Page 46 of Trapped By the Maharaja

Sanjana woke up to a steady heartbeat.

She lifted her eyes and found Ram watching her. The intensity of his dark eyes made her throat tighten.

“Why did you cheat on me, Sanjana?”

The question hit her like a physical blow.

Sanjana froze, her breath catching in her throat. She closed her eyes, dragging in a breath, forcing her voice to steady though it trembled at the edges.

“I didn’t,” she whispered. Then she forced herself to meet his gaze. “Not the way you think.”

His eyes flashed but he didn’t say anything.

Sanjana’s chest burned as the memories flooded back.

“I saw you, Ram,” she said, her voice breaking. “With Keya.”

His jaw tightened, but she didn’t stop.

“I went to your apartment that night. I needed to talk to you, and I let myself in. And there you were.” Her throat tightened, her heart aching with remembered fury and pain. “You and Keya were asleep naked in your bed.”

She recalled staring at them, feeling like the floor had been ripped out from under her. Everything she had believed and everything she trusted had shattered in that moment.

Ram’s jaw clenched, the muscle ticking, but he said nothing. His silence only made her press on, as though if she stopped now, she would suffocate.

“I was angry. I was… heartbroken.” Her voice cracked.

“And then Rishan found me. He told me that Keya and you were sleeping together for a while and that he had seen you both kissing at the party and leaving together. He offered to help me get back at you. So I did the only thing I thought would make you hurt as much as I was hurting.”

She recalled the fire that had driven her to destroy everything between them.

Ram’s dark eyes blazed as he looked at her. For the first time in years, the wound between them lay bare, raw and open, bleeding into the present.

The silence was unbearable, suffocating.

When he finally spoke, his voice was low and guttural. “Keya drugged me.”

Sanjana’s heart pounded in shock. “What?”

“When I saw her next to me in bed, I threatened her. I told her she would be expelled from the university and her father’s business would be destroyed because most of his work comes from the Devara Trust companies.

” His jaw clenched. “Keya confessed then. She told me she had drugged my drink at a campus party, hoping it would force my hand in marriage.”

Sanjana didn’t join Ram at the campus parties because she was busy studying and preparing for her medical exams, and also because she didn’t enjoy parties. But she had always insisted that Ram hang out with his friends.

“Nothing happened between Keya and me because I was too drugged to remain awake,” he said. “And later, she begged me to keep quiet as it would ruin her reputation.”

Her heart pounded and her pulse roared in her ears, listening to the truth.

Sanjana’s chest ached, tears burning behind her eyes.

“I should have told you,” he continued. “But I thought I had everything under control and there was no need to bother or worry you.”

Ram’s gaze held hers. And there was something inside his eyes that made her heart ache further.

“Why didn’t you confront me?” he asked. “You are not the kind to silently suffer. You always argued with me and told me off when you thought I was being too arrogant or commanding.”

Sanjana’s heart ached painfully.

She had fallen in love with Ram before she knew he was the Devara royal heir. And when Ram had confessed about his identity to her, a part of her had always felt dread.

It felt like a fairytale dream with the handsome prince falling in love with an ordinary girl. It was too dreamlike to be true in reality.

So when she saw him naked in bed with Keya, she had immediately clung to the betrayal and to the hurt, because it felt easier than admitting that she never truly belonged in his world.

“I always felt like I could never belong in your world,” she whispered.

Ram froze.

Her heart squeezed inside her chest, but she forced herself to continue. “I still feel the same way, Ram.”

The silence that followed was heavy.

Ram’s jaw clenched, fury flashing in his eyes. “That’s your excuse?” he growled.

Sanjana flinched.

“That’s why you destroyed us?” His hands curled into fists at his sides. “Not because I betrayed you, but because you decided you didn’t belong in my world?”

Her lips trembled, but she stayed silent, unable to defend herself.

Ram’s nostrils flared, his eyes dark with rage. He pulled her closer until she could feel the heat rolling off him, his presence overwhelming.

Her pulse hammered in her ears, but she forced herself to steady her breathing. To summon every shred of composure she had left.

“We never belonged together, Ram,” she said. “Not in the past… and certainly not now.”

His eyes flashed, but she pressed on. “I’ll fulfill the terms of the contract, but when it’s done, we’ll part ways. As planned.”

For a moment, silence hung heavy between them, thick enough to choke. Ram’s face was carved from stone, his jaw tight, his lips a hard line.

He didn’t move. He didn’t speak.

But Sanjana could feel the weight of his fury, the dangerous restraint in the way his fists flexed at his sides, the way his chest rose and fell as though each breath was a battle to keep control.

Unable to bear it any longer, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, her bare feet pressing against the plush carpet. Her throat ached, but she refused to let her voice break. She refused to show him the way his gaze cut her open.

Without another word, she turned.

Every step toward the bathroom was heavy, her skin prickling under the burn of his cold, furious stare.

Her fingers shook as she closed the bathroom door behind her.

Only then, alone, did she let out the shaky breath she’d been holding, pressing her palms against the cool marble counter, her reflection staring back at her with hollow eyes.

I can’t fall for him again. Not after everything. Not when this marriage is nothing but a contract. I’ll survive these three years. I have to.