?Chapter 1571:


    The private jet carried them home through clouds thick with unspoken dread, the air inside so heavy it pressed against their lungs.


    Despite the cabin’s sprawling luxury, Nina and Marc sat shackled to reinforced seats in the rear, two bodyguards standing watch over them like silent sentinels. Foreignw enforcement had no jurisdiction over citizens from another country, leaving William with a single option — escort them home where justice could reach them.


    Nina’s tears flowed without cease, her swollen eyes fixed on Luca’s back several rows ahead. Her voice emerged barely above a whisper. “What will he do to me?”


    Luca harbored a deep dislike for Nina, and her question drew a cold snort from him before he could stop himself. “Miss Carter, after everything you have done — stealing Mr. Briggs’s memories, nearly ending Ms. Russell’s life — what exactly do you expect him to do?”


    The words struck her like a physical blow, sending her heart into freefall. “Does he want me dead?”


    Luca kept his eyes on the documents that would soon find their way into police hands once theynded, his tone stripped of emotion. “Mr. Briggs is not one of those mercenaries you have dealt with before. He will not kill you.”


    Nina dropped her gaze to her mutted hand, studying the space where a finger used to be. A hollowugh escaped her lips. “Luca, you have stood beside him for years. Do you actually believe what just came out of your mouth?”


    Luca lifted his head and met her stare with steady, untroubled eyes. “Miss Carter, you should count yourself fortunate. Anyone else would have ended your life the moment they had the chance.” The damage would not have stopped at a few missing fingers.


    The statement rendered Nina mute.


    Beside her, Marc had exhausted his capacity for questions hours ago. He slouched in his seat, gaze lost somewhere in the clouds beyond the window. After a long stretch of silence, he suddenly turned toward Luca. “Can I see Ste?”


    That Marc still held Ste in his thoughts made Luca press his lips into a thin line. He shook his head. “I am sorry, Mr. Walsh. That will not be happening.”


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    The main cabin held only William and Ste, positioned in separate rows with Ste facing him directly. She watched him rest, eyes sealed shut against the world.


    He upied the window seat, wrapped in a tension so dense it threatened to choke anyone who drew too close — heavier and more dangerous than she had ever witnessed. He had traded his ck coat for a in shirt and trousers, though the change did nothing to soften him. His profile cut a harsh silhouette against the pale light filtering through the clouds.


    A soft nket Luca had provided earlier was draped around Ste’s shoulders. After boarding, she had tended to the gash on her forehead alone in front of a mirror, managing to stop the bleeding with basic supplies.


    She stole nces at William repeatedly, each one twisting something deep in her chest — an invisible hand wringing out equal parts pain and tenderness. When the ne shuddered beneath them, something inside her finally broke. She could not hold her silence another second.


    She gathered what courage remained. “William…”


    He gave her nothing — not a flicker of hisshes, not the slightest acknowledgment.


    She pushed her voice louder, though her heart had climbed into her throat. “William, I know you are awake. Please just listen. I have remembered everything — every memory I lost hase back to me.”


    His eyelids gave the barest flutter, but he did not open them or offer a single word in response.


    Ste’s hands curled into fists at her sides, discouragement settling over her like frost. She had imagined this revtion would crack his facade, force some reaction from him. Instead, he remained unmoved, as if her recovered memories meant absolutely nothing.


    Silence stretched between them. She pressed forward anyway. “I remember everything we shared — every moment. I never betrayed you, William. I do not know who nted that lie in your mind, but it is exactly that — a lie. Those memories they gave you are fabrications. I love you. I have only ever loved you.”


    Her voice wavered, tears threading through every word, each one drawn from the wounded depths of her heart. What she felt for him burned genuine and fierce inside her chest, and the instant her memories returned, telling him had be the only thing that mattered.


    William’s eyes opened with deliberate slowness. When his gaze finally met hers, she found noplicated emotions there — only a calm soplete it bordered on emptiness. He looked at her as though she were a stranger, and that foreignness in his stare drove a spike of grief straight through her chest.


    “Finished?” The question emerged calm — yet so saturated with detachment it felt deliberately cruel.


    Panic raced through Ste’s veins. “You still do not believe me? Everything I am saying is the truth. I will swear on anything, I—”


    “You are being noisy.”


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