Chapter 990:


    Her voice came out t. Empty. “Forget it. It was just a random question. Don’t take it seriously.”


    She pushed the door open and stepped out without a second’s hesitation. She walked straight toward the vi, not even ncing back.


    William sat there, alone in the driver’s seat. He didn’t move. He just watched her walk away, his unease growing by the second.


    Inside, Ste barely made it back to her room before she copsed onto the bed,pletely still. Her mind was spinning.


    No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t understand why he’d lie.


    What was his real connection to Erebus?


    Her adoptive parents’ deaths had always felt like they were tangled up with him. Every time she tried to trust himpletely, something always came between them.


    It almost felt like the universe was trying to tell her something — that William wasn’t the one.


    Right then, her phone screen lit up with a soft buzz. A new message had juste in.


    Ste nced at her phone and noticed a message from Jeff waiting on the screen.


    “Sorry to trouble you, Ste. I’ve been thinking about the idea you mentioned earlier today, and there are still a few things I want to rify. Do you have a moment?”


    Almost immediately, another message followed.


    “This time, I insist on treating you to a meal. I can’t keep freeloading off your cleverness.”


    At the end, he even slipped in a yful emoji — something far more fitting for a teenager than for him.


    If it had been someone else, Ste would have politely replied online and declined to meet. Yet as she reread his eager tone, she remembered her advisor’s reminder to look after Jeff. With a small sigh, she finally typed, “Tomorrow afternoon looks open for me.”


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    By the next day, Ste found herself at a quiet café. Jeff had arrived before her and set down an Americano in her ce.


    The sunlight framed him as he sat in a white shirt and jeans, his easy smile giving him the look of a storybook hero.


    Spotting the coffee, Ste raised her brows in surprise. “How did you figure out I like Americanos?”


    Jeff rubbed the back of his head with a bashful grin. “I asked the professor. He told me you always carried an iced Americano when you were still in ss.”


    The fact that he’d gone as far as asking about her coffee preference caught Ste off guard, leaving her without words for a moment.


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    Message from Noah: I hope you enjoyed the chapters. I’ve also renewed the invitation to the WhatsAppmunity, so you, dear readers, can join whenever you like. God loves you, and I wish you all the best. ( ?? ? ?? )?


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