Chapter 18 — The Engagement Announcement

Samuel had barely finished organizing the files when another message appeared on his tablet.

His expression shifted immediately.

Veeresh noticed.

“What now?”

Samuel looked up carefully. “Your uncle is making a public announcement tomorrow.”

Veeresh’s eyes narrowed slightly. “About what?”

Samuel hesitated for half a second.

“The engagement of Poornima Rathore and Rakesh Dreewan.”

Silence.

Complete silence.

The air inside the penthouse suddenly felt heavier.

Veeresh slowly stood up from the couch, his face unreadable now. But Samuel had worked under him long enough to recognize danger when he saw it.

A calm Veeresh was always more terrifying than an angry one.

“When was this fixed?” Veeresh asked quietly.

“Looks recent, sir. Seems the families finalized it privately first. Tomorrow’s event is the official declaration.”

Veeresh laughed once.

Cold.

Mocking.

“So while she was in my bed last night,” he murmured darkly, “her engagement was already decided.”

Samuel stayed silent.

Because he could already sense where this was going.

Veeresh walked toward the balcony slowly, his mind replaying every moment from the previous night.

Poornima’s trembling voice.

Her exhaustion.

The way she said she wanted to forget everything.

Now he understood why.

She wasn’t trying to escape one bad day.

She was trying to escape her entire future.

Veeresh’s grip tightened around the whiskey glass in his hand.

“Does Rakesh know anything about her condition?”

“No, sir.”

“And the Rathores?”

“They likely know enough to hide it.”

Veeresh’s eyes darkened dangerously.

An unwanted daughter.

Traumatized.

Broken mentally.

Forced into a political marriage alliance.

Something inside him snapped quietly.

Because now this wasn’t only about rivalry anymore.

This was about possession.

And Salvatore Dreewan was not built to watch another man claim something that had already become his obsession.