Nandini's POV-
"Nandini, there's something I have to tell you, beta." Pathak uncle motions for me to sit down. "Last night, as I was leaving the office, I saw Manik sneaking out of our building. I think he is up to something."
Bloody fantastic.
I settle down on the couch, at a complete loss for words, unable to articulate my thoughts. First Rose and now this?
"I think we should talk to Manik before jumping to conclusions." Jenny says firmly.
"He had refused to divulge any personal information during his interview. Do you remember, Jenny? I didn't even want to hire him. You forced me to." Pathak uncle is saying. They continue arguing in angry voices, but I am hardly listening.
My mind is reeling.
Manik and I had come so far in the last few days. I had opened up to him like I hadn't to anyone else. He was always so thoughtful towards me, always in tune with all my thoughts. I had started trusting him more than anyone else.
I was in love with him. And it had taken a great deal for me to get here.
Somehow, even though he had never said the words to me, I knew that deep down, he loved me too. He had proved to me again and again with his actions, that he did.
He had not only protected me from others, but also from my own self.
He understood me so well. With him, I never needed to be too vocal about my thoughts. He had the uncanny ability to gauge them without me having to say anything.
He had promised me he would never hurt me.
Could he have been lying to me from the beginning? And after everything we had shared and been through together, was it possible for him to still be lying?
No.
Absolutely not.
I refuse to believe this. There must be an explanation for all of this. The Manik I knew and loved was not a liar. He knew how difficult it had been for me to let him in. Surely he wouldn't betray my trust.
"He couldn't be up to anything bad, could he?"
This was all one giant mistake. I take my phone out of my bag and call Manik. It's unreachable. I try again and again, getting the same response each time.
"Nandini, has Manik ever told you anything about his family?" Pathak uncle asks seriously. I think about the question. The only person he has told me about is his mom. His dad is dead but he hasn't told me anything beyond that. On the few occasions that the subject of his father came up, he did seem reluctant to talk about him. I had thought he simply wasn't comfortable talking about his dead father, never once suspecting that there could be anything more to it.
"Nandini? Has he?" Pathak uncle asks again.
"He has only ever talked about his mom. No one else." I tell him honestly. My answer makes Pathak uncle even more uneasy.
"I am going to find out more about him. We need to know what he was doing in our office." Pathak uncle promises and leaves quickly.
"Where is Manik?" Jenny sits down beside me.
"He has gone to Delhi to meet his mom. He'll come back Monday morning."
"I have never been wrong about a person before, Nandu. And I believe Manik is good." She tries to calm me down.
"Trust me, Jenny. I want to believe the same."
______________________
It's 3 am and I am stewing. No matter how hard I try, I just can't stop the whizzing in my head. I have been tossing and turning from side to side for the past 3 hours, hoping for sleep to strike.
I know the only way I am going to get my peace back is by talking to Manik. But he just wouldn't answer his phone.
Just one more day, I try to assure myself, then he is going to come back.
But I am getting too restless. Waiting for even another hour seems like a huge task right now. I am sure I will completely lose my mind by the time Manik came back on Monday. I need to speak to him right away. I need him to reassure me that he is not up to anything behind my back.
I need to hear his voice, telling me that I wasn't wrong to trust him.
Deciding to give up on trying to sleep, I walk over to my window and look down at his apartment window. We had had many conversations through these very same windows. A light suddenly comes on in Manik's apartment and I see a shadow moving about.
What is happening down there? Has someone broken into Manik's place?
Grabbing my phone, I quickly leave the bungalow and sprint to the staff quarters.
Whoever it is, they are not getting away with it.
The door of Manik's room is ajar, and the light from inside is flooding the corridor outside. Holding my breath and making no noise, I push the door open and peek.
It's Pathak uncle inside, going through Manik's belongings at the speed of light. All his things are littered on the floor.
"Uncle?" I breathe in relief. "I thought we were going to talk to Manik first. Why are you snooping on him?" I accuse.
"Nandu, you don't understand. I need to find out why he is here. What he wants from us!"
"Why? Did you find something?"
He looks at me with a strange expression. "Yes, I did."
"What is it?" Fear grips me instantly and I find myself hoping with everything in me that it's not something bad. "Uncle, what did you find?" I repeat my question when he doesn't respond.
