?Chapter 220:


    I wanted to offer more encouragement, but Lily wasn’t in the mood to listen. She quickly made an excuse. “I haven’t cleaned my room today, so I should go. You should rest upstairs.”


    Watching her leave, I felt a twinge of frustration. She was blinded by the perks of being a sex ve, only seeing the rewards like today’s bonus or the fancy dresses from before. She didn’t see the king’s threats, Kristina’s menacing gaze, or the terror of nearly dying during the hunt.


    But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. The recent events had left me exhausted. Dragging my tired feet, I climbed the stairs to my room, hoping for a moment of peace. But as soon as I opened the door, Dominic’s menacing figure greeted me, his eyes glinting with ill intentions.


    Makenna’s POV:


    Why was Dominic here? My heart pounded with rm as I swiftly closed the door behind me, my mind racing with the worry that Lily might catch a glimpse of him. Nervously, I confronted him.


    “What are you doing here? How long have you been here?”


    Dominic lounged casually against the head of the bed, his demeanor unfazed by my distress. With a smirk that was more taunting than reassuring, he held up a report.


    “I’vee for my reward, of course. You should be very grateful to me this time.”


    A chill of dread washed over me as I took the report from him. It bore my name, with a note scrawled below: physically weak. Extremely difficult to conceive. The doctor’s grim assessment from earlier echoed in my mind. I began to suspect that Dominic had switched out my report.


    Suppressing my growing unease, I fixed him with an icy stare.


    “What’s the meaning of this?”


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    “This is your original report,” Dominic said with a raised eyebrow. “I kindly reced it with the fake one you receivedter. You passed the assessment, so shouldn’t you thank me?”


    I tightened my grip on the report, my frown deepening.


    “What are you really after?”


    Dominic was known for his self-serving schemes. His help always came with strings attached, and I suspected his ultimate goal was to benefit himself. I red at him, but before I could react, Dominic seized my arm and yanked me toward him.


    “Ah!” I gasped as I stumbled into his embrace, caught off guard.


    “I have no hidden agendas.” His warm breath tickled my ear, sending shivers down my spine. “I just need you to stay here, behaving as you should.”


    His tone wasced with both insinuation and threat. I recoiled slightly, meeting his gaze with steely resolve. Trying to maintain myposure, I asked, “Stay here for what purpose?”


    Dominic’s smile widened as his finger traced a slow path across my face. “You just need to get along with Bryan and yton. And if you can…” He leaned in closer, his hot breath brushing against my skin. His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. “It would be even better if you could gather some useful information for me. After all, I’ve helped you more than once. Isn’t it time you returned the favor?”


    The message was unmistakable. Dominic’s ambitions were clear. He wanted to use me to deepen the discord between Bryan and yton, exploiting me to gain an advantage in his bid for power. My presence had already strained their rtionship, and now he wanted me to widen the rift and extract information on his behalf.


    But doing so would mean siding with Dominic, something I could never allow. Betraying yton was unthinkable, and Bryan would undoubtedly seek retribution if he discovered it. I couldn’t let myself be Dominic’s pawn. I stayed silent, my dissatisfaction simmering beneath the surface.


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