?Chapter 149:


    Lainey chuckled, clearly amused by her eagerness.


    “Don’t get too excited just yet. Take a few days to sort things out on your end. We’ll be waiting.”


    As soon as the call ended, Ste got straight to work wrapping up her responsibilities at Neb.


    She didn’t know how long she’d be away, so she carefully handed everything off to her assistant and a few reliable team members. Luckily, most of the recent projects had already been finalized. Only a few contracts and proposal drafts remained.


    With everything sorted out in a single day, Ste packed her bags. It was time to return to Choria.


    As she walked down the stairs, she spotted William already dressed, sitting in the living room with his own ck suitcase by his side.


    She paused for a moment. William was part of the institute too. If they had called her back, it made perfect sense they’d want someone of William’s caliber as well.


    Hearing her footsteps, William nced up. “All set, Ms. Russell? Just make sure you don’t trip on your way down again—I’d rather not end up catching you yet again.”


    Ste rolled her eyes at his teasing but carried her suitcase down anyway. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll be careful.”


    Once she reached the first floor, William stood up and wheeled his suitcase toward the door. A sleek ck BMW was already waiting outside.


    He popped open the trunk and, being surprisingly courteous, helped load her suitcase in.


    After they got into the car, Ste gave him a polite “thank you.”


    William gave her a sidelong nce. “Let’s hope you keep it to a thank-you next time and no more dramatic falls into my arms.”


    Every story starts at g ? ln σ ν?? ??s,


    Ste was speechless. He really couldn’t let things go.


    “Mr. Briggs, you clearly don’t like me, so even if I really did throw myself at you, would it even matter to you?”


    William gave a calm, unbothered reply. “I’d just prefer if you kept things professional, Ms. Russell.”


    Honestly, he had never met someone who identally fell into his arms so often. At this point, he’d lost track of how many times it had happened.


    Ste gave a dry smile. “Wow, how nice of you to act like none of that was your fault. Each time was an ident, and let’s not forget—you’re the one who walked into my bathroom yesterday…”


    “Enough. Keep your voice down,” William cut her off before she could say more.


    The driver, who had been silently focused on the road, couldn’t help but sneak a nce at them through the rearview mirror.


    From what little he caught, it sounded like things between William and Ste had gotten… interesting.


    .


    .


    .