?Chapter 1514:


    Her hands were tiedpletely. As he’d reminded her that morning, she existed here only as his captive—nothing more, certainly not a friend.


    Shecked the power to free herself. What hope did she have of rescuing him?


    While Ste sat imprisoned in the vi, suffocating under the weight of her own thoughts, Marc’s circumstances had deteriorated just as severely.


    His fight with William that day had poisoned Mr. Hanson’s opinion of him. Consequently, the partnership had shattered beyond repair.


    Marc spiraled back into self-destructive habits. The studio he’d justunched sat abandoned, collecting dust. Without Ste’s brilliance, he proved incapable of creating anything innovative—not a single piece of new technology materialized.


    The studio’s failure was inevitable, merely a question of timing, so he wasted his hours in dim bars, drowning his failures in liquor.


    The bartender spotted him entering and glided a whiskey ss across the polished counter. “Mr. Walsh, your regr order?”


    Marc never nced at the ss. He grabbed it and threw the contents down his throat in a single swallow.


    Fire streaked down his throat, yet the alcohol proved powerless against the storm of frustration and shame that consumed him from within.


    William’s contemptuous expression haunted him. Every time his mind conjured images of Ste existing under that man’s roof, sharing his space day after endless day, murderous rage flooded through him.


    Yet those violent impulses remained nothing but empty daydreams. He couldn’t even summon the nerve to confront William face-to-face.


    Not even alcohol loosened his tongue enough to speak such thoughts aloud.


    “Loser!”


    He muttered the insult at himself in a bitter whisper as he signaled for another drink.


    gα?ησν????s is where your journey begins


    Someone settled onto the adjacent barstool. Marc turned his head, peering through the fog of intoxication, his mind requiring several moments to ce the face as Lance’s.


    Lance’s face darkened. As he observed Marc slouched in his seat, utterly intoxicated, a flicker of disappointment and revulsion passed through his gaze.


    Lance’s voice came out ice-cold. “Is this genuinely how you intend to continue?”


    Marc dragged his lips into a bitter semnce of a smile. “What other option exists for me? You have some miraculous solution in mind? Confront William directly? Ha… You’ve already attempted that approach. How did that turn out for you?”


    Regardless of their efforts, even with Ste’s assistance from within, they remained incapable of bringing William down.


    William operated like a phantom, possessing endless methods to manipte them until they spun in circles, disoriented and powerless.


    Lance’s hand curled into a tight fist, contempt dripping from his expression. “At least I refuse to cower in ces like this, squandering what little time remains.”


    The usation struck a nerve. Marc jerked upright suddenly, his eyes zing as they locked on Lance. “Then enlighten me—what exactly should I do? Tell me what options I have! Right now, William could snuff me out as easily as stepping on an insect. You’ve got the entire Carter family standing behind you. What do I have? Nothing but myself!”


    “So you’re abandoning Ste just like that? Exactly like before—you’ve never been anything but a selfish waste of space. All these years have passed, and you haven’t evolved even slightly.”


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