Chapter 59
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Yamini walked fast.
The marble corridor stretched long and quiet under the chandelier light. The staff smiled when they saw her. When they saw her expression, the smiles faded.
She didn't stop.
Her pulse was still loud in her ears.
He hadn't denied it. Hadn't defended himself. Hadn't even raised his voice. That calmness had cut deeper than anything else could have.
She pushed open her bedroom door harder than she meant to. It swung back and hit the wall.
The room was warm and softly lit. The mountains were pale beyond the tall windows.
She had started to think of this room as hers.
Her throat tightened.
Her eyes went to the connecting door.
You signed it.
His voice. Steady and controlled.
Financial penalties. Public consequences. Reputational damage.
Her hands were trembling—not from fear but from humiliation.
She wasn't staying because she wanted to. She was staying because she had trapped herself.
She had walked into his world thinking she was making her own choices, but she had handed him every advantage without reading a single page.
She looked at the connecting door.
The door he locked when he wanted distance. The door she had unlocked when she wanted something she hadn't been willing to name. The door he crossed at midnight without asking.
She had let all of it happen. Every single part of it.
Her jaw tightened.
He could enforce a contract. He would not enforce her. Not anymore.
She crossed the room and gripped the carved wooden armchair beside the window. It was heavier than it looked. But her fury gave her strength, and she dragged it across the floor. The legs scraped hard against the marble. The sound tore through the quiet.
She shoved the chair under the connecting door handle and pushed until it held firm.
She stepped back and tested it. It held firm.
If he came tonight, he would know. And for once, he would not simply walk through.
Her hand then moved to her throat. She unclasped the pendant and set it on the nightstand.