebbar & Sons real soon!" she giggled, perhaps the first time since that night in London, when she had gone for dinner with Manik, before everything started falling apart. No she was not going to think about that abhorrent man anymore. It had been four days since she had left Manik's farmhouse with Smaran. It had been three days since she moved to Mangalore again, and started staying at Smaran's guest house; it was a temporary arrangement of course, but it felt safe. She was away from the harassing press and since her face was fresh in the news, she knew getting a job or a house right now was not going to be possible and it might just giveaway her hideout to the press. So here she was, and it seemed like it was time to suppress all those harsh memories of the last seven months away and start afresh. She knew she could join Hebbar and Sons anytime, but she'd be quite the scandal amongst her colleagues after what followed her last work trip to Mumbai, so once the coast was clear, she'd restart with a new job here in Mangalore maybe?

"Umm, Nandini, you might want to check the news tonight, once? I mean, not that you need to remember the crap anymore, but for information sake? Manik Malhotra is addressing the press about..err..your and his status tonight..I don't know what he's going to say, but we will need to know if the press is going to launch a witch hunt on you again, might need to beef up the security here then" Smaran's worried voice distracted Nandini from her latent thoughts.

"Hey how'd you know that he's going to address the press tonight? Do you have a source?" Nandini asked, perplexed. As far as she knew, Smaran had no connection with showbiz.

"Er..I may happen to know someone who is in a place to tip us off?" Smaran replied, awkwardly.

"Who?" Nandini asked, sharply. "Out with it, Smaran."

"Nandu yaar, you know I get flustered when you give me that livid look. It's..well it's Navya.." he mumbled, not sure how Nandini would react hearing her name.

"You and Navya talk?" Nandini asked, surprised. "I thought she hated you after you threw her out of her job & stuff.." she sounded confused, and Smaran looked down towards his feet guiltily.

"Yes, about that.." he murmured, not knowing how to explain everything to Nandini.

"Smaran, I now know, Soha was blackmailing you, but Navya doesn't know it, hence I want to know how are you guys talking? Also, why'd you misbehave with Navya? I was Soha Khurana's bait, not her, right?" Nandini voiced her doubts, momentarily distracting herself from Manik's press address.

"Nandini, Soha was tracking my every move since my face off with Manik Malhotra & that Alia Saxena went live on national television. She had first ambushed me in my hotel after that, to find more information about you & your whereabouts and when I could convince her that I really didn't know about you and that's why I was there to find you & take you back, she realised I was your confidante & sooner than later, you would reach out to me. She wanted to lay her hands on you badly, so she let me go as bait for you, threatening my life, that she'd get me killed if I didn't inform her of your plans in the first instance when you meet me next. Nandini, I was obviously not going to hand you over to her, but I worried what if you tried to meet me & she traced it somehow? These folks are so powerful! So I decided to snap ties with you before that. As for Navya, I knew I was under Soha's watch & once I returned, Navya was going to ask about you. I didn't want to lead Soha to Navya, she'd be a much more vulnerable tool for her to manipulate, so I cut her off too. Of course I had no idea that she'd go to you straight & get linked into all this anyway.." Smaran finished, looking upset.

Nandini was shocked to know the extent to which Soha went to get her hands on her. Could she really have gotten Abhimanyu killed too, for revenge? She could, right? She had threatened Smaran too! "..so if Navya doesn't know any of this, how is she in touch with you?" Nandini pressed further.

"Well, we weren't really in touch, but Nandini, I think Navya feels a little guilty about how she couldn't stop all this despite being your PR, when you helped her so much in times of need. She had contacted me that day when I had called you, while you were at Manik Malhotra's farm house. She was worried because she didn't know your whereabouts and you weren't responding to her calls. She didn't know who else to trust & seek for help, so she had called me to tell me to try & reach you, and err.we have been talking ever since. She has been helping us by telling me what all ways Manik Malhotra is trying to trace you. She doesn't know why he's looking for you, but she thinks, after everything, it cannot be good news for you. You can consider her as our on ground agent on duty." Samran added with a smile.

"Smaran, she can't possibly know how Manik is trying to locate me, she isn't an insider in Manik's circle." Nandini expressed her doubt. For some reason Smaran had a small smirk on his face which he tried to hide before responding, "I have reasons to believe she has her ways, with a certain Cabir Dhawan.."

Nandini looked at him shocked. "Sheesh Smaran, Cabir is gay!"

"Are you sure?" Smaran asked, perplexed.

"I err..saw him making out with a guy at an event, back when Manik & I were married.." Nandini replied, curtly.

"Oh then maybe Navya & he have become really close friends like she said, and that's just it, I only read too much into it, thinking there's something going on.." he murmured.

***

"Hello to all you members of the press, thank you for joining me today, on such short notice. I am here to address all your queries about my personal life that has recently made headlines. I realised, if it is all out there anyway, it makes sense to address it & clarify the rights and wrongs, so that you all know what needs to be known and we can all move on, tossing this in the past. As you all might agree, no one wants their face plastered on the news for such hurtful reasons.." Manik spoke and gave a small pause making eye contact with people sitting before him.

As Nandini watched his face on the night news, she sighed. Now she could tell even while watching him on screen when he is acting. This was acting. This pause, it was methodical, to make the mood sombre. She was taught these nuggets by the showman himself, while playing out their pregnancy drama before the public.

