?Chapter 1510:


    Veins throbbed at his temples, his jaw locked so tight she could see the muscle jumping beneath his skin. His cor hung open and twisted, and his entire appearance screamed of someone barely holding on—nothing like theposed William she thought she knew.


    Or perhaps this was the William no one else was allowed to see.


    “Get out!”


    The words tore from his throat, raw and hoarse.


    Just like before, William didn’t hesitate—he needed her gone, refused to let her witness him like this, stripped bare and unraveling.


    But Ste didn’t move toward the door. Instead, she took a single, deliberate step closer to him.


    She watched the violent storm raging behind his eyes, and strangely, fear didn’t rise within her. What surfaced instead was a sharp, inexplicable ache that pierced straight through her chest.


    Something invisible seemed to bind them together—when he suffered, she felt the echo of that pain in her own bones.


    She forced the words past the tightness in her throat. “Are you okay? Should I call a doctor?”


    Even with Jewell still abroad, there had to be other doctors in Choria who could help him.


    William gave no indication he’d heard her. His arm shot out suddenly, sweeping thest decorative piece off the table. The crash of porcin against hardwood shattered the suffocating silence.


    His bloodshot eyes fixed on Ste with predatory intensity, like a wounded animal cornered and ready to strike.


    Instinct drove Ste backward, but William moved faster.


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    He closed the distance between them in two strides and seized her shoulders with both hands, his fingers digging in so hard she thought her bones might crack under the pressure.


    Pain shot through her shoulders and a cry tore from her lips.


    She twisted, trying to break free, but his grip was iron.


    “I said, get out.”


    His ragged breathing crashed against her face in hot waves, sending shivers racing down her spine.


    Ste fought to reach him through the storm. “William, calm down. Look at me. It’s Ste. You need to—”


    “Shut up!”


    The roar exploded from him, and he shoved her backward with brutal force.


    Her back collided with the wall, the impact driving the air from her lungs. Pain exploded across her spine, and her vision went dark at the edges.


    He didn’t stop. He advanced on her again, one hand shooting out to wrap around her throat while the other formed a fist and mmed into the wall beside her head.


    The impact reverberated through the wall, and ster dust rained down around them.


    Tears burned in Ste’s eyes, but not from fear of what he might do to her. They came from the devastating realization washing over her—he truly had no control over this, over himself.


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