Page 80 of A Royal Deception

“She will thrive, not just survive,” insisted the doctor. “But she has taken the news about not being able to bear children very badly. I have advised therapy, of course. Individual and couples therapy.”

When I returned to the room, Shivina was still pretending to be asleep.

“I know you’re awake, Shivina. We need to talk about what the doctor just told me.”

She opened her eyes, and I could see she was holding back tears.

“I’m sorry, baby,” I said, taking her hand gently.

“You don’t have to be sorry. This isn’t your problem. You’re free to start your family as soon as the divorce comes through,” she said coldly.

“There will be no divorce, Shivina Singh Rathore. You tricked me into marrying you, and now you’re stuck with me for life,” I said fiercely.

“I don’t need your pity, Your Highness,” she snarled.

“Good, because I’m not giving you any pity,” I snarled back.

She let out a bitter, mirthless laugh.

“The whole point of our marriage was for me to give you an heir. Now that it has been established that I cannot help propagate the Mirpur bloodline, why do you want to stay married to me? Get rid of me and have your heir with another woman.”

“But I don’t want a child if you’re not the mother,” I argued.

“Well, I can’t give you any kids,” she cried hoarsely.

“Shivina, you’ve been through major life-saving surgery, and I’m just happy you made it through. In the circumstances, I don’t think not being able to bear children naturally is the tragedy you think it is. As long as you’re alive and healthy, we can just adopt enough kids to make a whole cricket team. I don’tcarehowI have kids, as long as you’re the mother,” I said, trying to hold onto my patience.

“Why?Why do you want me to be the mother of your children?” she asked, looking confused.

“Because I love you, you maddening, annoying, gorgeous woman,” I yelled. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and I know I was all kinds of fool for telling you to leave me. But I was just trying to protect you from becoming collateral damage in this war. Instead, I fucked everything up and nearly lost you.”

She looked stunned and pale, and I wondered if I had given her a heart attack. It was just my luck to kill the woman I loved while telling her I loved her. I really was fate’s red-headed stepchild, I thought worriedly.

Then Shivina gave a loud gasp.

“You’re… not joking,” she said in wonder.

“Is this the face of a man who is joking?” I bit out, pointing a finger at my face.

She shook her head slowly.

“No. It’s the ravaged face of a tortured soul,” she said softly.

“What do you expect? The love of my life has been fighting forherlife for the past two weeks, and while she smiles even at the ward boy who changes the flowers on her bedside table, she can’t spare a single smile for me,” I said plaintively.

Shivina gave me a tremulous smile, and it was as if the sun had come out again after a long time.

“Are you sure you’re not just feeling guilty about getting me shot?” she asked.

“I feel terribly guilty about that, but I knew I loved you way before you got shot, so there! Baby, if you had died on that operating table, you would have taken everything that mattered from my life. I would have lived on as a shell of a man, existingjust for Zarna’s sake. Because I’d still take care of her. But I wouldn’t be alive.”

“This! This is what made me fall head over heels in love with you,” she said with a sob. “It wasn’t your smouldering good looks or your title. It was the way you accepted Zarna like she was your own little sister.”

“And I thought it was my skill in the bedroom that tipped the scale,” I teased, trying to hide how her words made me feel.

For the first time, it felt like life had purpose and joy. I pulled out my grandmother’s sapphire and diamond ring I had been carrying around for the past couple of weeks.

“Shivina Rathore, will you stay married to me?” I asked as I held it out. “And will you raise a cricket team full of kids with me?”

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