A part of her screamed inside that she should turn and leave. But another part of her goaded her to confront him.
She didn’t want to work each day filled with uncertainty that she might be fired.
The office was minimalist with clean lines and no personal touches. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the sprawling plant.
Two men in suits stood taking notes on their devices. Bharat Jogra was seated behind a sleek desk, a document in his hand, and he didn’t look up.
But he made a brief gesture as though sensing her presence.
His assistants exited silently, and the door shut softly behind them.
The silence that followed stretched, deliberate, and heavy.
He still did not look at her.
Yamini took a deep breath. Before she lost her nerve, she spoke. “I wanted to talk to you… about our past. I am not entirely sure that you recognized me. I am Yamini Gaur… your ex-fiancée.”
A part of her expected him to look shocked. But he didn’t say anything.
“I ran away from the wedding because you were cold,” she said, the words coming faster now. “You barely spoke to me. It was obvious you didn’t want me. You were doing your duty. The man I left with… he wanted me. He proposed. I married him instead.”
There was silence until he spoke.
“And how did your marriage turn out, Princess Yamini?” Bharat Jogra asked calmly.
The title cut her deep, reminding her what that hasty, rebellious marriage cost her.
She stiffened. “I’m divorced. He cheated. Emptied my accounts and left me with nothing.”
Bharat turned a page.
That was all. No reaction. Not even gloating that she had suffered after running away from him.
Something in her snapped.
She stepped closer to the desk, knowing no one was allowed that close to him.
He still didn’t react.
She didn’t know what came over her. Maybe it was the lack of proper sleep. Or the strange dreams from last night. Or the trust call. But all of it sharpened into something reckless.
“Marry me,” she said. “I need to marry a royal and have a child before I turn thirty-one. Terms of my late grandmother’s inheritance. Right now, you are the only royal I know. I heard you have similar timelines for an heir.”
Part of her was shocked that she had said those words to him. But adrenaline pumped through her, making her reckless, wanting to see a reaction on his face. Anger or disgust. Some kind of reaction other than the cold indifference.
There was silence.
Then she felt the shift. It was subtle, but she sensed it in the way he set the document down with precision.
Then he looked up. His golden-brown eyes, intense and unreadable, locked onto her face.
She held her breath, waiting for an explosion.
“I accept,” he said.
Yamini froze. “What?”
“I accept your proposal,” Bharat repeated. “On my terms.”
