?Chapter 1546:


    At ten that evening, Tasha walked into the study carrying a freshly brewed cup of tea.


    William leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, fingers pressed to his temples. Themplight revealed the pale cast of his face.


    “Mr. Briggs, Ms. Russell asked me to prepare this for you,” Tasha said gently as she stepped closer and set the cup down with care, presenting it as a kind thought from Ste.


    William gave a brief nod, his face unreadable.


    She lingered in front of the desk, hesitated, then drew a slow breath before speaking. “Mr. Briggs, there is something about Ms. Russell that I am not sure I should mention.”


    William opened his eyes and looked directly at her. “Go on.”


    Her fingers twisted together. “Ms. Russell has grown very quiet these days. She spends hours alone in her room or staring out the window. Seeing her like that worries me. I am afraid it may turn into depression.”


    A slight crease formed between his brows. His hand paused on its way to the cup, though his voice stayed distant. “What does she want this time? Did she ask you to convince me to let her out?” He remembered allowing her a full day with her friends not long ago. What was she trying to do now?


    Tasha shook her head quickly. “No, she has not asked to go out. She has been very well behaved. People simply need something to upy them — staying alone in an empty house all day can be too much for anyone.”


    William did not answer. He only watched her, waiting.


    She gathered her courage and continued. “I have heard that a small pet can help lift someone’s mood. Animals are lively and keep a personpany. I thought that getting her one might help.”


    “A pet?”


    The surprise in his voice was unmistakable, as though the idea had never urred to him. In his mind, Ste was a traitor who deserved to be punished — traitors had no right tofort orpanionship. He had made it clear long ago that he had not brought her here to live an easy life. The more she suffered, the more satisfaction he was supposed to feel.


    Yet after hearing Tasha speak, he found himself weighing the idea despite himself.


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    Tasha gave a small nod. “I asked Ms. Russell a few days ago, and she mentioned she really likes small animals.”


    Knowing that, he fell quiet. He leaned back in his chair, fingers tapping against the desk in a slow, measured rhythm.


    The singlemp cast half his face in shadow. William had not kept a pet since he was young. As the Briggs family heir, something so sentimental was never permitted — and besides, no one in that household had ever possessed the patience or warmth to care for another living thing.


    Logic told him it was a ridiculous idea.


    And yet Tasha’s words had stirred something he had long kept sealed. He remembered how thin Ste had growntely, how her eyes dulled a little more with each passing day. Even the brief happiness from herst outing had faded the moment she returned. Full freedom was something he could never give her — but perhaps a pet would amount to nothing.


    Then again, why should her feelings concern him at all?


    The two thoughts shed inside his head, neither winning, only making the ache in his temples pulse harder. He despised anything that unsettled his emotions.


    Atst, he lifted his hand in dismissal, his brows drawn tight. “I understand. You can go now.”


    Tasha recognized that pressing further would only upset him and ruin whatever small chance remained, so she left quietly.


    After the door shut, William remained in the stillness for a long time. He reached for his phone, his finger hovering over the screen before he opened his chat with Luca and typed: What kind of animal actually makes a good pet?


    He read it back. A sharp sense of disbelief hit him. He deleted the message immediately and set the phone face down on the desk with a firm thud.


    He had to be losing his mind.


    The next morning, William was heading out just as Ste came downstairs. Her figure looked so fragile that the slightest breeze might have toppled her. He nced at her in passing, unsettled by how diminished she had be under this roof. Every meal was carefully prepared — yet the dullness in her eyes never lifted.


    Tasha’s words from the night before surfaced again. His lips pressed into a thin line. He turned away and strode out of the vi.


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