She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 586

Time blurred into nothingness.

Eventually, Lucian pulled her up into his arms, settling her against him on the sofa. Her hair was damp with sweat.

He reached over to grab some tissues.

Loyce was too exhausted to move.

Lucian pressed a tender kiss to her flushed ear, his voice still deliciously raspy. "You did amazing."

"Mhm," she murmured lazily. "So, how exactly did you get drugged?"

It didn't take a genius for Lucian to piece it together. He rested his cheek against hers, affectionately nuzzling her skin as he spoke in a relaxed drawl, "Channing teamed up with Jasmine Hampton. If I didn't have ironclad self-control, I'd be in her bed right now."

"What exactly is your newly discovered brother trying to achieve?" she asked.

"He wants to steal everything I've built."

"There's more to it than that," Loyce pointed out. "Luna's background is too murky. She operates like a foreign operative."

"Ha," Lucian chuckled. "Spot on. But she recently updated her cover story—she's supposedly the daughter of a wealthy farm owner in Gaulia. I don't buy it for a second."

"Hmm..."

After a while, Lucian pressed the service button, ordering a maid to bring a fresh dress for a female guest.

While Lucian's shirt was merely wrinkled, Loyce's dress was a lost cause. She slipped into the bathroom for a quick shower and changed into the new outfit.

Noticing her thoughtful expression, Lucian wrapped his arms around her.

"We don't need to stay here," Loyce said, stopping his hand as it wandered lower. "I think we should go check on Jasmine."

Lucian raised a brow.

"She ended up sleeping with Thane Crown," Loyce explained with a shake of her head.

But back in the conservatory, when she threw herself at Karl and begged him to take her away and marry her, he had given a noncommittal answer, saying things were moving too fast.

He was right—they had only met three days ago.

Without a solid guarantee that Karl would whisk her away abroad, Sybil couldn't afford to burn her bridges with Thane. If Karl was just playing her, she couldn't risk losing both of them.

Snapping back to reality, Sybil buried her face in her hands and sobbed. "What else am I supposed to do? How can you possibly make this right? You're tainted now!"

Thane panicked. The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could think. "Let's get married!"

Sybil froze. "Married? But your parents..."

Thane jumped up and grabbed her hands, his eyes blazing with desperation. "I'm their only son! They can't just throw me away. The entire Crown empire will be mine one day, and you'll be the one and only Mrs. Crown. I won't let anyone look down on you! Sybil, please, will you marry me?"

Sybil could see he was dead serious. When she really thought about it, a guaranteed marriage to the heir of the Crown family was a solid bet. Karl was charming and sophisticated, but he was a wildcard. She wasn't willing to gamble her future on him.