Sensitive content ahead. Reader's discretion is advised.
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Third Person's POV
Putting on her green scarf, Nandini looks in the mirror for a while.
"No. The scarf would be a bit too much for my first day." She takes off the scarf and straightens her grey pencil skirt.
Then, properly tucking in her white shirt, she makes her hair into a bun and sighs deeply, finally ready to leave the room and go to Manik's office for her first day there.
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Rolling the paperweight on his hand, Manik lets a slight smirk curve his lips.
He is waiting for Nandini to walk inside his cabin.
He had arrived office earlier today, wanting to set everything up before Nandini arrived here.
He would have let her live in peace if she had demurely accepted her position in his life and had not been ready with that smart mouth of hers at every turn.
'It was because I was being lenient on her. Enough of that now. Enough of feeling guilty for binding her in the unwanted marriage with me. Now, it is time to overcome all the feelings of pain, betrayal, and guilt and focus on showing everyone their proper place so no one would even dare to open their mouth in front of me, let alone cross or betray me.'
Manik's chain of thoughts break when he hears a knock at the door.
"Come in," he says, knowing it is Nandini.
"You called me, Manik?" Nandini asks as she enters his cabin.
Standing up from his chair, Manik walks to where Nandini is standing. He notices her move back as soon as he reaches near her.
"I am your boss in this office, and you are my assistant. Don't you think you need to address me properly?" Manik says to her stiffly, and Nandini sighs, hearing him.
"Sure, Sir. Please tell me why did you call me to your cabin?" Nandini asks.
"Ms. Iyer, you came to the office late today, so you will have to stay an hour later than everyone else to make up for that time.
"And the next thing is one of my assistants is on maternity leave, and you have replaced her for the time being. And my second assistant, well, she had been asking for a leave for a long time now, so I sent her and her whole family on a fully paid one-month vacation so she could relax properly before re-joining the office.
"So, now, you will have to do the double work because I do not intend to hire anyone else to replace the second assistant. After all, I need to keep track of the company expenses too," Manik finishes speaking, and Nandini frowns, hearing him.
"Hmm, funny you did not think of the expenses before sending your assistant and her whole family on a fully paid one-month vacation, but you are worried about hiring a replacement on a basic salary of an assistant." Nandini looks at Manik, pretending to be thoughtful.
"Ms. Iyer, I suggest you get going and complete all the pending works as soon as possible. I hired you to work efficiently, not to run that smart mouth of yours." Manik feels frustrated mount within him due to Nandini's calm demeanor.
'What if--' The thought trails off his mind as he starts stepping closer to Nandini.
She moves further back as he walks forward toward her.
Nandini feels the familiar fear clutch her as Manik starts stepping closer to her. The way he is peering at her, it makes cold sweat break out over her forehead.
As she keeps walking back, his face distorts and morphs into the familiar face that had so many times walked toward her with nothing but a creepy smile on his face.
"Stop behaving like such a stuck-up bitch. You better loosen up the next time I come to visit. Otherwise, I will tell everyone that you tried to lure me."
"Don't make me laugh, Nandini. You can go out right now and tell everyone the entire truth. Then, I will also tell my version of the truth. We both know whose truth will everyone believe, don't we?"
Nandini is startled out of the memories of her past as she feels her back collide against the wall.
She is unable to move back further, and taking the opportunity, Manik immediately keeps his hands over either side of her head, making it impossible for her to escape from the side too.
"I was wondering why nothing I say affected you. Why you always looked so unbothered no matter how rudely I behaved with you?
"But now, seeing you this way, I can say it was all a pretense, wasn't it? You are affected by my presence, but you don't ever let it show on your face. Right?" Manik asks, but he frowns when Nandini keeps staring at him, not saying anything.
He felt there was something wrong with that stare. It was as if she was looking through him and not at him. As if she was lost in some trance.
"Nandini? Are you fine?" He asks, moving back and giving her some space.
When Nandini does not answer him for a while, he keeps his hand over her shoulder. "Nandini? What happened to you?"
Feeling the touch over her shoulder, Nandini breaks out of the horrendous memories of her past.
She immediately pushes Manik away and fists her hands, trying to stabilize her trembling body.
"Don't you dare, Mr. Manik Sisodiya. Don't you dare to invade my personal space ever again. I have kept up with your rudeness and blatant disrespect, but I won't tolerate it if you ever try to touch or even come close to me without my consent.
"If you ever repeat this behavior, I will tell your parents the truth about our marriage and walk out of your house. To hell with you and your reason behind marrying me.
"I won't care if I have to live on the streets after that. But I won't ever let anyone take advantage of me ever again," Nandini finishes speaking, and storms out of the cabin, leaving a bewildered Manik behind.
Once he shakes himself out of the shock of what happened just a few seconds back, Manik slowly walks to his chair and slumps on it.
He had gone near Nandini to intimidate her and get a reaction from her. He never intended to do anything more than that.
In fact, he had been careful not to touch her when he had been close to her. He only did that to make her fear him.
'But that reaction from her was not normal at all,' he thinks, recalling how she had fearfully looked at him, how sweat had broken out on her forehead, and how even the side of her neck had been lined with goosebumps.
He would have understood if she had been just angry. After all, he had invaded her personal space. But the fear that was admixed with her anger confused him.
"I need to find out about it," he thinks aloud, and taking out the phone from his pocket, he dials his private investigator's number.