Page 58 of Trapped By the Maharaja

“I’m sorry,” Rajesh said, his voice soft, hesitant.

Sanjana’s expression softened. “It’s not your fault. I know how to handle people.”

He smiled faintly, earnest and awkward. “Still. You’re the best person to take on the new hospital wing project along with the rest of the initiatives. I wish they saw that.”

“Thanks, Rajesh,” she said with a smile.

He blushed and looked away.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her.

Why couldn’t I be drawn to someone like Rajesh?

Over the past eight years, she had received a few marriage proposals from kind, accomplished men who were doctors like her. She had told them she wasn’t interested in relationships. That her dream came first.

But deep down, she knew the truth. They weren’t Ram. Her heart still yearned to feel the intense love she had toward Ram in the past.

But such love doesn’t last.

She recalled the heartbreak that followed.

Pushing away those memories, she straightened.

“Don’t worry about me,” she told Rajesh with a smile. “Let’s just hope the Devara Trust representative doesn’t sue me for defamation.”

Rajesh laughed, and the tension in the room finally lightened.

Sanjana exhaled and stood. “See you later, Rajesh.”

???

The rest of the day passed in a blur of steady work.

Sanjana buried herself in patient charts, updates with nurses, and quick consultations in the pediatric wing. By evening, her shoulders ached, her mind heavy with the long day. Yet there was a strange calm in her mind. Work always reminded her of who she was, not who she was being forced to be.

By the time she signed her last chart, the hospital lights had dimmed for the evening shift, casting long shadows across the polished floors and sterile white walls.

She slipped her pen into her pocket and moved briskly down the corridor toward the staff elevator, her coat trailing behind her. She didn’t need to check the back exit. A black SUV with tinted windows would be waiting there.

Her jaw tightened. She’d told the palace-appointed bodyguards more than once that they didn’t need to wait for her, that she could drive her red car to the helicopter site herself. But they still stayed.

She knew why. It must be Ram’s order.

Tonight, she was running late. She still had one recovering pediatric patient to check on before heading out.

Her pace quickened as she reached the staff elevator. The hallway was unusually quiet. She tapped the button, the metal doors sliding open with their usual hum.

Stepping inside, she pressed the button for the ground floor. The doors closed, the overhead lights buzzing faintly above her head.

Suddenly, there was silence. Then, a sudden jolt.

Her breath caught as the elevator dropped sharply. Her stomach lurched. Instinctively, she grabbed the railing as her body lifted a fraction from the floor.

A grinding noise followed, and the elevator stopped abruptly. It was not on a floor, but somewhere in between.

The digital display above the door flickered, second floor and first floor, before turning blank.

Her heart began beating in panic, and she slammed her hand against the emergency button. But there was no response. She pressed it again harder. But still nothing.