In the end, Dominic got out of eating supper, but he still had to


    be there.


    Inside the dining hall, both sides of the table were fully seated. A variety of dishes had been prepared, includingte-night staples like pizza and fried chicken. The aroma of food filled


    the entire room.


    Jordan sat at the host''s seat, with Dominic seated on his right. Meanwhile, Vespera and Serena remained standing in a corner of the dining hall.


    As she scanned the room, Vespera noticed that Dahlia had been seated next to Dominic. Clearly, Jordan hadn''t given up on his n.


    She turned her gaze away from Dahlia and focused on the woman Jordan had made eye contact with earlier.


    Strangely, the person Jordan had been scheming with wasn''t one of the four "elite members" he had invited, nor was it Serena.


    Instead, it was a morous woman with striking features, though her beauty showed signs of stic surgery. She was now seated beside Dahlia


    Shortly after, everyone started digging in.


    "Mr. Reid, why don''t you have some tomato soup? It''s pretty healthy for ate- night snack," the woman offered.


    She stood up anddled some tomato soup into a bowl, then handed it to Dominic. Her long. nails slid past the edge of the ceramic bowl. From afar, it looked like the bowl was hot, and she had caught it just in time before it spilled.


    Observing the scene, Vespera suspected that she had spiked the soup with something hidden between her nails.


    Her suspicion grew after seeing Jordan exchange nces with her. She carefully considered the implications.


    Dominic thanked her politely but didn''t touch the bowl. No matter how much the others. coaxed him i... trying the magnificent tomato soup, which they imed was unlike any other, Dominic didn''t budge.


    He was hard to budge.


    After seeing his reaction, Jordan seemed to have given up.


    Dahlia made a few attempts to catch Dominic''s attention, but each one failed miserably. Eventually, everyone realized their efforts were pointless.


    Vespera let out a quiet sigh of relief. Just when she thought she could finally rx, she saw the


    same woman seated beside Dahlia rise from her chair.


    She left the dining hall, and as she walked past, Vespera caught a subtle whiff of cherry wine. To her surprise, the woman never returned.


    Atst, the supper came to an end.


    Dominic stood to leave and bid Jordan goodbye. Jordan walked him to the door while the others followed.


    Vespera was waiting by the door, watching Dominic wrap up the conversation. Suddenly, she spotted the same woman outside, strolling along the path beyond the vi with a bottle of water in her hand. Her steps looked unsteady.


    Since she had failed the task Jordan assigned to her, Vespera assumed she stepped outside to catch her breath.


    After saying goodbye to everyone, Dominic and Vespera finally returned to their vi.


    As soon as they stepped inside, Vespera went searching for water. She had been so focused and. alert all night that she hadn''t had a single sip of water. Her thirst was unbearable.


    "I''m kinda hungry. Could you get me something to eat?" Dominic asked. Hearing that, she wondered what happened to all that talk about a healthy lifestyle. She set her water on the table and checked the fridge.


    As expected, there were no ingredients to cook with. They had ordered room service for dinner earlier, and the staff hadn''t expected them to do any cooking


    There was only fruit in the fridge. She washed it and brought the te to Dominic.


    He stared at the te of fruit and frowned slightly. "Ms. Gildon, it seems you''re putting in less effort with each passing day."