?Chapter 1314:


    “Nina.” His voice was low, deliberate. “I’m not in the habit of repeating myself. Whatever feelings you think I had for you—they never existed. Not then. Not now. Not ever.”


    The words sliced straight through Nina, sending a cold shiver down her spine.


    William didn’t even seem to notice how shattered she looked. Or maybe he did—because he kept going, each word sharper than thest.


    “Just because we spent time together at Arlo’s ce doesn’t mean you were ever special to me.”


    The line he drew wasn’t just clear. It was brutal. He remembered everything. Every moment she’d clung to as proof that maybe, just maybe, she mattered. And still—nothing. Not even the fake bond Arlo had tried to force on them had left a mark on him.


    Nina’s face drained of color.


    William’s expression cooled even further, his narrowed eyes giving away a flicker of irritation, maybe even impatience.


    Her tears came fast, slipping past her attempts to wipe them away. The more she tried to hold herself together, the more everything fell apart.


    She’d been confident overseas, sharp and proud. But facing him now… she had nothing left to stand on.


    William finally looked away, his voice dipping into something edged with mockery.


    “And Nina, did you really think I forgot everything from before? You’re the one who brought me to Arlo. Everything that happened in thatb—every second of it—started with you.”


    Nina’s breath caught. Her whole body locked up.


    He remembered?


    No—he wasn’t supposed to. Arlo promised that part would be gone. Buried. Rewritten.


    “I haven’t acted on it because you’ve stayed in line,” William said, voice low and razor-sharp. “But don’t test my patience. Don’t get in my way again.”


    Stories live now on galnσ??????????o??


    The room fell still. Her legs gave a small, unsteady wobble, and she stumbled back half a step. He hadn’t yelled. He hadn’tshed out. But the finality in his voice was louder than any explosion.


    This wasn’t a warning. It was a sentence.


    She stared up at him, every word he’d said echoing in her skull, louder than the sound of her own heartbeat.


    He didn’t like her. Didn’t care for her. Not even a little. Not even with all the baggage between him and Ste.


    Even now—especially now—there was no room for her in his world.


    Her lips parted, trembling, but no sound came out. Her throat tightened.


    The tears flowed silently, ruining the makeup she’d so carefully applied. Nina looked at the man in front of her—still wless, still distant—and realized, finally, that everything she’d done meant nothing to him.


    She hadn’t just lost. She’d been dismissed. Erased. Whatever faint warmth she thought existed between them was never there.


    Their time at Arlo’s hadn’t softened him. If anything, it had hardened the disgust in his eyes.


    Her legs went weak. It felt like the strength had been drained from her bones. She stumbled back a few steps, barely managing to stay upright.


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