Page 19 of Trapped By the Maharaja
And she hadn’t. She often got into trouble following her motto, but she didn’t think it would lead her into the trap laid out by one man she never wanted to see again.
Ram Devara.
Damn him.
She closed her eyes and pressed the heels of her palms against them until stars burst behind her lids. The pressure in her chest grew tighter. Familiar.
He had haunted her thoughts for eight years.
Eight years of trying to forget the small, twisted smile on his handsome face, the sound of his deep laughter, the way his gaze could burn through a crowd and settle on her like she was the only one that mattered, and the way his arms wrapped around her, making her feel safe and cherished.
It was all a lie.
She had tried to erase him, cut him out like a tumor, but he always bled back into her mind, uninvited and unrelenting.
And now, he was truly back. And he wanted an heir. A child.
A large part of her was still numb with shock at what he wanted. It was ridiculous and outrageous that he even had a contract drawn up for it.
Her eyes fell on the coffee table, on top of which was the sleek, black folder with the Devara royal crest logo shining in gold. She stared at it like it was a poisonous snake that would bite her.
She walked away and pressed her forehead to the cool glass window, her breath fogging it faintly. Wiping the fog away, she watched the storm continue to rage outside.
Despite everything, despite her fury, her shock, and her exhaustion, she still remembered what it felt like to fall for him back then.
The handsome, intriguing guy who chased after her. She had rejected his advances, but he was relentless. He pursued her again and again. Until her common sense was drowned by sweet, thoughtful gestures and stolen glances. Until she’d stopped listening to the voice inside that warned her, he would destroy her.
And in the end… he had.
She had barely survived the last time. Now, he was back. Colder. Ruthless. And more dangerous.
I won’t let him destroy me.
She sucked in a deep breath and was about to step away from the window when she saw it.
Parked in the shadows across the street was a sleek, black SUV. It was the same SUV that had dropped her from the hospital a couple of hours before.
She recalled when she had stormed out of the conference room and gone down, Rajesh had been waiting for her. He had offered to drop her home. But before she could respond, the door to the hospital lobby had opened, and two burly, unsmiling men in black suits came towards her.
“Dr. Shetty, we’ve been instructed to drop you home,” one of them had said simply, his voice like gravel. “Orders from His Highness.”
Rajesh had tried to protest, but the bodyguards barely acknowledged his existence. She didn’t argue because she was numb with shock and exhaustion. She had followed them as they escorted her to the SUV.
And now, it seemed like they had been ordered to guard her.
Sanjana’s jaw tightened.
Does he think I will run away?
She didn’t plan to run away or escape Ram. This time, she was determined to fight him.
If Ram Devara thought he could simply break her again by trapping her into marriage, then the Maharaja was about to learn a hard lesson.
CHAPTER 9
Ram stood by the large glass wall in his office overlooking the city. He could see the Devara palace seated majestically on top of a hill.
Behind him, his personal assistant and the legal counsel sat quietly at the conference table, waiting with the original version of the contract in front of them. All it needed was Sanjana’s signature. If she agreed, and if she didn’t tear it apart first.
