?Chapter 970:


    A deep frown etched itself across my face as a shiver of dread slithered up my spine.


    Cody’s gaze darted between Alden and me,ced with a cocktail of suspicion and mockery. Then, with a voice dripping with insinuation, he purred, “Don’t worry, lovebirds. My lips are sealed.”


    His tone oozed with the smug certainty of someone clutching a trump card, and it turned my stomach.


    I shot him a frigid re, my words sharp as a de. “Just because you’re rotten to the core doesn’t mean the rest of us swim in the same filth.”


    Cody shrugged, his smile unshaken, as if my barb had bounced off him like water off a duck’s back. His eyes slid to Alden, slow and deliberate. “Alden, isn’t it about time you owned up? Word is, Evelyn’s tied to the three princes’ savior—her sister, no less. Spill the beans now, and you might dodge the worst of it. Keep ying the stubborn fool and drag your family into this mess, and you’ll regret it.”


    His voice was soft, almost velvet, but every syble carried a razor-edged threat, hovering like a dagger at Alden’s throat.


    Alden’s face drained of color, his fists balling up tight, the veins on his hands pulsing faintly. “Why would I confess to a lie?” he growled, his tone low but unyielding as iron.


    Cody’s smile didn’t waver, serene as a predator sizing up its prey. “Everyone saw what you did. Your protests are just noise in the wind.” He gave a slight shake of his head, his eyes glinting with contempt.


    I studied Cody’s every move, my mind racing beneath a calm exterior. Evelyn hadn’t betrayed us, it seemed. Cody, puffed up with his imagined upper hand, was pushing hard—his arrogance a sickening echo of Antoni’s.


    Swallowing my fury, I stepped in front of Alden, locking eyes with Cody. My voice cut through the air like a whip. “The three princes haven’t even weighed in yet. What’s this—trying to strong-arm a confession and sidestep their authority?”


    My wordsnded like a thunderp, cracking the veneer of Cody’s smug charade. His expression darkened, those squinted eyes narrowing into dangerous slits, ring at me with a venom that could’ve swallowed me whole.


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    “Quite the silver tongue!” he snarled, a brutal edge creeping into his voice. “Think cozying up to the Pierce family will keep you untouchable?”


    I let out a sharp, icyugh, holding my ground. “That is not your concern. Maybe you should tend to your own crumbling house instead.”


    Cody’s face twisted, a flicker of murderous rage shing in his eyes, as if he would lunge and rip me apart right then and there. But just as the tension stretched to a breaking point, a soldier dashed up, murmuring urgently into his ear.


    The words were hushed, but I caught the name “Evelyn” slipping through—and a quiet smile bloomed inside me. Our n was unfurling, and Evelyn was making her move.


    Cody’s POV:


    The woman standing in front of me had such an ordinary appearance that she could easily blend into any crowd. But as soon as she began to speak, every part of me became filled with resistance, and a wave of disgust rose inside me.


    I watched her closely, and all of a sudden, the image of the long-missing Saint, Josie, from the white wolf n came to mind. They both performed with such exaggerated theatrics, like circus clowns, which nauseated me.


    My hands formed into tight fists, and the sound of my knuckles popping echoed through the air. As fury built up inside me, I felt a deep urge to confront her and assert my dominance.


    Just as I was about to act, a soldier quickly approached and whispered in my ear, “Mr. Harrison, Evelyn wants to see you. She says there’s been new developments.”


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