His forbidden queen

Chapter 3

He did what?”

Raya stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of her design studio. Around her, digital drafting tables glowed with neon blueprints, and racks of expensive fabric samples lined the walls.

Priya, her assistant, swallowed hard, clutching her tablet tightly. “He accepted the contract, Raya. But he signed it with a hand-written amendment. He doubled your base fee. The Rajwansh Empire has transferred a massive advance to our corporate account.”

Raya’s eyes narrowed into slits. A normal entrepreneur would be celebrating a multi-million dollar windfall. But Raya knew men like Trinay Rajwansh. Wealth wasn’t just money to them; it was a leash.

“He thinks he can buy my compliance,” Raya

whispered, her voice dangerously calm. “He

thinks by overpaying me, I’ll stop telling him his ideas are sterile.” She walked over to her desk, picking up a leather-bound sketchbook. “When is the first site inspection?”

“In forty-five minutes,” Priya said nervously. “At the heritage estate site. His chief operating officer said Mr. Rajwansh expects you to be there personally. He… doesn’t want to meet with your junior designers.”

Raya checked her luxury watch. It was already past noon, and the Delhi heat outside was brutal. “Tell the driving team to get the SUV ready. If Trinay Rajwansh wants to play games with my contract, I’ll make sure he learns exactly how expensive my presence really is.”

The site of The Rajwansh Horizon was a massive, sprawling fortress-turned-palace on the outskirts of the city. Built centuries ago, its red sandstone walls were steeped in history, but currently, it was a chaotic war zone of scaffolding, roaring bulldozers, and swirling dust.

When Raya’s sleek black SUV pulled past the heavily guarded gates, she saw him.

Trinay stood in the center of the courtyard, surrounded by engineers and project managers. He had rolled up the sleeves of his crisp white shirt, revealing strong, muscular forearms. Even in a dusty construction zone, he looked entirely in command, a white hardhat resting easily in his hand.

Raya stepped out of her air-conditioned vehicle, the thick summer heat hitting her instantly. She adjusted her sunglasses, took a hardhat from a waiting security guard, and walked directly toward the group.

Trinay noticed the sudden shift in her eyes. He didn’t step back, but his tone softened by a fraction, losing its mocking edge. “You’re guarded, Ms. Singhaniya.

You treat every design discussion like a declaration of war. Why?”

Raya forced a cold, polite smile to her face, stepping sideways to break the proximity. “Because in my experience, Mr. Rajwansh, men with empires like yours don’t look for partners. They look for possessions. And I am nobody’s possession.”

She walked toward the next corridor, her hardhat firmly in place, her silhouette sharp against the dusty light.

Trinay stood in the empty ballroom, his eyes following her retreating form. His hand tightened around his hardhat. He had entered this project wanting a designer who could build a masterpiece. But looking at the fierce, unbreakable wall that Raya Singhaniya built around herself, he realized he wanted something far more complicated.

He wanted to know what it took her to drop her guard down.

To be continued......