?Chapter 1419:


    He swallowed back all the lectures he’d mentally prepared. “I’ll take care of the arrangements,” he said after a pause. “You don’t need to worry. Nina, I’ve watched you grow up. I really do want you to be happy. And everything that happened here… just let it go, alright? Let the past stay in the past.”


    Nina smiled—soft, delicate, graceful.


    Then she left the study. And the moment she was out of earshot, that smile vanished. Her lips curled into something sharp.


    Let it go?


    Her life had been ruined. Her body scarred. And now he was telling her to move on?


    All of it—every word, every “well-meaning” gesture—was for Ste’s sake.


    Wishing her happiness? What a joke.


    Since the moment Ste was found, who had truly cared about her, Nina?


    In the morning, Ste borrowed the maid’s phone and dialed Josie’s number—William had granted his permission, though reluctantly.


    Shock rippled through Josie the moment she answered, and she grabbed her keys, rushing out the door to pick up her friend.


    Thirty minutester, Ste settled into the passenger seat of Josie’s Jeep Wrangler, the familiar scent of leather and vani air freshener washing over her.


    “Stel, are you okay? Has William been decent to youtely?”


    Ste nodded her head, her expression unreadable. “I’m fine, Josie. I asked you here because there are things I need to know.”


    The gravity in Ste’s voice twisted something tight in Josie’s stomach. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”


    Josie steered into the mall’s parking lot and cut the engine, then turned toward Ste, waiting with bated breath for whatever came next.


    Your next story begins at  .


    “Tell me the truth, Josie. Did I lose my memory? I didn’t just sleep for two years, did I?”


    Josie froze, ice creeping through her fingertips. “You… you found out?”


    Though Josie hadn’t answered directly, her reaction told Ste everything she needed to know.


    “I know I’ve lost my memory—that much is clear now. But everything else? Still a fog. Josie, I don’t understand why everyone kept this from me, but you’re my closest friend. I trust you. So please, just tell me the truth. All of it.”


    Josie had exhausted every method she could think of to help Ste remember, but nothing had worked.


    Even now, with the amnesia exposed, Ste possessed no trace of those lost memories.


    Josie opened her mouth to speak, but the words lodged stubbornly in her throat.


    The doctor’s warning echoed through her mind—forcing Ste to remember could do more harm than good.


    Josie swallowed the urge to spill everything, wrestling her emotions into submission before she spoke. “Stel, if those memories are gone, maybe they should stay that way. What matters now is getting you away from William.”


    “Josie, I’m not leaving. Not yet.”


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