Page 47 of Claimed By the Maharaja
The line disconnected.
Yamini lowered the phone slowly.
A thought occurred to her.
What if this isn’t an intimidation technique? What if this is real? What if he really wants to marry me?
She immediately pushed it away.
Bharat Singh Jogra was not just any man. He was a maharaja, and men like him did not make decisions like this overnight. They did not get married without their family’s approval, especially not to a woman who had once humiliated them publicly by running away.
There was no way his mother would agree to this. Not within a day, and especially not to her.
The carefully staged contract and a few calls were meant to keep her unsettled.
Yamini’s lips pressed together, her earlier irritation returning, steadier now, more certain.
A styling team wasn’t going to show up at her apartment.
This was all part of the intimidation tactic.
He was waiting for her to break.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the strap of her bag.
He thought the contract would scare her or tempt her. He thought the speed, the scale, the sheer weight of it would make her hesitate, make her question herself, make her step back.
He thought she would do what she had done once before and disappear when things became too real.
Not this time.
She wouldn’t step back.
She wanted to see how far Maharaja Bharat Singh Jogra was willing to go.
CHAPTER 10
Yamini’s heart pounded.
The mountains rose around her in a vast, endless stretch of white as the helicopter began to descend.
“This can’t be real,” she whispered.
She wasn’t entirely sure if she was referring to her surroundings or the circumstances.
She closed her eyes momentarily and opened them again, but the view remained the same.
She wasn’t dreaming.
The weight of the jewelry and the heavy bridal lehenga pressing against her also reminded her it was real.
Just hours ago, when it was barely sunrise, her tiny apartment had been invaded by a team of stylists. Stylists, she had been so sure wouldn’t come despite the call from Imran.
Before she could object, they stepped in and took over. They dressed her quickly but efficiently, layer after layer. First, a deep red and white silk lehenga with borders and cuffs worked in fine gold tilla embroidery that caught every shift of light. Then came the traditional jewelry, including thick gold bangles, a layered necklace, heavy crescent-shaped earrings that nearly reached her shoulders, and a tarang headpiece, which was carefully pinned into her braided hair, adorned with small gold ornaments.
Then, over all of it, a long coat which was dark, heavy, and practical. She was also asked to wear boots.
She hadn’t protested. She'd simply gone along with it, only to show she wouldn’t back down. And to see how far the intimidation tactic would go.
