Page 94 of Trapped By the Maharaja
Ram Devara wasn’t a prince from a fairytale. He was the maharaja who had trapped her into a contract marriage.
She listened as they gushed, nodded where she had to, then politely excused herself to return to the wards and back to the one corner of life she still controlled.
She was finishing her rounds when she spotted Dr. Rao striding toward her, Rajesh trailing a few steps behind. Her body tensed, bracing instinctively.
Dr. Rao stopped, posture rigid, voice clipped. “Dr. Shetty… Your Highness.” The title almost stuck in his throat. “Congratulations on your marriage.”
The words were forced out of his mouth.
“Thank you, Dr. Rao,” she replied evenly, keeping her expression composed.
He gave a curt nod and moved on, lab coat flaring as he turned.
Rajesh lingered. He watched his father disappear before turning back, his voice softer. “I always knew you were meant for bigger things, Sanjana.”
Something in his tone caught her. Beneath the faint smile was an undertone of sadness, of something left unsaid. She’d always sensed his quiet admiration, though she knew he’d never act on it.
Sanjana’s smile warmed. “Thank you, Rajesh.”
His lips curved, but his eyes held that flicker of something said before he excused himself and walked away.
For a moment, her chest tightened. She wished she’d fallen for someone like Rajesh over the past eight years. Someone sweet, steady, and safe. Someone who didn’t have the power to break her heart.
But the truth was, she had never been able to.
The only man she had ever truly allowed into her heart was Ram Devara. And Ram had broken her heart in a way that left scars no one could see, but she carried them every day.
I won’t allow him into my heart again.
Whatever heat still sparked between them, whatever magnetic pull dragged her closer in moments of weakness, it meant nothing. She would play the role of his wife and fulfill the terms of the contract demanded, and then walk away.
Free.
Her grip tightened on the files in her arms. She had three years. Three years to keep her heart locked away from Ram Devara and her life under her own control.
???
The staff room was relatively quiet at the end of her shift, the hum of the air conditioner the only sound as Sanjana slipped the files of the new pediatric wing into her bag. She had just reached for her coat when a woman’s mocking voice cut through the silence.
“Congratulations to the Devara Maharani.”
Sanjana turned, expecting another confrontation.
But Sania Kolli stood in the doorway, a sly smile curving her lips. Sanjana’s breath caught when she saw that Sania wasn’t alone. There was a man standing next to her.
Rishan Devara.
His nose still swollen and badly bruised from Ram’s punch at the palace. The sight of Rishan inside her hospital, beside Sania of all people, sent unease crawling across her skin.
“Sanjana,” Rishan said quickly, stepping forward. “I need to speak with you. It’s urgent.”
Irritation flared inside her. “I don’t want to talk, Rishan. I have to leave.”
She tried to leave, but he stepped into her path, blocking her. “Please listen to me, Sanjana. You need to know that Ram married you under false pretenses. There’s a decree in the Devara royal trust. Unless he’s married and produces an heir before his thirty-fifth birthday, he loses everything. He can’t remain Maharaja.”
She stared at Rishan as she processed the information.
“He’s using you, Sanjana,” Rishan pressed. “You’re nothing but a stepping stone to what he truly wants—the Devara Maharaja title. Once he has an heir, you’ll mean nothing. He’ll leave you within three years.”
