Taming The Monster

Chapter 6

Nandini was in the living room area when the front door bell rang and one servant went to see who it was. 

"Ji...aap?" The servant asked. 

"Agastya Raichand." Dhananjay snarled as he saw who it was. Nandini looked up and got emotional seeing her brother. 

"Bhai..." Nandini ran and hugged him tightly.

"Gudiya...tu thik hai? Manik ne tere saath kuch kiya toh nahi na?" Agastya asked.

"How dare you..." Dhananjay was offended but Sumitra held him back.

"Bhai....Manik mera pati hai." Nandini spoke up. "Pls...uske baare mein aisa mat boliye."

Agastya looked at her in surprise but Nandini just kept her head down.

"Im sorry Bhai...I have to pretend to be the perfect wife. Uss Monster ne itna kuch kiya sirf ek badle ke liye...mujhe paata lagana hoga ki kyun? Kyun badla le raha hai woh....uske liye I have to stay here and be accepted." Nandini thought to herself.

"I know you Gudiya....tu uss Manik Malhotra ka side le rahi hai toh koi reason hogi. Thik hai...abhi koi sawal nahi karunga main. I trust you." Agastya thought.

"Tum humare ghar mein kya kar rahe ho?" Dhananjay asked rudely.

"Yeh ghar ab meri behen ki sasural bhi hai. Apni behen se milne ke liye bhi nahi aa sakta kya?" Agastya replied with the same rudeness.

"Of course aa sakte ho beta." Sumitra spoke up before Dhananjay could say more. Although she also didnt have any fond thoughts related to the Raichand family....she firmly believes the kids are not to blame in the situation. "Come in....tum kuch loge? Chai...coffee?"

"No....thanks." Agastya politely declined. "Main....bas Gudiya ka samman dene ke liye aaya tha."

"Samman?" Nandini now noticed Agastya's driver, Girish was bringing in some boxes. She walked over and Girish looked at her sadly. Confused, Nandini opened one box and saw some of her old photo albums with charred edges. She then opened another box and found her remaining clothes and jewelry.

"Mr Raichand.....locked your room up." Agastya told her. "Woh tere saare samman ko jala rahe they."

Nandini gasped in disbelief and teared up sadly. 

"Im sorry Gudiya....Main office mein tha uss waqt iss liye kuch cheeze nahi bacha paaya." He apologized. Par jaise hi ghar ke naukron ne mujhe call kiya I went back home and saved what I could. Aur....tere paas leke aaya hoon."

Nandini sobbed softly as she picked up one of her medals from school time and saw that it was also a bit blackened from being burned. She fell to the ground crying, seeing all her memories damaged like that. 

"Nandini..." Sumitra stepped forward to support her but Agastya reached her first and kneeled down to bring her into a hug. Nandini clutched at her brother's shirt as she buried her face into his chest.

"He hates me Bhai....Papa hates me." Nandini cried. "My Papa hates me...."

Even Dhananjay couldn't help but feel bad for her. "Aaj toh sabit ho gaya ki yeh Manish Raichand kitna ghatiya insaan hai.....apni khud ki beti ke memories ko kaun jalata hai aisa? Disgusting."

He decided to just go into his study while Agastya was there.

"Shhh....Nandu main hoon na? Tera yeh bhai humesha tere saath hai." Agastya consoled her. He really wanted to tell her that their father wasnt worth her tears. That he had erased her from their lives like she meant nothing but he couldnt break his sister's heart more than it already was shattered. "You know na? I love my gudiya the MOST in the world....yeh kabhi nahi badlega. Dont cry..."