Page 60 of Trapped By the Maharaja

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.

CHAPTER 29

Sanjana stepped into the Devara Palace, feeling relieved to have reached home. Lalita and Kumari approached immediately, bowing.

“Maharani, shall we serve your dinner in the dining hall?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m not hungry.” Her stomach was still slightly unsettled from the elevator accident.

Lalita and Kumari hesitated, exchanging glances, but Sanjana didn’t stop. Giving them a small reassuring smile, she went up the grand staircase and walked down the hall toward the master suite, eager to take a long, hot shower under the rainwater setting.