?Chapter 1304:


    If he’d known it’d turn into this mess, he would’ve kept his mouth shut.


    But how could anyone guess what was going on in William’s twisted mind?


    Everyone thought he’d stopped caring about Ste. Clearly, they thought wrong.


    Fred sighed and decided he’d finish a drink or two, then make up an excuse to leave. No point dying tonight.


    Across the table, Ste took a shaky breath. Then another. She lifted the ss and downed it, forcing herself to swallow the burn. She repeated the words in her mind like a mantra: She couldn’t cry. She couldn’t cause trouble. She couldn’t leave.


    William brought her here to drink. Fine. She would drink.


    If not with those CEOs, then alone.


    He wouldn’t stop her from drinking—not when the whole point of bringing her here was to make her drink in the first ce.


    Silently, she reached for the expensive bottle on the table. The liquor inside sparkled under the dim lights, cold and clear. Almost inviting. Almost like it was calling her deeper into the darkness she couldn’t escape.


    Ste sat in silence, numb to the curious nces and mocking smirks around her. She lifted the wine ss and continued drinking—mouthful after mouthful—without even ncing at William beside her.


    The liquor scorched her throat, hit her empty stomach like acid. She barely registered the taste. Only the pain let her know she was still doing damage.


    One ss down. Then another. Then another. She didn’t pause to think. Just poured and swallowed, again and again. The world around her faded, voices blending into a dull hum. Her limbs went heavy. Everything felt unreal—like she was drifting through a dream where nothing made sense and nothing mattered.


    At one point, she choked on the burn, coughing hard as her body rejected it.


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    Her shoulders shook, and silent tears slipped down her cheeks, lost in the dim light and noise. No one noticed.


    At first, William didn’t pay her much mind.


    He was back in his seat, cigar bnced between his fingers, half-listening to the man beside him drone on about some partnership deal.


    Every now and then, his eyes flicked toward the corner where Ste sat, slowly drinking herself into oblivion. A strange flicker passed through his expression—but he quickly shoved it away.


    So what?


    She was the one who refused to leave with Steven. She was the one chugging liquor like it would solve something.


    What, did she think drinking in front of him would earn pity?


    That it would change anything?


    It wasughable.


    William withdrew his gaze, reminding himself that she deserved it.


    Time passed. The music yed on. Empty sses piled up in front of Ste.


    Her body swayed slightly now, cheeks flushed a feverish red. Her eyes had lost all focus.


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