Have I misunderstood Byron all along? Maeve thought.


    Stunned into silence, it was as though a thick fog had rolled into her chest, clouding her thoughts and draining her


    emotions


    Alexis continued, "I''m not telling you this to pressure you into agreeing to help us put on an act, I just think that you''re very lucky. Byron takes after his grandfather, not his father.


    "After you left, not only did Byron call off his engagement party with Lynn, but he''s also been searching for you ever since. Despite all his father''s threats and coercion, Byron refused to marry Lynn, and even now, she''s only his fiancée.


    At this point, Alexis suddenly understood why she disliked Maeve so much.


    Maeve had also married into the Mcdaniel family, but Maeve was much luckier than her.


    as on par with his grandfather''s, a true master of strategy. However, Byron Maeve had wed a man whose business savvy wascked the emotional detachment and indifference that characterized his father; unlike his father, he valued his wife deeply. Maeve struggled to pull her thoughts back. At the thought of Byron''s uing wedding to Lynn, Maeve gradually rposed herself.


    Even if what Alexis said was true, it was impossible for her and Byron to get back together.


    Hence, there was no point in saying anything more.


    Besides, Maeve had not forgotten how Byron had pressured her into the operating room and forced her to have an abortion.


    However, she could not deny that hearing that Byron had always been on her side and trusted her unconditionally brought her an immense happiness she had never felt before.


    However, that was all


    It was no longer possible between them


    Maeve stood up to get some fresh air in the hallway and felt a slight pain at the corner of her mouth. She must have bitten down too hard and broken the skin, so she headed to the restroom1. Suddenly, her phone started ringing from inside her bag


    After drying her hands, Maeve took out her phone and saw i I was an iing call from Byron.


    Her lips tightened slightly, and she felt a mix of nostalgia and hestation, making her reluctant to press the answer button. Maeve took a deep breath, ready to press the answer button when a sudden gust of cold wind swept past her.


    Before she could turn around, a sharp pain pierced her neck, and darkness engulfed her. She copsed to the ground.


    Her phone dropped with a thud, the sound of Byron''s deep voice echoing. "Maeve? Are you there?"


    There was no response for a long


    time.


    After an unknown period..


    G


    Maeve awoke to a dull ache in her neck and a heavy fog in her head, the chilling cold seeping into her bones.


    П


    She wiggled her stiff fingers and slowly propped herself up from the ground, only to find the floor coated with ayer of ice that sent chills through her body.


    Maeve surveyed her surroundings and was shocked to discover she was inside a cold storage room.


    There were just a few empty shelves, trash littered across the floor, and an unconscious figure lying nearby...


    A person? Maeve thought


    Maeve''s groggy mind suddenly cleared. She got up and rushed to the figure on the ground. She turned the person over and was shocked to find it was Lynn,Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    "Hey, are you okay? Wake up!" Maeve called out, pushing her gently but receiving no response. Lynn''s face was pale, and her body temperature was rmingly low,


    Maeve felt cold even in her warm clothes, so she could not imagine how cold Lynn must be feeling in just a thin velvet dress. With great effort, Maeve positioned Lynn against the wall before she removed her own coat. Maeve immediately shuddered from the icy air. Maeve sat alongside Lynn, wrapping them both in her coat and pulling the zipper up.


    Luckily, this helped, as Lynn''s body temperature began to rise, and she slowly opened her eyes. "Where are we?" Lynn asked.


    In a cold storage room," Maeve answered curtly, then asked. "Did you see what the person who brought you here looked like"


    "No," Lynn said, her voice trembling. "I was at the hospital for a checkup and woke up here." Lynn''s voice was trembling. She closed her eyes and tried to endure the cold.


    Maeve frowned slightly. If she guessed correctly. Neville should be the person who brought her and Lynn here.


    Neville was the prime suspect.


    But he has already been taken away by the police. How did he do it? Maeve wondered.


    There was no time to dwell on it. Maeve felt the temperature in the cold storage room drop even more, the cold more intense than before.


    Gripping the edge of her coat, she said to Lynn, "Get a bit closer. If we huddle together, we can slow the loss of body heat. We need to hold out until someonees to rescue us." Her teeth chattered, her words slightly slurred yet still coherent


    sa


    Lynn was trembling violently. She was barely hearing what Maeve had said. All she sensed was a warm presence close to her body, and a wave of warmth emanating from it.


    As Lynn opened her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of Maeve''s slightly quivering, frosted eyshes and her lips tightly pressed in response to the cold


    n was stunned by Maeve''s remarkable beauty. She instinctively wanted to move away, but the coat was too small to allow any motion, leading her to identally brush against Macve''s waist. Lynn was


    "Don''t move." Because of how cold it was, Maeve''s voice sounded a little tired.


    Lynn''s cheeks burned bright red, and her limbs felt stiff while she attempted to avoid contact with Maeve, but it was hopeless.


    "I-I''m a little ufortable like this. Why can''t we sit separately Lynn asked.


    "Suit yourself. If you want to freeze to death at the side, you can always crawl out from under my coat," Maeve said.


    Lynn stopped talking. She was in the cold storage room, but her body felt like it was on fire. It was so hot that she felt tense and ufortable.


    Maeve could not sense Lynn''s abnormality, but she could feel the heat on Lynn''s body.


    She opened her eyes and looked at Lynn in confusion. "Don''t tell me you have a fever?" "N-no."


    "Then why is your temperature suddenly so high?" Maeve asked


    "L. Lynn stuttered for a long time before saying. I''m naturally hot, but it wasn''t obvious just now."


    Normally, Maeve would not believe a word of this.


    However, the cold environment was affecting her brain''s ability to think clearly, so Maeve did not dwell on it much


    Besides, as Lynn''s body temperature rose, Maeve unconsciously moved a little closer to Lynn, trying to absorb some of that


    warmth.


    Lynn frozepletely, not daring to move, but she could not help but keep sneaking nces at Maeve out of the corner of her eyes.


    "There''s a venttion window there." Maeve pointed to a small window high up on the wall and said to Lynn, "This might not be a cold storage room or there wouldn''t be a window." Moreover, the temperature here fluctuated. It was clear that someone was controlling it.


    Lynn nced at the window skeptically. "It''s too high up. Even with the shelves, we won''t be able to climb out," she said.


    Furthermore, the windows were sealed.


    "How would we know if we don''t try?" Maeve unzipped her jacket and said, "I''d rather fight for a slim chance than sit here waiting to die. Whether you want to help or not is up to you After speaking. Maeve clenched her teeth, enduring the bone-deep chill. She moved around for a bit to get her blood flowing.


    After that, Maeve dragged the shelf closer to the window and climbed onto it. She grabbed a broken three-legged stool from the floor and began smashing at the window.


    The shelf creaked and wobbled dangerously under the pressure, but after a tense moment, it finally stabilized.


    Maeve nced down, surprised to see Lynn standing beneath her, silently watching.


    "Maybe this spoiled princess isn''t so unbearable after all, Maeve thought. When she isn''t talking, she is somewhat tolerable."