"I knew it! I just knew it! Didn't I tell you mamma?" Soha laughed spitefully. She stepped forward and grabbed Nandini's arm. Nandini winced as Soha's nails dug deep into her skin.
"Now tell me, where is he?" Soha demanded and shook Nandini vehemently.
"What-?"
"You lying bitch!" she cried. "How dare you even think about stealing my fiancé?"
"I-"
"You always had your eyes on my property, didn't you?" Soha sneered. "Trying to get good clothes, trying to prove yourself better than me. In short, trying to become like me. But you could never become that, right Nandini?" Soha shook her so hard that Nandini's teeth rattled. "You could never become Soha Murthy! You just refused to understand that you were nothing but a filthy doormat whose place is beneath people's feet!"
"Soha-"
"Too bad dad didn't realize this while he was alive! If he would have then at least he would have got the chance to repent for wasting so much of time and efforts on you! You could have saved him from his misery, Nandini. You should have left when I and mom came. He wouldn't have needed anybody. You were never enough for him! That's why, he had to remarry and-"
"Okay that's enough!" Nandini said loudly and jerked her arm free. The place where Soha had dug her nails began to bleed. Ignoring the piercing pain in her arm, Nandini pointed a finger at Soha. "Don't you dare utter a word about my and dad's relation Soha" she said furiously. She could put up with any shit in the world but not this!
"Why not?" Sakshi stepped forward this time. Nandini saw with a surge of hatred that as usual, she was dressed in the latest fashionable clothes with her hair made up perfectly and her face shining with make-up. "You had the gall to break my daughter's heart by stealing her fiancé and now you do it over the top by telling her to keep her mouth shut! How dare you?"
Nandini could feel the dizziness returning. What were Sakshi and Soha doing in Jaipur? Weren't they supposed to be in London? Soha had told her that she and Harshad were going for a pre-honeymoon before marriage- Wait! She had called her up that night to ask about Harshad. What did this mean? Where was Harshad? And why wasn't he in touch with Soha? Why were they assuming that he would get in touch with her? Unless...
"Perhaps your fiancé has changed his mind concerning the choice he made?"
Nandini's head snapped round in Mukti's direction as she voiced the thought that had just occurred to her. She was looking at both Soha and Sakshi with cold eyes, her face full of contempt.
"And who the hell are you?" Sakshi snapped, unperturbed by the coldness but her tone had softened slightly as she looked at the beautiful girl. Nandini winced. This was going all wrong. She couldn't let Sakshi talk to Manik's sister in this way.
"Um...Mukti, this is Sakshi...my stepmother and, this is Soha, my stepsister" Nandini tried to take control of the situation.
"Wait! I've seen you somewhere" Soha said as she watched Mukti with narrowed eyes. And then she remembered. "Of course!" she gasped as she looked at Mukti. "You are Mukti Malhotra Thakkar! Wife of Abhimanyu Thakkar, the owner of Thakkar refineries. And these must surely be your sisters. Of course yes!" She pointed at Alya. "You are Alya Malhotra Vedant, the famous fashion designer. And your husband is Dhruv Vedant, owner of Vedant Enterprises" Her voice got sweeter. "You are definitely Navya Malhotra Dhawan and Sasha Malhotra Gupta. Your husbands have their own import and export companies." Lastly, her eyes fell on Mrs. Malhotra and she nearly goggled. "And of course, Mrs. Nyonika Malhotra, wife of Mr. Rajan Malhotra." She looked at Nandini and the hatred was back at once. "How is it that someone like you knows them?" she asked insultingly
