Chapter 289


    Chapter 0289


    “Don’t worry,” Mark told me. “I will not leave this room. Elva will not leave my sight.”


    I nodded. That did make me feel marginally better.


    We’d received word earlier in the day that Terry himself wasing to the pce to personally deliver


    the results of his event. Since then, we’d mostly barricaded ourselves inside of the bedroom.


    However, I was required to attend this meeting, which was to be treated as an official event,


    broadcasted live across the kingdom.


    I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Terry again, by any stretch. But at least, with Mark’s promise to


    protect Elva, I didn’t have to worry about her.


    I hugged Elva goodbye.


    “Good luck, Mommy!” she said brightly. Thank G od I had protected her from the worst of the trauma I


    had experienced from Terry’s hands. I would rip the whole world apart before I ever let Terry enter


    within a hundred feet of my daughter.


    “Be good, Elva. Listen to Mark and the nanny.”


    “I will.”


    After onest squeeze, I released Elva and stood. Then I walked to the door, where Nichs was


    waiting for me.


    “Ready?” he asked, as I stepped into the hallway.


    “Not really.” I didn’t think I’d ever be ready to see Terry again.


    N?velDrama.Org content.


    “I won’t let anything happen to you,” Nichs said, determination making his voice strong. “I will be


    your shadow tonight.”


    “I’m sure you have other duties./”


    “They can wait. Your safety takes precedence.”


    With relief, Iced my arm with his and together, we walked down to the ballroom.


    In the ballroom, the other candidates were already waiting around, while Nathan spoke with a camera


    crew on a makeshift stage. Terry wasn’t there yet. Neither was the rest of the royal family.


    Susie approached Nichs and me when we entered. “Have you seen him yet?” she asked.


    I shook my head.


    It was strange. Maybe it was the anticipation of seeing Terry, or the knowledge that he was in the same


    building, but my nerves pri ckled sinceing here. Even with Nich s’s closeness, I could not


    release the tension of my shoulders.


    All too soon, Nathan cleared his throat and the event began. It felt more informal,pared to the rest.


    The candidates were in our nice gowns, with our hair and makeup done in the modern fashion. But


    there were no other guests, and no fanfare.


    The royal family came in them, Terry among them, with Julian sauntering along behind.


    When I saw Terry, my stomach clenched ufortably.


    The royal family all moved onto the stage, sans Nichs who stayed beside me as promised.


    On the stage, the Queen was standing between the King and Terry, though she was physically much


    closer to her brother than her husband, almost as if an invisible barrier has separated her and the King.


    The King did not look at her once while he stood there, nor did he so much as nce at Terry, even,


    after his introduction, Terry began speaking.


    “I will now reveal the distribution of points for the evening event at my mansion. The points were


    rued through the candidate’s decency as a dinner guest, including politeness, demeanor, and


    general likeability.”


    A skewed scoring criteria for sure. Terry would just arbitrarily assign points to whoever he felt like, to


    hell with the rest. I could only imagine the type of mind games he wanted to y with me. Would he


    assign me many points or only a few?


    The points would go toward our standing. Those with more points would do better in the overall


    competition.


    I wasn’t ready for this. I wished I could escape back to my room.


    Terry cleared his throat. “Only one candidate received full points. This woman is not only a delight to


    converse with, but a beauty to watch. Congrattions, Olivia.”


    The candidates and royal family politely pped.


    Olivia smiled graciously, though she didn’t seem all that surprised.