Page 7 of Trapped By the Maharaja

The heavy door clicked shut behind Sanjana with a finality that reverberated through the silent room.

Ram didn’t move.

He sat perfectly still in the high-backed leather chair at the head of the table, the only sign of life the slow curl of his fingers into a fist on the table’s edge.

The echo of Sanjana’s footsteps in the corridor beyond faded, swallowed by the hum of the building’s central air and distant rain tapping against the high glass windows.

Armaan, his assistant, stepped into the room.

“Sir,” Armaan said cautiously.

Ram’s eyes flicked to him, cold and unreadable. “Make sure Dr. Shetty takes the car I arranged. I want her back in her apartment within thirty minutes,” Ram ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Armaan said, immediately tapping a message on his sleek device.

“And assign a legal team to her,” Ram added, standing up and adjusting the cuff of his charcoal sleeve. “Have them brief her thoroughly on her rights, her risks, and what happens if she refuses the contract.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Ram walked toward the doors without another word.

The hallway outside was silent, but the tension clung to the walls like fog. His bodyguards fell into step behind him immediately, flanking him as he descended the elevator to the ground floor.

When the polished doors opened, a group of hospital board members and senior staff stood in the lobby with tense, uncertain looks on their faces.

Dr. Rao stepped forward, his expression a mask of professional courtesy barely hiding his anger.

“Your Highness,” he began, “I must emphasize that Sanjana Shetty has a documented history of insubordination. She has broken protocols repeatedly. Today’s events were merely the final breach.

She should be penalized, if not dismissed outright—”

“Dr. Rao,” Ram said, his voice soft but razor-edged. “The Devara Trust now owns this hospital.”

The air changed in an instant. The staff froze, as if the building itself had gone silent to listen.

Ram continued. “Effective immediately, Dr. Sanjana Shetty is under the protection of the Devara Trust. She is not to be disciplined. She is not to be fired.”

Dr. Rao’s eyes flared with disbelief. “But… with all due respect, Your Highness… she is a repeat offender—”

“You’re welcome to resign,” Ram said coldly.

The color drained from Dr. Rao’s face.

The others didn’t speak.

Ram didn’t wait for their stammered acknowledgments. He walked past them, his bodyguards parting the sea of stunned silence as he exited the hospital into the heavy rain.

His car was waiting with the door open. Ram stepped in, water sliding off his shoes onto the pristine floor mat.

The door shut behind him with a soft thud, shutting off the heavy rain.

Inside the car, the rain was only a murmur. He leaned back against the leather seat.

His phone buzzed.

The head of his security spoke crisply through the line. “She’s home, sir. Escorted safely. The car waited until she entered the building. Her apartment lights have just turned on.”

“Good.” Ram ended the call and set the phone aside.

The city blurred past the tinted windows, the raging storm outside reflecting his emotions.

He wasn’t a man given to emotional turbulence. Rage was a weakness. Desire a distraction. But tonight, everything coursed beneath the surface like molten lava.

She had slapped him.

And yet, instead of fury, he felt a dark satisfaction. He had wanted to feel her touch. Wanted to hear her voice spit hatred at him. Wanted to see that defiance blaze in her eyes. It was the same fire that once made him fall madly in love.

She hadn’t changed much.

But he had. He was no longer foolish enough to believe in love or happy endings.

He leaned his head back, closing his eyes. He felt the rage and desire that always simmered when he thought of her over the years. He felt the twisted need to have her under his control. He felt the satisfaction of pulling the strings that had brought her to him.

But most of all, he felt the thrill of inevitability.

Eight years.

It took him eight years to bring her back into his life.

This time, she wouldn't be able to escape him.

He won’t let her.