?Chapter 1408:


    William pulled up his inbox, scrolling through. “One more thing. Ste told me a woman named Haley called her yesterday and said things she shouldn’t have. I want to know who.”


    Haley?


    The name clicked immediately in Luca’s mind. “You think it might be Haley Smith?”


    Hearing the name sparked recognition in William’s memory.


    Right—Haley Smith. Marc’s former mistress.


    The woman had actually had the audacity to contact Ste using his name, feeding her lies that made her think he’d set the whole thing up.


    Something dangerous flickered in William’s eyes. “Send someone to deliver a message to Haley. If she keeps running her mouth, she won’t have a tongue left to run.”


    William preferred to keep his hands clean—violence wasn’t his style. But Arlo? Arlo was a mercenary who lived knee-deep in blood and danger every single day.


    Arlo would probably enjoy taking care of something like this.


    Once he hung up, William turned his attention to the files Luca had sent.


    ording to the timeline, Ste had spent nearly every day of that month with Marc, barely seeing anyone else.


    A humorless smile touched William’s mouth. Marc had been paranoid as hell, terrified someone else might let slip about Ste’s memory loss.


    Beyond Marc, the report showed only a handful of other contacts.


    Sharon, Josie, and a few colleagues from the research institute—that was it.


    One name stood out—Lainey, Ste’s friend. She seemed to know plenty about Ste and Marc’s situation.


    His phone buzzed against the desk. Another message from Luca.


    Your source: g??ln??v??ls.??????


    “Mr. Briggs, attached are Ms. Russell’s hospital records and medical files. They explicitly confirm temporary amnesia.”


    Below the text sat the attachment—Ste’splete hospitalization records, everything documented in ck and white.


    William’s jaw tightened. He hit print, waited for the pages to spit out, and headed straight for Ste’s room.


    “You think you haven’t lost your memory? Think I’m making this up to manipte you? Here.” He dropped the papers onto her bed. “Your hospitalization records. Official hospital seal and everything. You really believe I’d go through the trouble of forging medical documents just to mess with your head?”


    The pages were scattered across Ste’s nket in a messy sprawl.


    Without waiting for a response, William turned and walked out, not sparing her another nce.


    Ste gathered the scattered pages with shaking hands, putting them in order. As she read, shock rolled through her in waves, building with every line.


    The medical report was crystal clear: temporary retrograde amnesia. Memory loss spanning the previous two years.


    She stared at those words until her eyes burned, but she couldn’t make herself look away.


    So it was true. She really had lost her memory. Two entire years, just… gone.


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