?Chapter 1504:


    Finally, Ste gripped the handrail and began her slow climb upward.


    William waited at the top, nked by two professional instructors.


    Her words, stolen by the gusting wind, came out broken and faint. “William… are you still angry with me?”


    ss flooring stretched beneath her feet, offering a stomach-turning view straight down to the valley river—hundreds of yards below.


    Several deep breaths helped steady her somewhat.


    Heights didn’t usually bother her, but knowing what William likely had nned sent anxiety spiraling through her veins. This kind of extreme activity genuinely terrified her.


    William neither turned around nor gave any indication he’d heard.


    She had no option but to edge closer to the tform, her fingers crushing the railing.


    After some time, the two instructors who’d been making preparations approached William with deference. “Mr. Briggs, everything’s prepared per your specifications.”


    William acknowledged them with a nod, then finally rotated to face Ste—his first words of the day. “You wanted to apologize, didn’t you? Shouldn’t an apology carry some weight?”


    Ste felt the bitter wind screaming past her ears, panic swelling inside her.


    She stared at the exposed tform, strength draining from her legs.


    William positioned himself at the tform’s edge, where the bungee equipment waited.


    He gestured for the instructors to move away, motioning them aside.


    His gaze locked onto Ste’s nched face as hemanded, “Come here.”


    Ste shuffled forward, each step like wading through quicksand.


    L??t??τ ch?ɑρτ?rs ιn g??l??ov?l??.?оm


    When she stood there and peered down, vertigo mmed into her.


    The wind shrieked past, as if eager to tear her from the tform entirely.


    Ste jerked backward, colliding with something solid.


    William stood directly behind her, his hands mping down on her shoulders, cutting off any escape.


    His breath grazed her ear, voice frigid and stripped of any humanity. “Frightened?”


    The heat from his palms made Ste go rigid.


    By reflex, she nced up at him, hurt flickering across her features, voice quaking. “I’ve never done anything like this. I’m petrified. Can we… can we do something else instead?”


    She understood he meant to punish her through bungee jumping. But… she simply couldn’t go through with it.


    William’s voice reached her ear emotionlessly, carried on the wind. “It’s only worthwhile if you’re scared. You want me to let this go? Then jump.”


    If fear weren’t part of the equation, it wouldn’t serve as punishment.


    Ste lifted her eyes to him. Backlit, his features appeared carved from stone, his dark eyes holding no trace of warmth.


    He looked at her the way one might examine an inanimate object—not a person. Her feelings, her thoughts—none of it registered with him.


    .


    .


    .