"A lot has been said about me and Nandini Murthy, some were speculations, some were true. I don't want to get into the gory details of it all, but I just want to say that, no matter what the truth is, I have lost my baby. A baby, I called my own, irrespective of what the truth maybe & the father in me is grieving. I need time to heal from this, and it doesn't help when this and surrounding news keep getting thrown at me whenever I step out or turn on the television. In life we sometimes go through rough patches, and being a celebrity makes it that much harder because you can't go through it in privacy. Similarly, irrespective of all the speculation, Nandini Murthy has lost a close person and her baby in a span of one week, it cannot be easy to deal with either; she is broken too, and it's time we let go of everything else and let the human in her heal too. She deserves to heal in privacy because she hasn't ever embraced showbiz, we have no right to intrude her private space just because she was with me." Manik paused again and took a long breath. Then he continued again, in the same sombre voice, "Yes, you heard me right, she was with me. Guys, after what happened in our lives, Nandini Murthy & I have decided on mutual grounds that it is best to move on from this and pursue our own individual paths from hereon. We are not together anymore, and this phase is something we both need to put behind us, so I request you and all my fans, to allow both of us some privacy & time to heal as individuals and do what's best for us. I would highly appreciate it if the members of the press & fans respect my request and not continue any further butchering of the events of our lives in the recent past and let Nandini & I find our rhythm back to our respectives lives." Manik finished with a soft hopeful note, before getting up on his feet and adding, "Thank you, once again for joining us here. Please join us in the restaurant, we have hosted a lunch for you all"

As Manik got up and left the camera frame and the news reporter's face was back on the screen, Nandini sighed. There was no remorse in her. After hearing Manik that day in the farm house, something inside her had died. She didn't feel anything anymore. It was all numb, all black. Not even the mention of her phantom baby could make her feel anything. "Now that was a one take okay shot, wasn't it?" she mumbled to herself.

Nandini was staring at the strip of strong sedatives she had gotten Shyam ji to get for her. That was it, she was done living. Why was she breathing again? Her reason to live was absent for a long time indeed, maybe from the time she realised while they were still married, that Manik was only faking their marriage? But she never felt like she couldn't live through life; she stayed strong when the divorced happened, when the press haunted her as a celebrity castaway, when her Aams passed away, even when she lost Abhimanyu and the misscarriage of her phantom child played out & her linkups with Abhimanyu was sprawled on television; but Manik's treachery, his last lie was the tipping point. All she was living on was the shred of peace she derived from the fact that Manik was always honest with her. This time that had changed. Why was she breathing again? What was left to see? She was almost convinced she couldn't pick up her scattered pieces one more time, and it was time she ended this pain once and for all. Hell she had even reached out for the glass of water by her bedside table to pop a bunch of pills with, but strangely Abhimanyu's innocent, smiling, warm & happy face played in her mind. She smiled, if afterlife was a real thing, she'd meet him soon now. Then her smile faltered. What would she tell him? She was his sister, right? How could she die without taking the blame off his name? How would she face him knowing his character was vilified due to her & she didn't even try to change that? She knew after her nobody would bother; hell even if Mukti tried, what would she do, when none of them were alive to help her with information? Suddenly a resolution hit her heart. No she couldn't die before clearing Abhimanyu's name. Her death had to wait. And just like that, she had found a reason to live, one more time. To breathe, to fight & this time, to win.

Sitting in her room, late in the afternoon, she was wondering, how was she to escape the clutches of Manik Malhotra; she knew for a fact, she was in some kind of a house arrest. Maybe they didn't know what to do with her right now? She just knew one thing, if Manik Malhotra wanted her here, she'd be anywhere but here. No. She was not going to be a sitting duck waiting to be chopped. She had to escape...but how? At that moment, a text had distracted her.

[Nandu, it's Smaran here. We need to talk]

Nandini smiled seeing that text, she had found her escape afterall. The rest as they say, was history.

***

Word Count: 3,625

A/N: So, that's all for this week, readers!

How was it? I have a few questions to ask, as usual! I hope you folks will find the time to read it & answer too. Good, or bad, I am most curious for reading your POV always!

1. So, for everyone who worried Nandini would harm herself, let me tell you, she may look & act fragile sometimes, but there's so much more to Nandini Murthy that you're yet to explore in this story. So, what are you thoughts on her eloping? What do you think she is up to?

2. Manik is missing Nandini. Your thoughts? Do you think he will be able to find her? Are you with Nandini for eloping or do you guys feel she should've stood her ground firm?

3. So, how do you find Smaran's backstory! Did you see Soha's manipulation coming out this way? Any thoughts on their story? Do you like Smaran & Nandini's friendship? Do you trust him?

4. Manik's press statement, what do you think of it & Nandini's reaction? 

5. Nandini's decision to live & fight. What are your thoughts? Also, of she plans to fight, why'd you think she eloped? Where has she gone? What do you readers think will happen next? ;)

6. Lastly, as usual, any overall thoughts on this chapter? Anything positive, negative, neutral? Any observations? You know I am always up for it! :)

Lastly readers, just an update. I am running out of bank chapters fast & I'm unable to write more right now, since my in-laws are visiting us for a month! I am covered for another two weeks & the week after that I will be in Goa for a work conference, please pray I find some time to pen 1 chapter for the 2nd week of April, because by then my chapter bank will exhaust. After that, I will manage again, but that one week is tricky! Although  I will try my best to ensure I get to update, this is an advance notice to keep you posted that there's a possibility of a miss :(

Although, I promise, I am trying to ensure I can continue without a gap!

On that note, I am definitely seeing you next Sunday (26th March) for the next chapter!

Until then, stay safe & keep reading!

Love,

Your writer,

A.