Chapter 462
Juniper sank down onto the couch, which was positioned over a simple rug, and stared out the large window. Her entire day had been spent in the exhausting, tedious work of cleaning the house.
Once, she had the world at her feet, servants, status, and the title of Prince’s mate. Now, she had lost all of it because of her boundless greed.
Dominick made no attempt to return to her, nor had he tried calling her. She had been clinging to the desperate hope of a single call, anticipating that he might offer her one last chance, a final reprieve.
“Did Gabriel not tell about me to Nick?” she mumbled to herself.
As she wrapped her arms around her legs, her stomach growled. She realized with a dull ache that she hadn’t eaten anything since the night before. She grabbed her phone from the coffee table and decided to go out to a store nearby.
After a short while, she entered a small grocery shop and quickly filled a cart with basic food items. She moved to the counter to make the payment.
“That’ll be all, Miss?” the counter boy asked.
She nodded and handed him her card. As he swiped it, the machine flashed an alert. “Miss, the card is blocked p>
“What?” Juniper’s eyes widened in shock. “No, that can’t be true. Please, swipe it once more,” she insisted with rising panic.
On her request, the boy tried again, but the result was the same: no payment could be made. The card was undeniably blocked. She snatched the card back, her face burning with sudden humiliation, and practically fled the store, shoving the card back into her phone case.
“Did the royal family order this?” she muttered to herself as she walked away, empty-handed and desperate. “This card was my last hope. I don’t even have any money to survive p>
Returning to the house, she unlocked the door and stepped back inside.
“I need to find a job,” Juniper mumbled, pacing slightly. “But will Gabriel and his beta even let me? And the news about me would have already spread throughout the entire country. Who will even hire me now?” Her insides tightened with worry.
Heading to the kitchen, she resignedly poured a glass of water, drank it down, and decided to take some rest as a dull ache began throbbing in her head.
But just as she turned to walk toward the bedroom, she heard a sharp knock on the door.
Wondering if it was Karmen coming to check on her, she pulled the door open without hesitation. However, her breath caught, and her eyes went wide in genuine shock, seeing Dominick standing directly in front of her.
“Nick?” Juniper’s face instantly lit up with desperate hope, and she promptly lunged forward to hug him. But Dominick did not react; he shoved her away with a firm hand.
“Don’t be upset with me anymore,” she pleaded, stumbling backward. “I-I will do everything to p>
Her words were cut off sharply as Dominick ignored her appeal entirely. “Were you an adopted daughter of the Vittileo Family?” he demanded the truth.
Juniper’s lips began to quiver, and her palms turned instantly sweaty. This was the one truth she had meticulously hidden from him, the secret she never wanted Dominick to discover.
“Speak! Don’t just stand there like a meek woman!” Dominick shouted, his frustration boiling over. His beta, Evan, stood silently behind the prince and ready for any command Dominick might give.
“Yes, but—” Juniper started, her voice barely a whisper, the admission agonizing.
She didn’t get a chance to finish. Dominick cut her off, his eyes hard and unforgiving. “Arrest her,” he commanded Evan.
“No! Why would I be arrested? Nick, please listen to me once. I have a lot to tell you! Please, Nick, I beg you!” Juniper cried, tears finally spilling down her face. She stumbled backward, desperately trying to avoid being dragged out of the house.
“Juniper, nothing good will come of your resistance,” Dominick said, his tone chillingly cold.
In a sudden, frantic move, Juniper was quick enough to dart into the kitchen while the two men rushed in after her. She snatched a knife from the counter and immediately pointed the blade straight toward her own heart.
“Don’t arrest me, Nick,” she pleaded, weeping uncontrollably. “I swear I will kill myself! Please, listen to me. I-I didn’t mean to lie to you about this. They—they never saw me as a part of their family. Mom died. Everything ruined for me p>
“Juniper, lower that knife,” Dominick commanded.
She shook her head violently, tears blurring her vision. “No, I won’t! It’s better to die. I was an orphan. None ever loved me! I-I don’t wish to rot in prison p>
Before she could bring the knife down to strike herself, Dominick acted. Using his teleportation ability, he vanished and instantly reappeared, closing the distance in less than a second.
He caught the knife’s blade directly in his hand. His skin instantly bled as he brutally wrestled the knife out of her grip and hurled it away, letting it clatter across the kitchen floor.
“Nick,” Juniper’s voice was a ragged whisper of despair as she instinctively reached her hands out toward his bleeding palm. Dominick immediately and sharply pulled his hand back, refusing her touch.
“Arrest her,” Dominick ordered Evan, his voice cold and final.
Evan followed the command without hesitation, swiftly forcing Juniper’s hands behind her back and snapping the cuffs around her wrists.
Dominick did not spare her another glance. He simply turned his back and walked directly out of the house, leaving her to Evan.
“Please, don’t take me to the prison! The Alpha King hasn’t punished me yet!” Juniper desperately pleaded with Evan, but the Beta ignored her pleas, dragging her outside and firmly shutting the door on her empty house.
Dominick reached the waiting car and settled into the passenger seat. The driver, witnessing the scene, had his eyes widen in shock upon seeing the fresh gash across the prince’s hand.
“Just drive back to the palace,” Dominick said, already tightening a handkerchief around his hand to stop the blood.