?Chapter 1256:


    “Smile,” he muttered under his breath. “Go on. Smile while you can. Soon that smile will be gone.”


    He made no move to stop the wedding set for the end of the month.


    That would be far too merciful. He wanted her to taste despair—to fall from the peak of her so-called happiness straight into the abyss.


    He wanted to see her lose everything. To watch her beg. To see the realization dawn in her eyes—the pain, the regret, the punishment.


    Day after day passed in that deceptive calm.


    Steven and Luca had exhausted every lead they could find, but it was as if an invisible wall stood in their way.


    Every trace of William’s whereabouts during that missing month had been erased—cleanly, deliberately. It was the same kind of dead end they’d hit before he reappeared.


    With nowhere else to turn, Steven decided to confront Nina.


    After returning to the country, Nina hadn’t gone back to the Carter family; she knew she wouldn’t be wee. Everyone was likely busy preparing for Ste’s uing wedding, and she was certain her presence would only make things worse. Besides, she feared being detained by Lance and Karson if she showed her face.


    When Marc took Ste back, he must have told them she was the one who had drugged Ste.


    The Carter family was no longer a ce for her.


    Even her parents had long since abandoned her. Why would she go back?


    Instead, Nina found herself a small apartment in a quiet suburb, far from the noise of the city. She rarely had visitors, and that was exactly how she liked it.


    She was waiting for the wedding day.


    She wanted to see it with her own eyes—Ste, the woman who once looked down on her, walking down the aisle in her perfect white gown, smiling beside the man she used to scorn.


    The thought alone made Nina’s lips curl in a cold, satisfied smile. That sight would be spectacr.


    But she hadn’t expected Steven and Luca to appear before she could enjoy her little show.


    When she opened the door and saw the two men standing on her doorstep, her expression instantly hardened. “What are you doing here?”


    Steven didn’t bother with pleasantries. “Where did you take William a month ago? And what exactly did you do to him?”


    Nina tilted her head, feigning confusion. “What are you talking about? William seems perfectly fine to me.”


    Steven’s face darkened. “Don’t y dumb. He’s not the same, Nina. He hates Ste now—deeply. You expect me to believe this isn’t your doing?”


    Nina gave a short, humorlessugh, her eyes glinting with mockery. “Hates her? Why shouldn’t he? Ste’s the one betraying him to marry another man. Isn’t it natural for him to hate her? Or have you forgotten—he went missing because he was trying to save her?”


    Her tone was sharp, almost gleeful.


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