Chapter 21: RIDICULOUS

For a fleeting moment, her usually stoic face took on an unexpectedly soft and innocent expression, like a small creature unaware that a predator was about to strike. "You’re going to accept it." "And what if I don’t? Will you force me? Touch me, and you'll lose a hand." Nikolai's brow furrowed. She was becoming increasingly bold, her words sharper, more pointed. That tongue of hers... "Perhaps we can make a deal," he proposed, but she dismissed him with a derisive snort that made him grit his teeth. He couldn't deny it anymore—he had met his match. He had to give her his blood soon, or she would die. The thought of slipping it into her drink crossed his mind, though he knew it wouldn’t work that way. Ophelia rose from the bed with an expressionless face and walked toward him. She sat at the edge, near the food, keeping her gaze locked on his. "I don’t want to live. I don’t want to return to being an assassin for my ignorant, power-hungry father, who’s nothing more than a puppet