?Chapter 1234:


    At times, when the trance reached its deepest point, faint words escaped William’s lips. “Stel… watch out…”


    Sometimes it was softer still. “Don’t be afraid… I’m here.”


    Each utterance tightened the air in the room. Arlo’s face would harden, his temper simmering beneath a cold stare. He would signal the hypnotist to heighten the dosage, demanding harsher measures to crush the remnants of William’s attachment.


    A weekter, Arlo stood before the monitor, studying the flickering lines that charted William’s brainwaves. His voice was sharp, deliberate.


    “This isn’t enough. When he wakes, his first thought must be of Ste—of making her pay for betraying him. I want him to be my strongest weapon, ready to carry out whatever Imand.”


    The hypnotist shot a nce at the frenzied Arlo, then at the motionless William. He pressed his lips together before resuming the session.


    Every so often, in what Arlo called an act of mercy, he permitted Nina a brief visit.


    Even with only a few minutes allowed, Nina never wasted a second. She would sp William’s hand tightly, her expression drawn with worry and quiet despair.


    She knew Arlo’s motive. If William truly learned to despise Ste, that would serve Arlo’s purpose—and perhaps, in some cruel way, it would also favor her.


    But watching him lie there, trapped between life and nightmare, made her chest ache.


    “General White, please. Let him go. William can’t take any more of this. You’ve already won. Even if he wakes up now, he won’t threaten you. I’m begging you—stop tampering with his mind.”


    Nina’s voice trembled as she pleaded, her eyes bright with tears she refused to let fall. She only wanted William’s suffering to end.


    Arlo, however, stared down at her with contempt, his toneced with ice. “Isn’t this what you wanted? For him to hate Ste? Haven’t you always longed for a chance to have him for yourself? What’s wrong—losing your nerve now? Nina, people with soft hearts never rise above mediocrity.”


    Arlo seized Nina’s chin between his fingers, tilting her face upward until she was forced to meet his gaze. Each word that followed struck with precision.


    “What I decide stays decided. You should consider yourself fortunate that I have no reason to deal with you… yet.”


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    With that, Arlo released Nina abruptly and turned away, his steps echoing down the sterile corridor as he left theb.


    Nina crumpled to the ground, tears once again streaming down her cheeks.


    Meanwhile, miles away in Choria, Ste’s memories were being dulled piece by piece under the steady influence of the pills Marc gave her each day.


    She no longer saw that kneeling figure in her dreams each night, and the image of the gleaming ring slowly slipped from her thoughts.


    Marc stayed by her side constantly, leading her to all the familiar ces they had once visited when they first fell in love. Those pleasant memories with Marc gradually took the ce of the hazy fragments that had once flickered in Ste’s mind.


    Ste began to convince herself they had only been dreams—remnants of some illusion. Now that she was awake, this—Marc, their life together—was reality.


    Marc never spoke William’s name. Nor did he ever bring Ste anywhere that might stir a memory of him.


    He had kept her safe, much like a canary enclosed in the gilded cage he’d crafted, far from the reach of the outside world.


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