?Chapter 1049:


    Today’s visit made that painfully clear. They barely said three sentences that showed any real concern for her—the rest of the conversation revolved around Ste.


    Why was she always ying second fiddle to Ste?


    She was done with it. Enough was enough.


    Sitting in her car, Nina pulled out her phone and made a call. “Find out everything you can about Erebus. I want all the details—everything.”


    If her grandfather and cousin thought Ste’s investigation was so important, then fine—she would dig into Erebus herself. Personally.


    Back at the Carter estate, in the study, Karson and Lance were still deep in discussion.


    “Should I give Ste a call? Ask her toe over?” Lance asked. Some things were just easier to say face to face.


    But Karson shook his head. “Ste’s stubborn. If she senses the family wants to get involved, she’ll back off.”


    “Then what?”


    Karson looked out the window, lost in thought. “First, we need to figure out Erebus’s endgame. We’ll only step in when absolutely necessary. And that intel—they say Erebus’s people found it with Ste? Dig into that. I want to know how that happened.”


    Lance was already on it. “Yeah, I’ve got my team looking into it. We should have something soon.”


    Karson sped his hands behind his back, his voice low and firm. “Erebus has eyes and ears in both politics and business. We don’t want to poke the bear unless we have to.”


    “Don’t worry, Grandpa.”


    They exchanged a look—one filled with unspoken concern for Ste.


    Across town, the afternoon sun streamed into a café called Ink Aroma, casting soft shadows across the wooden tables.


    Ste showed up ten minutes early and grabbed a quiet corner by the window. She sat, absentmindedly running her finger along the edge of her coffee cup.


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    Earlier in the day, William had called. He knew she wasn’t working at the research institute today, and Steven was handling things over at Neb. He had asked her to meet.


    She had hesitated at first. Part of her didn’t want to deal with it. But avoiding things wasn’t getting her anywhere either.


    William was getting annoyingly persistent. Even when she didn’t want to talk, he somehow found a way to pop back into her life.


    So, she agreed. Today, she’d set things straight—once and for all.


    William arrived right on time. Dressed in a te-gray shirt that outlined his strong build, he moved with quiet purpose as he approached the table.


    When he sat across from Ste, his eyes lingered on her—intense, conflicted, searching.


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