?Chapter 1292:


    Dressed like that, she wouldn’t look like someone attending a respectable business function—she would look like something being disyed.


    Exactly what she feared William intended.


    It startled her how effortlessly he could degrade her, stripping away whatever dignity she still clung to, even through the clothes he chose.


    Ste’s face drained of color. She leaned against the window, her fingers trembling as she fought the urge to throw the box out from the second floor. Her voice came out raw. “No… I’m not going. I won’t wear something like this to that kind of ce.”


    To walk into a room nearly exposed, at William’s side, just to be paraded in front of his so-called business partners?


    The thought felt worse than dying.


    Luca didn’t even flinch at her refusal, as if he had expected every bit of it. His voice grew softer, weighed down by reluctance.


    “Ms. Russell, Mr. Briggs asked me to tell you that if you refuse or try to resist, he will begin acquiring the Carter familypany tomorrow… and make sure Marc disappears from this world.”


    The words struck her like a stone tied to her ankles, dragging her into a depthless sea where she could barely breathe. Her pupils contracted sharply, and her blood seemed to turn to ice.


    Once again, he was using the people she loved as leverage against her.


    First, he had held her grandfather and brother over her head. Now he was using the Carter family—and even Marc, the man who was supposed to be her husband—to force her hand.


    A crushing wave of helplessness washed over her as she stared at the dress glittering coldly under the light, looking more like a poised serpent than clothing.


    If she wore it, she would live with the humiliation forever. If she refused, everyone she cared about would pay the price.


    Did she truly have a choice?


    A hollow, bitterugh slipped from Ste as loneliness and despair clouded her eyes.


    Deep down, she had always known she never had one. From the moment William dragged her away from the wedding, threatening the Carter family and using her friends to keep her under his control, all her paths had been sealed off.


    She didn’t understand why William despised her so intensely, but she had to face the truth—he had won.


    He had shattered her dignity, torn her away from the future she once believed in, and left her with no way back.


    He had destroyed her lifepletely; his victory was absolute.


    Tears blurred her vision again as she bit down on her lip until she tasted blood, barely holding back the scream wing up her throat.


    Her trembling fingers slowly reached for the revealing dress.


    “I’ll wear it.”


    Agreeing to wear the dress felt like giving up thest bit of fight she had left. It hollowed her out.


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