She waited for the familiar sting of humiliation. For the hollow feeling that came with being made invisible.
It didn't arrive.
What arrived instead was something she recognized far better.
Challenge.
Her chin lifted.
He thought she would break from this. That the weight of a secret marriage would press down on her until she begged him to acknowledge her in public.
But she wouldn’t beg.
She had survived a cheating husband, an emptied account, a family that had hung up the phone on her, and five years of building something from nothing in a country that wasn't hers.
Fine.
Let Bharat Jogra keep her a secret. Let him have his revenge.
She would not break.
CHAPTER 11
The helicopter was quiet except for the steady thrum of its blades.
Yamini sat with her hands folded in her lap, her spine straight, her body tense despite exhaustion weighing on her limbs. Across from her, Bharat sat perfectly still, his posture controlled, his presence filling the small space without effort.
His sunglasses were back on.
She watched him in brief, careful glances. He hadn’t said a word since they’d left the mountain temple. Not during the short walk back to the helicopter. Or when the doors closed. Or even now, as the snow-capped peaks faded behind them.
She didn't try to break the silence.
At some point, exhaustion claimed her. The tension in her body loosened just enough for sleep to take her under.
When she opened her eyes again, the light had shifted.
For a moment, she didn't move, her mind slow and heavy with the particular disorientation of waking somewhere unfamiliar. The steady thrum of the helicopter blades filled her ears. Her neck ached faintly from the angle she had slept at.
Then her gaze drifted to the window.
Her breath caught.
The landscape below was wrong. There weren’t any familiar outlines of buildings or traffic.
Below her, catching the afternoon light, were sandstone domes, manicured grounds and stone walls she recognized.
Her stomach dropped before her mind caught up.
She sat up straighter, her heart beginning to thud.
He isn't taking me home.
She turned to look at him. He was already watching her, or at least facing her direction, his sunglasses back in place and his expression giving nothing away as usual.
“Where are we going?” she asked, though some part of her already knew.
“Rewa Palace,” he said.
