?Chapter 562:


    Fighting down the icy dread wing at my chest, I forced myself to stay calm. “Who are you, and what do you want from me?”


    “Who I am doesn’t matter.” The leader wiped his bloodied knife with deliberate slowness, his words dripping with menace. “All you need to know is that someone wants you taken away.”


    My stomach dropped. Their intentions were anything but good.


    “Who sent you?” I demanded, clinging desperately to any hope of information.


    The leader gave me a slow, cryptic smile. “You’ll find out soon enough, once you meet my employer.”


    And with that, he extended a hand, moving to seize me.


    Makenna’s POV:


    I grew anxious, but fortunately, I was prepared. I quickly grabbed the cushion from the car seat and forcefully blocked the leader’s hand. The leader of the men in ck paused, thrown off for just a second. Taking full advantage, I flung open the opposite door in the back seat and bolted out of the car.


    Thank heavens! The driver hadn’t locked the doors when he’d stepped out to check the scene. But barely a few steps in, my foot struck something disturbingly soft. I looked down, and my heart nearly stopped.


    It was the driver—lying dead on the ground. His eyes stared nkly, unblinking, his body drenched in blood, and a gruesome cut on his neck still dripping.


    I sped my hand over my mouth, my shock so deep that tears slipped down my cheeks. Just moments before, this reserved driver had been awkwardly trying tofort me; now, he was cold and lifeless.


    But grief would have to wait—the men in ck were hot on my trail. I didn’t dare to pause, sprinting as fast as I could through the rough, deserted terrain. They held their knives high, and more than once, I felt the cold bite of their des nearly graze my skin.


    I had no idea how long I had been running, but my energy was draining, and my legs grew weak and unsteady. No… I couldn’t keep this up.


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    Just then, my foot struck a stone, sending it tumbling down into the darkness below. I froze, horror-stricken, as despair washed over me. A cliff stretched before me—a dead end.


    The men in ck closed in, and I spun around, panic spreading through me. They saw the cliff and broke into mockingughter.


    “Run, keep running! Let’s see how much farther you can go!”


    Theirughter echoed, filling the empty night air with a chill. Iughed bitterly to myself.


    I had staged my own death just to escape that pce, a cage dressed up as royalty, and now I faced real death. The men in ck moved in; clearly under orders to take me alive, they didn’t raise their knives.


    “Juste along quietly, and save yourself the trouble,” the leader jeered.


    I didn’t even consider it. Instead, I cast a nce at the abyss behind me. The cliff was impossibly high. A fall would end everything, wouldn’t it? But falling might be better than the fate awaiting me if they took me back.


    Determination red up in my eyes, and I edged closer to the cliff. Just as I was about to leap, a thunderous shout broke through the night.


    “Stop!”


    The men froze, startled, and turned to look back. I followed their gaze, my heart pounding, and finally saw the one who had arrived. Dominic appeared, like a tempest wrapped in fury, his grip tight around a sword. His hair was windswept, a few faint scars shed across his face, and his emerald eyes zed with fire.


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