Page 28 of Trapped By the Maharaja

Ram sat behind the home office desk, looking at the large screen, half a dozen executives leaned forward in their squares, the tension in their postures betraying the unease they tried to hide.

The CFO cleared his throat. “Your Highness, the patterns confirm it. Global Fortune’s bids were not luck or coincidence. They’re deliberately targeting our contracts. For months, we believed the narrow margins were market corrections. But they’ve been shadowing every move we make.”

Another director spoke. “It wasn’t until you suggested releasing falsified numbers that we exposed them.

We’ve confirmed they tracked the leak and undercut those false bids.

That mistake cost them three contracts worth over four hundred million dollars.

Our actual bids went untouched and we secured everything. ”

Ram leaned back, steepling his fingers, his expression unreadable. “And you thought it was a coincidence before?”

The executives shifted uneasily. One finally admitted, “We did, sir. The bids were close, but we believed it was market competition.”

At first, Ram had also believed his company's losing bids for infrastructure projects might be due to heavy competition. But when Bharat’s steel exports began facing a similar issue, he knew it was a targeted attack.

Ram looked at the screen. “This is not random. Someone is watching us. Someone with access to our numbers. They knew our bid margins. Someone has infiltrated our confidential information.”

One of the younger executives shifted uncomfortably. “Do you believe the leak is internal?”

Ram’s jaw clenched. “There is no other explanation. No outsider should know our bids before they’re placed. Fortune is winning by margins too narrow to be chance. Someone inside is feeding them.”

Silence settled heavily.

Ram’s gaze swept over them. “Until I have a name, we’ll continue the false leaks. Increase them. Bury Fortune in misinformation. I want them losing money.”

The CFO nodded. “Understood, Your Highness. We’ll expand the decoy strategy immediately.”

“Good.” Ram’s tone left no room for hesitation. “And tighten the circle. No one outside this room touches the numbers.”

A quiet, collective nod answered him. The call ended with murmurs of “yes, sir” and “as you command,” the screen flickering dark until the room was still again.

For a long moment, Ram sat unmoving, his gaze fixed on the maps that tracked his business empire across continents. His instincts had been right. The shadow circling his empire wasn’t a coincidence. It was deliberate, coordinated and personal.

If there were a traitor inside, Ram would find out. And when he did, Global Fortune won’t be the only one to pay.

Ram picked up his phone.

A new message glowed across the screen from his head of security.

Your Highness, Dr. Shetty has just left the hospital. She’s running late today. Hasn’t eaten anything since surgery this morning. She is now heading to the corporate building in her personal vehicle.

Attached were surveillance pictures. Sanjana behind the wheel of her small red car, hair tied in a ponytail, her profile illuminated faintly in the streetlights.

Ram’s frown was immediate. He tapped a message.

Why are her windows down?

The reply came seconds later.

Sir, her car’s air conditioning is not functioning. She insists on using it regardless.

Ram exhaled through his nose, irritation sharp and controlled. Of course. Her endless stubbornness, her refusal to step into his world fully. While he had an endless collection of armored luxury cars and bulletproof SUVs, Sanjana still clung to her battered red car.

It wasn’t freedom. It was weakness. And weakness, in his world, was dangerous.

Have the car repaired by tomorrow morning, Ram typed, his fingers decisive. Do it without her knowledge.

There was an immediate reply. Yes, Your Highness.

He set the phone down, the muscles in his jaw easing slightly.

His gaze drifted to the tall window outside of which darkness had fallen.

Sanjana.

Her defiance got under his skin more than Global Fortune’s games or any other business problems ever could. She fought him at every turn, bristled at his control, and clung to her independence like it could protect her.

He knew she hated him. But she also felt desire.

He saw it in her eyes and felt it in her racing heartbeat, even as she fought the desire with everything she had.

He knew what she was planning. He’d seen the determination in her eyes when she said they should wait to announce their marriage to the public. And she even kept distance from him even as desire burned between them.

She wanted to make him end their contract.

She hoped he would walk away from her willingly. And release her.

But he would never break the contract.

She was already bound to him. As his wife. As his queen. And soon, as his lover.

She was his. And he wasn’t letting her go.

Not this time.