?Chapter 1200:
Heavy curtains swallowed the sunlight, and only a faint wallmp cast a dull, amber glow across the room.
Williamy motionless on the vast bed, hisplexion ghostly pale, but his breathing was calm and even. The machines beside him hummed quietly, their rhythmic beeping marking time in the silence.
Nina sat in a chair at his side, her once radiant features now hollowed by fatigue. Shadows pooled beneath her eyes as she wiped his hand with a damp cloth. Her touch was gentle—almost reverent—as though she were tending to something fragile and sacred. She seemed oblivious to her own exhaustion.
Beyond the window stretched an endless expanse of desert, golden dunes glimmering beneath the sun. But Nina never looked away from the man lying before her. Not once.
Her voice came out cracked and thin. “William, how much longer are you going to sleep? Please… wake up.”
Since the day she had brought him here, unconscious after the fall, he had remained trapped in that stillness. Though his vitals stayed stable, his condition refused to improve. If it continued like this, she knew he wouldn’t survive.
For the first time, regret pricked at her chest—not for what she had done to Ste, nor for her sins, but for failing to secure William’s safety.
She clutched his cold hand in both of hers, pressing her forehead to it in desperate supplication. “Please, open your eyes. I’ll do anything—anything—just wake up.”
Never in her life had Nina begged so earnestly. Even when she had stood before Ste in apology, her pride had never bent this low.
The room remained still, save for the slow, mechanical pulse of the monitors. Williamy unmoving, lost in a world beyond her reach—andpletely unaware that back home, the woman he loved was living beneathyers of deceit, preparing to marry another man.
Meanwhile, at Briggs Group headquarters, the air in the top-floor meeting room was thick and brittle.
Howe sat at the head of the table, his fingers inteced on the gleaming surface, his eyes sweeping over the directors’ uneasy faces.
Behind him, a massive screen flickered with headlines and charts, all pointing to the same truth—William wasn’t on a business trip. He had vanished, and the signs hinted at danger.
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Howe’s voice cut through the silence, deep andmanding. “It’s been almost a month. William is still missing, and there’s been no contact. We’ve exhausted every lead, searched every corner, and yet we’re no closer to finding him!”
Howe waited, the heavy quiet filling the conference room, until he finally broke it with his voice.
“I know it’s hard to ept what’s happening. William is my nephew, and I’ve watched him grow from a boy into a man. My sorrow is no less than yours.” He paused, letting the words settle. “Still, as members of the Briggs family, we have a duty to stay clear-headed. Thepany needs firm decisions and steady leadership. We can’t continue drifting without direction any longer.”
One of the senior board members—long loyal to William—spoke up, unable to stay silent. “Howe, that’s an unfair remark. Luca has been managing things in Mr. Briggs’s stead and guiding thepany well. There haven’t been any major setbacks. Isn’t it possible Mr. Briggs is handling something confidential?”
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