"Manik's father, Vikram Malhotra, was an employee of Singhania group. I knew him very well. We had joined this company around the same time." Pathak uncle's face is creased by worry, making him look much older than he is. "He was a very honest and hardworking man." He says with a sad expression.
"What happened to him?"
"I don't know, beta." He says remorsefully. "He died about eleven years ago. One minute, everything was fine. And the next minute, he went missing. His body was found at one of our construction sites a day later. We released a press statement that he had died of an accident." Pathak uncle looks deeply troubled. "But, I know for a fact that Vikram was not supposed to be anywhere near that construction site because I was overseeing that project. Vikram was working on other projects. When he was found there, dead, I was shocked."
"So, it was not an accident?"
Pathak uncle looks around, as if checking for bugs. "No, I don't think it was an accident." He says so softly I have to strain my ears to listen to him.
"And no one ever did anything about it? There was no investigation?" I ask incredulously. A man was killed and nobody had bothered to find out how he had died?
Not just any man. It was Manik's dad who was killed! That's probably why he came here.
The realization jolts me to the core.
"You need to understand, Nandini. Praveen is a very powerful man." Pathak uncle looks terribly nervous. "He made sure there was no investigation. And it wasn't surprising that nobody challenged him. We all just accepted the official statement and forgot about Vikram." He mutters shamefully.
"Do you think Singhania killed him? Or had him killed?" I am dreading the answer, but I need to know. Had Singhania torn Manik's family apart?
A dark looks crosses over Pathak uncle's face. "I have been working for Praveen for a long time now. I know what he is capable of. Wherever he goes, he leaves a bloody trail behind him. He has had countless bodies dumped and I have helped him dump some of them. And he has many other people like me who do his dirty work." Pathak uncle looks ashen. "I never wanted to do it."
I can't believe what he is saying! I knew Singhania was a criminal, a horrible man. But it hadn't once occurred to me that he had involved Pathak uncle in his dirty business too. Apparently, there were many more like him.
Just how many lives had the bastard ruined!
"Then why did you?" I glare at him. "Why didn't you just leave?"
"Singhania is not the kind of person you walk away from unscathed. And after he made me his personal secretary, there was no looking back. I knew too much about his business. If I had quit, he would have finished me and my family. I had to think about Dhruv." He falls to the floor and starts trembling.
"So you helped him murder. You helped him tear families apart, Manik's included." I have always had so much respect for this man. But right now, as I look at him, all I feel is disgust. Poor Dhruv. He has no idea how deep in his father is.
"No!" He screeches. "I had nothing to do with Vikram's death. He was a good man, a friend. I would never have harmed him." The desperation in his tone is striking. "I don't know how he died, but if Singhania indeed killed him, I wouldn't be surprised."
"I have to talk to Manik." I mumble to myself. I need to ask him if this is why he came here, to find out how his father had died. This is no coincidence. Even though I am almost certain of it at this point, I want to hear what he has to say for himself. He has to give me a reason for keeping this from me.
"Nandu, listen. If Singhania was really involved in Vikram's death, there is a good chance Vikram knew something or found something. He must have become a problem for Singhania. And if Singhania finds out that Manik is Vikram's son, he will be in danger too. Hell, we all will be in danger for even discussing this. Praveen has eyes and ears everywhere. We need to be very careful from here."
"What do we do?"
"My guess is that Manik wants to find out what happened to his dad. And he is trying to find proof as well. I came here to see if he is hiding anything here. But there's nothing. He has already broken into our office once. But he wasn't very smart about it, was he? I saw him there. If someone other than me had seen him, he would be dead by now. We need to warn him."
"He is in Delhi. I have been calling him all day. He isn't answering his phone." I groan. Pathak uncle thinks for a minute then pulls out a file from a bag he is carrying. "Nandu, I have an idea. I think you should go to Delhi and talk to Manik about this. Warn him about the danger here."
"That's a good idea, uncle." It really is, and it would put an end to the constant conflict and struggle I am going through. Yes, this is what I need to do. "But how am I going to find him in Delhi?"
"I have his address here." He pulls out a piece of paper from the file. "And this-" he pulls out another paper, "is his friend Abhimanyu's Delhi address." He hands over both the papers to me. "I'll book your flight."
