Devil's Prisoner of Love by Prefer

The butler opened the door with a stern expression. In that brief instant, Ivy caught sight of a woman lying on the bed, an IV drip hanging nearby.

Kyle Raymond was leaning over, carefully replacing the damp towel on the woman's forehead. The intensity in his profile, the worry etched across his face-it was a side of him Ivy had never seen before.

He was anxious. If he didn't truly care about that woman, he would never look so concerned.

Ivy wanted to see more, to get a better look at the woman on the bed. But before she could, the butler stepped in, blocking her view completely.

"Cwith me," the butler ordered, his face cold and impassive.

Ivy's heart tightened as she met the butler's gaze. Reluctantly, she followed him out. "Butler, where are you taking me?" she asked, her voice tinged with unease.

"To the courtyard," he replied icily, pointing to the snow-covered grounds outside. "You will kneel there for five hours before you are allowed to leave." The words stunned Ivy. She hadn't yet processed what she had done wrong. "Butler, what did I do to deserve this punishment?" "From the first day you arrived, I made the rules very clear. If you want to stay here, you must follow them. No scheming, no petty tricks," he stated firmly.

"I wasn't scheming! I just..." Ivy began to explain, though she knew deep down her actions had been deliberate. She had indeed been testing boundaries, hoping to prove she was different from the others.

Her boldness had driven her to approach Kyle Raymond and to satisfy her curiosity about the woman he had brought back.

"I don't care about your intentions. What I care about is that you've angered Mr. Raymond. Because it's your first offense, I'm being lenient. Now, go kneel," the butler commanded, his face unreadable.

He had thought Ivy might be different from the others, that she wouldn't fall for Kyle Raymond. But it hadn't taken long for her feelings to surface.

Kyle Raymond didn't want love. To him, women were tools of convenience. When tools developed emotions, they began to desire more-his attention, his affection. And that disrupted the delicate balance of their arrangement. Women who fell for him were rarely summoned again. Ivy had been brought here because of her hatred, her apparent immunity to sentiment. He believed she wouldn't easily succumb to feelings.

Unaware of her mistake's gravity, Ivy stared at the butler and asked, "And if I refuse to kneel?" "Then leave," the butler replied without hesitation. "Pack your things and never step foot in this villa again." After years by Kyle Raymond's side, the butler had seen countless women like Ivy. Fear at first, then fascination, followed by obsession. They all eventually chose to stay, no matter the cost.

"Leave?" Ivy whispered to herself.

"Yes. You are free to go whenever you like. But if you stay, you must abide by Mr. Raymond's rules. If you can't, then leave. He has never restricted anyone's freedom," the butler explained.

Leaving meant she would no longer endure the torment she had suffered here. But it also meant she would never see Kyle Raymond again. She would lose her protector- and her chance for revenge.

"I'm not leaving." At the thought of Aurora's face, Ivy's resolve hardened. Without another word, she stepped into the courtyard and knelt in the snow.

The butler sighed inwardly. He had hoped she would leave, to avoid wasting her youth in a hopeless pursuit. Every girl who entered this villa was warned of the rules. It was his way of giving them a chance to rethink their choices. If they stayed for money, so be it. But if they stayed for love, they were only setting themselves up for heartbreak.

Punishing Ivy with kneeling was a light sentence. As someone who had fought alongside Kyle Raymond through thick and thin, the butler's methods were far harsher in the past. Now, after turning over a new leaf, he no longer lived as ruthlessly as before.

If you're loving the book, nel5sis where the adventure continues. Join us for the complete experience all for free. The next chapter is eagerly waiting for you! But he had seen too many women throw themselves into the fire for Kyle Raymond, and all he could do was remind them of the consequences. Whether they listened or not was beyond his control.

In the snow-covered courtyard, Ivy knelt silently. A group of women gathered to mock her, laughing and sneering. But didn't say a word in response.

Her mind echoed with a single thought: she had to stay.

Tcrawled by. Aurora's fever had subsided slightly, though she was still burning up.

The doctor took her temperature and turned to Kyle Raymond. "Sir, this woman's condition is unusual. I suggest we conduct a comprehensive examination." "Then do it immediately!" Kyle snapped. Despite the slight improvement, as long as her fever persisted, he couldn't rest easy.

Because of his past life, Kyle Raymond rarely sought hospital treatment, even after injuries. Though his life had changed, old habits remained. His villa housed a fully equipped medical facility, making it easy to perform thorough examinations.

By nightfall, Aurora was still unconscious. Thankfully, her fever had dropped to a low-grade one.

Kyle Raymond stood by her bed, looking at her fragile figure. He had never noticed before how small she seemed. Were all women this delicate? Aurora wasn't particularly short, but next to Kyle Raymond's towering height, her frseemed petite. "Sir, the test results are in," the doctor announced.

"And?" Kyle asked, lighting a cigar.

"Her constitution is weak, likely due to drug exposure," the doctor explained.

If you're loving the book, nel5sis where the adventure continues. Join us for the complete experience—all for free. The next chapter is eagerly The waiting for you! "What kind of effects are we talking about?"

"It's unlikely this woman will ever have children. Her current physical condition makes impossibleXption om impossible. Her susceptibility to illness, like this severe cold, also stems from her weakened constitution. "Normally, someone wouldn't be this frail without external factors. I suspect she was given certain drugs as a child, which gradually altered her body." "No children..." Kyle murmured. "And her fever? When will it break?"

"By tomorrow morning, most likely.

Her condition is improving, albeit slower than usual, Fortunately, the e spift from high to low fever has minimized the damage. You can rest assured on that front," the doctor replied. "Good. You can go," Kyle said, dismissing him.

Aurora stirred faintly, catching fragments of voices outside the room. Weak constitution... no children...

In her fevered haze, she couldn't identify who was speaking. The words blurred as she drifted back into unconsciousness.

Inside the warm room, Aurora slept peacefully. Outside, Ivy's body was numb from the cold.

Snow blanketed her from head to toe, turning her into a frozen statue. Even her eyelashes were coated in frost.

She stared at the falling snow, her vision blurring until she finally collapsed face-first into the ground.

She hadn't lasted the full five hours. After barely two, her body had reached its limit. As the doctor finished tending to Aurora, he was urgently summoned to attend to Ivy.

mmMwWLlilofiflo&1 mmMwWLlilofiflo&1 mmMwWLlilofiflo&1 mmMwWLlilofiflo&1 mmMwWLliIofifl0&1 mmMwWLlilofiflo&1