?Chapter 714:


    His lips were pressed tight, his jaw tense, and his deep eyes carried the weight of a storm about to break.


    Ignoring her question, he looked back at Lance and asked slowly, “Who is he?” His voice was like ice, weighted with the kind of authority that pressed down on anyone who heard it.


    Lance, still at the doorway, lifted an eyebrow. Rather than looking intimidated by William’s dominance, he seemed faintly amused. A small smile tugged at his lips as his eyes studied William with interest.


    Meeting William’s cold stare with unhurried calm, he asked in a clear voice, “Ms. Gilbert, is this your ex?”


    He let out a shortugh, ncing at Ste with a hint of familiarity before fixing his eyes on William’s tense face.


    The air between them seemed to freeze solid.


    Ste saw William’s hand clench into a fist, the veins standing out.


    The low, heavy pressure radiating from him made the corridor’s atmosphere drop suddenly.


    Ste had no idea why Lance would suddenly say that or how he’d decided William was her ex-boyfriend.


    “My rtionship with her… how is that your concern?” William’s words came out through gritted teeth, every syble coated in ice.


    His sharp gaze swept over Lance, from his pale face to the faint outline of bandages on his chest, before locking on those eyes that carried a taunting smile.


    “I think you’re the one with the shady background,” William said pointedly, his tone brimming with suspicion and wariness.


    Ste’s heart sank. Thest thing she wanted was to watch these two sh for no reason.


    Taking a deep breath, she said, “Mr. Carter, please go inside and rest. I’ll handle this.”


    Sharon shot Ste a quick look, then hurried Lance into the room and shut the door tightly. Ste then turned to William and said, “Mr. Briggs, this isn’t what you think.”<fn5002> Th? link to the orig?n of this information r?sts ?n find{n}ovel</fn5002>


    She could tell he had gotten the wrong idea.


    Step into a new journey on  .con


    “What do I think?” William cut her off, his eyes locked on her with a mix of hurt and anger she could feel instantly.


    “Ste, what exactly are you doing? Do you even know him well enough to bring him here?” His voice trembled with barely contained fury.


    A tense silence settled between them, making Ste’s skin crawl. She took a slow breath and said softly, “I know what I did.”


    William’s lips curled in a mix of irritation and disbelief. “If you really knew, you wouldn’t still have him in your home. You’d have kicked him out the moment you found him, instead of running off to the supermarket to buy him groceries!”


    His eyes had alreadynded on the shopping bag in her hand, filled with fresh ingredients. The thought of her cooking for someone else left an unpleasant bitterness in his chest.


    “Enough!” Ste’s voice rose suddenly.


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