?Chapter 468:


    Finally, I exhaled, a weight I hadn’t realized I’d been carrying slipping from my shoulders. “Hayley, I can always count on you,” I said,ughter bubbling up from my chest. This was going to work. Even if Makenna had managed to catch the prince’s eye, her luck was about to run out. My trap was solid.


    I could already see the moment of her disgrace—how sweet it would be to see her fall. As I reveled in the thought, imagining Makenna pleading with the king, the smug look wiped off her face, my heart surged with joy.


    But just as I allowed myself to relish the fantasy, the door burst open, and the rhythmic stomp of boots echoed through the hall. A group of stern-faced soldiers entered. A sudden wave of panic washed over me, and I straightened in my seat.


    “What’s going on?”


    One of the soldiers stepped forward, saluting me with rigid formality before speaking. “Miss Molly White, His Majesty requests Hayley’s presence immediately.”


    Hayley and I exchanged a shocked nce. Why would the king want to see her now? Could he know? Could the lion’s death have led him to us? My heart hammered as the realization hit me—this was far from over.


    Hayley was led into the grand hall, nked by soldiers. She lookedpletely lost, her wide, panicked eyes darting around the room as if searching for answers she couldn’t find. She had no idea what storm had just descended on her.


    As soon as she crossed the threshold, Leonardo’s fury ignited like a me. He snatched a cup from a servant’s tray and, with a roar, hurled it at her. The cup struck her head and shattered beside her, shards scattering across the floor as hot coffee sshed onto her skin. A thin line of blood trickled down her cheek.


    She stumbled, her face pale, lips quivering with fear. “Your Majesty, please, calm down!” she cried, dropping to her knees, trembling.


    “Calm down?” Leonardo’s voice thundered through the hall, shaking the walls with its intensity. “How dare you ask me that? Do you think I should be calm after what you’ve done? What the hell happened to the lion in the Royal Animal Farm?” He barked the words, fists clenched. “How did it die? Speak the truth, now!”


    “Your Majesty… I…” Hayley’s gaze dropped to the floor. “It was Makenna and her group. They… they killed it after I sent Alice to clean the farmst night!”


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    Leonardo’s eyes zed with renewed fury. He had not expected her to lie so shamelessly. Without a word, he snatched the documents Dominic had handed over and flung them at her. The papers smacked against her face.


    “Read them!” he demanded.


    Hayley’s hands shook as she picked up the documents from the floor. Her eyes scanned the pages, and with each word, her expression shifted—from shock to disbelief, then to horror. She blinked rapidly, as though trying to process the nightmare unraveling before her.


    “I swear I don’t know anything about this! I had no idea there were drugs involved!”


    Standing silently to the side, I studied the look on her face. Her shock seemed genuine, almost too real. Could it be she hadn’t drugged the lion after all?


    I couldn’t help but nce at Dominic, who was watching the scene with a smug smile. He caught my gaze and let his lips curl into an even wider grin.


    That was when everything clicked into ce. This was his doing. But why? Why go through the trouble of framing Hayley? What game was he ying?


    A thousand questions swirled in my mind, but now was not the time for answers. I forced the thoughts down, focusing on the scene before me.


    Leonardo wasn’t interested in Hayley’s defense, no matter how hard she begged. His face twisted with anger. “If you didn’t drug the lion, then how do you exin the poison found in its body? That substance onlyes from your family’s storehouse! What more do you have to say for yourself?”


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