?Chapter 1507:


    The rope hit its maximum extension and rebounded, jerking Ste’s body up and down like a puppet on strings.


    After several bounces, she finally stopped, suspended upside down in midair, vision swimming as blood rushed to her head.


    Her body shook violently as the memory fragments crashed together in her mind, mingling with the present-day faces of Marc and William.


    She struggled to separate what was real from what wasn’t.


    “Marc…” she whispered without thinking, then amended. “William…”


    Who was she actually calling for? Who held her heart?


    Even Ste couldn’t answer.


    She felt forsaken by the entire world, unable to recognize her own feelings, wretched and lost.


    Up on the tform, the instructors started hauling her back up. Each pull upset her stomach, and by the time they dragged her onto solid ground, she waspletely drained, face ashen, body slick with cold perspiration.


    A pair of ck leather shoes entered her field of view, and Ste slowly lifted her head to find William’s nk expression.


    He stared down at her from his height, eyes empty of any feeling, as though her leap had meant nothing whatsoever to him.


    Ste sucked in air, eventually mustering enough energy to speak, her throat parched and bitter. “I jumped. Will you honor your word?”


    William said nothing.


    Ste pressed her palms to the ground, attempting to rise, but her legs refused to hold her weight. She tried twice, copsing both times.


    She had no option but to stay seated, gazing up at him with desperate hope written across her face. “Have you forgiven me?” she pushed.


    William studied her from above, the wind tousling his hair, several strands falling over his forehead and mellowing his typically harsh features.


    He spoke, his voice more frigid than the valley wind. “I said I’d consider it, not that I’d definitely be satisfied.”


    Ste’s hope crumbled to nothing.


    William’s tone held a thread of derision as he continued, “I thought watching you jump would bring me satisfaction, but apparently I feel no different than if I’d watched a stranger.”


    His implication was transparent—her jump hadn’t pleased him at all, so he remained unwilling to forgive her.


    He pivoted, preparing to descend from the bungee tower without a backward nce.


    Ste watched him walk away, her body still quaking uncontrobly.


    The terror from the fall hadn’t fully faded, and William’s coldness wrapped around her like freshting, constricting tighter and tighter.


    She’d assumed that being pulled to safety would ease the suffocating sensation, but now it felt even more crushing.


    An instructor moved closer to assist her. “You all right?”


    First-time bungee jumpers often experienced weakness; it was entirely normal.


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