She inhaled a deep breath, trying to push away the thoughts of the ruthless maharaja from her mind. But once again, it was a losing game.
She had once again woken up with her head on Ram’s bare chest, feeling the steady rise and fall of his breathing and the heat of his body against hers.
But this time, she hadn’t even dared to look at him. Instead, she’d fled straight into the bathroom, straight into her clothes, and out the door.
Ram probably thought she was a coward, refusing to face him. But she didn’t care. She had to keep her distance from him.
“I will touch you. However, I want and wherever I want. With my hands and with my mouth. Everywhere. Until you are begging, gasping and screaming under me.”
The memory of his words burned hot, and she forced them aside. She inhaled another deep breath, reminding herself not to lose herself in the man who had trapped her.
“You think you’ve won, don’t you, Dr. Shetty?” a familiar voice sneered.
Sanjana turned to see Dr. Rao inside the break room. Right next to him was Sania Kolli in her designer suit.
Sanjana frowned slightly. “Excuse me?”
Sania stepped forward, her heels clicking against the tile. She looked Sanjana up and down with a curled smile. “Don’t act so innocent. Everyone saw how the Trust announcement was made in your favor.” Her laugh was brittle. “Do you even realize how unqualified you are compared to me?”
“I’m a pediatric surgeon, Miss Kolli,” Sanjana reminded calmly.
Sania’s eyes flashed with fury.
But Dr. Rao came to Sania’s defense. “So what? That doesn’t make you qualified to take on something with a Royal Trust board!”
Sanjana didn’t say anything, not wanting to engage in an argument.
Sania sneered. “I know how women like you operate, Dr. Shetty. You charmed the Devara Trust representative into handing you the role. You probably batted your lashes and whispered promises into his ear.”
Sanjana froze. Her calm morphed into slow, simmering fury.
“You’re accusing me of seducing a sixty-year-old married man,” she said flatly.
“If the shoe fits,” Sania said. “Don’t think that no one noticed you looked different on the day of the board meeting. You left your hair down and you wore expensive pearl earrings that cost more than your yearly salary. At first, I thought they were fake, but now it makes sense. They were purchased by your… sugar daddy.”
Sanjana stood, her fists curling at her sides. “Fine. Yes, I seduced him. We’ve been having a scandalous affair. I told him to choose me.” Her voice was sharp with sarcasm.
Dr. Rao’s face turned crimson in shock because he most likely believed her words. Sanjana didn’t care.
“You are a whore,” Sania spat in fury. “Don’t think you’ve won. Because I will see to it that you will be thrown out soon one way or the other.”
Sania Kolli swept out, followed by Dr. Rao, leaving the door swinging.
Sanjana stood there, pinching the bridge of her nose, willing herself to calm down. She almost laughed at the absurdity of the accusation that she was having an affair because of the way she dressed. She had left her hair that day to hide the bruise on her neck caused by Ram. She also didn’t know that the pearl earrings she wore that day cost so much.
She shook her head, wondering how Sania would react if she wore large diamonds and many other beautiful jewelry pieces kept in her closet for her to wear to work and events.
She would probably lose her mind.
The door creaked again.
Rajesh stepped in, holding a paper cup of chai. His eyes darted nervously. “I… saw my dad storm out with Sania. What happened?”
Sanjana gave a humorless laugh and sat back on the couch. “She accused me of seducing the Trust’s sixty-year-old director. I agreed, of course. Scandalous affairs and all. Your father believed it.”
Rajesh groaned softly. “Oh no.”
“Yeah,” she said dryly with a laugh. “Hopefully, they don’t call the poor man’s wife. Or try to catch him and me in the act.”