?Chapter 1096:


    “It’s Jasmine. She’s missing.”


    For a split second, Ste couldn’t breathe. She shot Jake a deadly re. “Keep an eye on him,” she ordered the bodyguard, then spun toward the door.


    Momentster, she and William were speeding through the city streets, racing back to the hospital.


    William’s hands tightened around the steering wheel. “The nurse found her room empty. Security says she left on her own. With her injuries, that’s… bad.”


    Ste reached for her phone, a thought sparking.


    She opened the tracking app she’d installed on Jasmine’s phone—the one she’d insisted on for safety.


    A small red dot blinked on the map, inching toward the edge of the city.


    “She’s heading to the old district,” Ste said, her brows knitting.


    Why would Jasmine go there?


    Half an hourter, they found her. Jasmine sat slumped against the wall outside a rundown apartment block, her shoulder bandage soaked through with blood.


    Her face was ghost-pale, her eyes hollow and distant.


    Ste rushed forward the second she saw Jasmine. She grabbed Jasmine’s hand—it was ice-cold. “Jasmine, what were you thinking? Your wound isn’t even close to healed. You can’t just disappear from the hospital like that.”


    Jasmine looked up slowly. Her eyes were hollow and distant, but then they began to glisten. Tears came fast, spilling over before she could blink them back.


    “I know everything now,” she said, her voice trembling. “Justin’s a liar, isn’t he?”


    Ste froze. The question hit harder than she expected. “Who told you that?”


    Jasmine pulled out her phone and handed it over. On the screen was a message from an unknown number. “Justin was about to take your money and skip town, you naive girl. Did you really think he loved you enough to marry you?”


    Jasmine’s voice cracked. “I didn’t believe it at first. I came here to see for myself. This was his rented ce—where we stayed. But he’s gone. The neighbors said he’d already sublet it. That he was bragging about leaving the country, saying he was finally going to make it big.”


    Ste’s heart tightened. She knelt in front of Jasmine and pulled her into a hug. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m here, alright?”


    Jasmine clung to her, sobbing so hard it hurt to hear.


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    “Why would he do that? Was it all a lie? Did he ever care about me at all?” Her voice broke again. “I really loved him, Ste. I gave him everything.”


    It was hard to watch. Jasmine was young, naive, andpletely shattered.


    And through her tears, Ste saw a reflection of her own past—of the version of herself who’d once given too much to someone who didn’t deserve even a fraction of it. Back then, she hadn’t seen it either.


    Ste rubbed Jasmine’s back gently. “He’s not worth a single tear, you hear me? Let’s get you back to the hospital. You’ve reopened your wound.”


    Blood had seeped through Jasmine’s bandages again, staining the fabric red.


    Ste’s steady voice was the only thing keeping Jasmine from falling apartpletely.


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