He is about to walk out the door when he stumbles over something on the floor and drops his file. The pages scatter everywhere and he bends down to pick them up. When he stands up again, he is staring at a paper with sorrowful eyes. I walk over to him and place a hand on his shoulder.
"This is my last photograph with Vikram. He went missing a week after this." His voice is thick with emotion. He hands over the picture to me and wipes his eyes.
For a minute, I just stare at Manik's dad's face.
The next minute, pure shock engulfs every fiber of my being. My body goes rigid and I fall on my knees, the photo slipping out of my grasp.
"Nandu, what happened?" Pathak uncle is by my side in an instant. "Nandu?" He shakes me, but I can't respond. My voice fails me as my brain takes me back into a deep, dark, terrifying place in my subconscious, a place it had taken me a lot of mental strength to come out of. A place that had haunted my wildest nightmares for years. A place that housed my worst memory. A memory that had eaten away at me when I was a child. A memory that had a habit to creep up on me from time to time, attacking me when I was emotionally defenseless, vulnerable and least expecting it.
A terrible sound of gunshot rings in my ears, as clearly as if someone was firing the gun right here, in front of my eyes, exactly as it had happened all those years ago.
Eleven years ago, at the age of nine, I had witnessed a murder.
How could I forget the day that had sent me into the worst spiral of my life. The trauma had nearly destroyed me.
I remember that day as vividly as if it had happened just yesterday, and not years ago---
"Nandu beta, finish your food." Jenny was saying patiently. She was always patient with me and asking me to eat.
"No." I mumble and go back to playing with the video camera Jenny had just given me. She had told me to keep it with me all the time. I knew why Jenny had given me a video camera. It was because I wasn't talking to her as much as I used to. And I know that she thinks mom's new husband is scaring me.
I haven't told Jenny how nasty the new husband is. If I did, I would lose her too, like dad.
But Jenny was so clever. When she couldn't get anything out of me, she gave me the camera and told me not to tell anyone about it.
I knew she hoped that the camera would record all the bad stuff that was happening to me so that she could stop it.
Jenny cared so much about me. I loved her.
"Nandu!" This time her voice is stern. "Why aren't you eating?"
"I don't want to eat this. It's yuck." I make a face at the vegetables in the plate.
"What do you want to eat, then!"
"Cake!" I yell happily. "I want to eat cake, please Jenny." I plead with her and make a face that always gets me whatever I want from her. With a sigh, she gives in.
"Fine. Let's get cake." I grab Jenny's hand and go down to the kitchen with her. When we reach the kitchen, I am disappointed to see that there's no cake left. Jenny calls one of the servants and asks him to get a cake for me. But he tells her that everyone is busy preparing for a dinner party, so they can't go.
"Nandu, beta, nobody is free right now. We'll eat cake another time." Jenny says.
"But I want to eat cake now." I say stubbornly. "Let's go and get one ourselves, please Jenny!"
"You have just recovered Nandu. I am not taking you anywhere right now." She scolds. Its true. I have just recovered from a very bad bout of flu. This is becoming a new normal for me. I have been falling sick a lot lately. Fever, loose motion and throwing up have become constant companions. Jenny thinks my health problems are only because of our move to India. But I know that part of the reason was mom's new husband. Ever since he had started leaving me alone after mom caught him one night, I had been feeling a lot better.
After a couple of minutes of coaxing and pleading, Jenny finally gives in. "Okay, I'll go and get a cake for you. But you have to promise me that you will stay in your room and not go anywhere. Do not let mom or her husband come inside. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I promise. I'll stay in my room." I smile at her.
"Where is your camera?" She holds her hand out and I give her the camere. She presses a few buttons on it and then attaches it amidst the frills of my frock in the centre, so that it is not visible.
"Do not remove that, okay?"
"Okay." I tell her and follow her to the main door, shutting it behind her.
I am about to climb the stairs to my room when I hear a loud crash from the study room. Growing uneasy, I try to ignore it and keep going up, but there's another crash in the study the next minute, louder than the last one. This time, curiosity gets the better of me and I decide to have a look. As I make my way to the study, I realize that this part of the house is mostly empty and most of the servants are busy in the kitchen prepping for the dinner party. I can hear loud voices yelling inside, getting louder as I approach the door. With one finger, I push the door slightly open and look.
