Gear up for the twist at the end of this chapter...
"Mom...Dad..." Nandini uttered with tears looking at her parents after months. She looked at Manik and called him, bringing him back from shock.
"Uncle Aunty...Please come in..." He said while moving towards them and Nandini too held their hands and walked inside with teary smile.
Manik sat on the other couch while Nandini sat beside her mother, holding her hand all the while.
"Thank you so much for coming Uncle...I hope you have forgiven us..." Manik spoke to break the ice and her father passed a small smile and looked at his wife.
Manik cleared his throat and said "Nandu...Coffee...!?"
"Jii...Mom Dad...I'll get for you as well..." Nandini said with a smile and walked to kitchen.
Nandini's father signaled his wife and taking the cue, she went to kitchen to see Nandini who was preparing coffee with all smiles.
"Mom...I'm almost done..." She said with a smile seeing her mother. She frowned when her mother just passed a smile at Neela ma who was cutting vegetables in the other corner of the kitchen.
Before she could give a thought to it, her mother asked "Nandu beta...Are you okay...!? I mean are you happy...!?"
"Of course Mom...I'm very happy...Why won't I be happy seeing you both...!?" She said while mixing sugar in the coffee.
"Are you happy with Manik...!? Are you both happy in your married life...!?" Her mother asked again and Nandini smiled saying "Yes Mom...We are very happy...And Manik takes very good care of me...He loves me so much and I can never be happy with anyone else other than Manik..."
Her mother nodded but her eyes still held doubt and observed Nandini's body while she poured coffee in the cups.
She touched the marks on her neck which she didn't cover and asked "Yeh kya hai...!??"
Nandini's eyes went wide when she realized what her mother was asking and her cheeks turned red due to embarrassment. She mentally cursed Manik for not letting her use make up that would have covered the marks.
"Wo...Nothing Mom...Aise hi...kuch..." She tried hard to get something but her brain didn't work.
"What aise hi...!?? Sach sach bolo...What are these marks...!??" Her mother insisted and Nandini fidgeted with her fingers.
Meanwhile, in the living room,
"So Manik beta...All good...!??" Nandini's father asked once his wife left to kitchen and Manik nodded with a smile.
"How is married life going...!??" He asked again and Manik said "All good Uncle...And since we know each other from long time, there's no big change..."
"That's right...There's no big change...Everything is same...Including her parents..." Her father said making him frown.
"I didn't get you Uncle..." Manik said and he immediately passed a small smile and said "Kuch nahi beta...I'm just saying that nothing has changed...She still has her parents as her support..."
"Of course Uncle..." Manik said with an awkward smile.
In the kitchen,
"Mom...Yeh kya puch rahe ho Mom...This happens na...Samjho please..." She said while bending her head with a shy smile and her mother sighed in understanding what she meant.
When she was about to sigh in relief seeing her daughter's real shy face, her eyes fell on the wrist that has bandage.
"What happened...!???" She exclaimed and Nandini tapped her head before saying "Mom relax...It's nothing...My bangle broke when Manik..."
