?Chapter 1488:


    Nina’s questioning irritated Marc further. “I literally just finished meeting with him. Don’t you think he needs time to consider the proposal? Why are you pushing so hard already?”


    Nina, picking up immediately on his defensive tone and evasive response, pieced together what had actually happened.


    “Marc, you’re absolutely pathetic! No wonder Ste dumped you when she had the chance. Tell me something—how many opportunities have I handed you on a silver tter? And you can’t even close one simple deal. What in God’s name did you say to Mr. Hanson to botch this sopletely?”


    If she weren’t trapped abroad, hiding from William’s inevitable retaliation, she never would have trusted Marc—this ipetent fool—to handle such a crucial meeting with Mr. Hanson.


    With thebined weight of the Carter family name and Amon’s considerable influence backing the proposal, Mr. Hanson should have agreed to the coboration without a moment’s hesitation.


    Yet somehow, impossibly, Marc had managed to destroy itpletely!


    Marc’s anger ignited white-hot at her relentless verbal assault.


    “How is this my fault? How was I supposed to magically know he doesn’t appreciate business discussions while having tea? It’s absurd!”AdChoicesADVERTISING


    Nina, unwilling to waste another second arguing with him, snapped at Marc to fix the situation himself before disconnecting the call abruptly.


    For now, safely hidden abroad, she remained beyond William’s reach.


    But paranoia gnawed at her constantly—she suspected her phone might bepromised, so she kept all her conversations with Marc ruthlessly brief.


    As Marc trudged down the crowded street, frustration settled over him like a suffocating nket.


    Ste had handed him William’sprehensive dossier on a silver tter, and he’d secured a face-to-face meeting with a valuable potential partner. Why had it failed?


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    It felt as though fate had deliberately set his entire life to maximum difficulty, with everyone against him.


    The studio he’d recently established could limp along temporarily thanks to Ste’s groundbreaking technological innovations, but it wasn’t a long-term solution.


    If he failed to extract Ste from William’s clutches soon, he’d find himself right back where he started—penniless, powerless, and stripped of everything he’d worked to rebuild.


    The thought sent a fresh wave of panic crashing through him.


    He wandered without direction until he stumbled upon a bar that looked respectable enough from the outside.


    Smooth jazz floated through the dimly lit interior. The ce wasn’t particrly crowded, which created a rtively peaceful, almost intimate atmosphere.


    He desperately craved the numbing oblivion that alcohol promised—anything to silence the relentless cascade of anxious thoughts tearing through his mind.


    He imed a stool at the polished bar and ordered his first drink from the bartender, fully prepared to drown his sorrows in blessed solitude.


    The moment he drained the first ss, he immediately signaled for another.


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