"You can't walk out on me, do you listen? I love you!" Mom is screaming at a man I have seen a few times around the house. "I want you so much" She pushes herself on the man and grabs his face with both her hands.
This is bad. I know I shouldn't be seeing this. But my feet are suddenly immobile, rooting me to that very spot.
"Get off me, Nyonika." The man shouts angrily and pushes mom off himself. "I need to talk to Mr. Singhania about his new factory project. Then I'll be off. You stay away from me." He points one finger at mom and shouts again.
"Do you know why I married Praveen Singhania?" Mom grabs the man again. Her eyes are red and her voice is shaky. This is how she gets after consuming alcohol. She gets angry, completely loses control and throws things around. I look around the room. A photo frame and a huge vase are lying broken on the floor. That must be what made the crash. "I knew you worked for him." Her voice is all breathless and low. "The minute that wretched Ashwin Murthy died, I looked you up and found out you were working for Praveen."
As I stand there, listening to mom talking about my dad, hot, angry tears fill my eyes. She really is a very bad woman.
"I came here and married that old bastard so that I could stay close to you!" Mom is holding on to the man quite forcefully, digging her long nails into his arms. "But you won't even look at me!" She yells abruptly. "Only you can give me what I want. Not that fucker Singhania, not that Murthy. Only you. I love you."
"You never loved me. You can never love anyone!" The man thunders, pushing mom off himself. She loses balance and falls to the floor. She looks terrifying right now. "You are a greedy, selfish, power hungry, opportunistic parasite! YOU ARE A BLOODY LEECH!" The man looks equally angry. "You destroy everything, that's what you do. First you left me for Ashwin Murthy because he had more money. And I am sure you ruined him too. And now that he is dead, you've latched onto Praveen Singhania." He spits on the floor. "Congratulations! You have finally met your match. He is as disgusting as you. You two deserve each other and I hope, Nyonika, that you destroy him too. That will do everyone a world of good."
"You-", Nyonika gets to her feet, seething. She walks over to the desk, pulls a drawer open and puts her hand in, searching. When she takes her hand out of the drawer, she is holding a gun.
My eyes widen in fear.
"How dare you!" Nyonika is slowly moving towards the man. Her voice is low and menacing. This tone scares me more than when she is shouting.
"You think you can scare me with your gun?" The man scoffs. "I am telling you one last time. Stay. Away. From. Me. And don't you dare talk to my wife ever again. We don't want to have anything to do with you." The man turns around and walks to the door. He notices me standing there. His eyes look straight into mine and widen momentarily. But before he can take another step towards me, there is a deafening bang behind him, a red spot appears on his shirt, right in the middle, his eyes that were staring at me go blank and he falls to the floor with a thud.
Behind him, Nyonika is standing with a murderous look on her face, the gun pointing straight ahead, smoke issuing from its tip.
She had shot the man with her gun.
He was lying on the floor on his stomach, dead. A steady stream of blood was oozing out from under his body and spreading all around him, coating the floor in a red gleam.
The smell was nauseating.
I looked up at Nyonika and realized that she had seen me too. She was glaring at me ferociously. Slowly, like a predator, she was walking towards me. But the next instant, she tripped over the broken vase and fell down.
That was like coming out of a spell. Willing my feet to move, I turned around and ran.
I ran and ran, tears flowing down my face, blurring my vision.
But I did not stop. I ran until I was in Jenny's room, the door tight shut.
Somebody was banging loudly on the door, screaming for me to open it.
But I didn't open the door.
Not until I heard Jenny's voice on the other side.
The moment I heard the gunshot, I had felt a scream building up in my throat. But it never escaped my mouth.
"Nandu?" Pathak uncle's rigorous shaking brings me back to the present, Nyonika's vicious, bloodthirsty eyes still fresh in my mind. "Are you okay?" I nod at him and take the glass of water he is offering.
I take a long sip of the cold water, letting it flow down my insides, easing the churning I can feel in every inch of my body.
The man who Nyonika had murdered so thoughtlessly that night, without so much as batting an eyelid, was Vikram Malhotra.
Manik's father.
.
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.
.
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