?Chapter 1580:


    Something sparked in Jewell’s mind, shifting his entire train of thought. “We can’t erase William’s corrupted memories with current technology, but I’d bet everything that Arlo possesses an antidote.”


    Both Ste and Steven turned to Jewell simultaneously.


    He pressed forward with his reasoning. “If Arlo’s people sessfully rewrote William’s entire memory structure, logic dictates they would have developed a corresponding countermeasure.” Such a remedy would serve as insurance — a failsafe in case their experimental technology malfunctioned or produced catastrophic side effects. Which meant Jewell felt absolutely certain that somewhere in Arlo’s possession, an antidote existed.


    Hope reignited behind Ste’s eyes. “Are you absolutely certain?”


    Jewell nodded firmly. “Mental maniption like this cuts both ways. They need William controble, but they can’t risk him turning dangerous if something goes wrong. The real problem is that we don’t have the faintest idea what Arlo looks like, which makes tracking down the antidote nearly impossible.”


    Silence descended over Ste and Steven like a heavy nket.


    A dark thought crept into Ste’s mind — perhaps Nina dragging her to meet Arlo wouldn’t have ended inplete disaster. At least she might have secured the antidote for William. At minimum, she would have seen Arlo’s face with her own eyes.


    Steven dragged his hand across his nose, frustration carving lines into his expression. “Arlo operates from overseas territory where his influence runs deep. Even William couldn’t touch him before. I’ve spent months investigating and turned up absolutely nothing. How are we supposed to find him?” Beyond that, even if they miraculously located him, what made them think Arlo would simply surrender the antidote? Confronting him directly would be suicide — a battle lost before it began. Involving local police presented equally daunting obstacles; even armed with concrete evidence, domesticw enforcement struggled to extend jurisdiction beyond their own borders.


    All three sat frowning in contemtion, solutions evading thempletely.


    Ste’s head snapped up abruptly, realization striking like lightning. “We can use Nina!”


    Confusion crossed both Jewell’s and Steven’s faces. Why would Ste want anything to do with Nina now? Arlo had clearly abandoned her — what possible assistance could she provide?


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    Jewell voiced his concern carefully. “Nina’s unpredictable even behind bars. Approaching her carries considerable risk.” His caution made perfect sense, but they had no other leads to pursue.


    “Nina’s met Arlo face to face. If we convince her to describe his features and bring in a sketch artist, we might finally put a face to the name. That narrows our search considerably, doesn’t it?”


    Jewell’s and Steven’s gazes locked, fresh hope sparking between them in silentmunication. The solution had been sitting right in front of them all along,pletely overlooked.


    “Ste, you’re absolutely brilliant!” Steven’s praise came without hesitation.


    Ste pressed her lips into a thin line, tempering their enthusiasm. “I can’t guarantee she’ll cooperate honestly. She might feed us lies just to watch us chase ghosts.” Nina carried an ocean of resentment toward both her and William, and now a lifetime behind bars stretched ahead of her. Getting Nina to cooperate wouldn’t be easy.


    Steven stepped forward immediately. “I’ll handle the police station visit.” Nina would m the door on Ste or William without hesitation, but Steven upied different territory in her mind. He shared no personal grievances with Nina, and he suspected that somewhere beneath all that hatred, remnants of her feelings for William still lingered. If he approached her carefully, appealing to whatever empathy and logic remained intact, he refused to believe Nina would staypletely unmoved. And if emotional appeals failed, he still had leverage — the tantalizing possibility of reducing her sentence.


    Ste’s gaze drifted toward Steven before she nodded with quiet determination. “Thank you. Whatever it takes, get that description from her.”


    Steven nodded his agreement, though confusion still clouded his expression as their eyes met. Her concern for William today ran unusually deep and passionate. Had she somehow fallen for him all over again? But hadn’t she lost her memory?


    Ste remained oblivious to Steven’s internal spection. She had saved one more request for him. Her voice dropped lower, almost conspiratorial. “Steven, could you get me a phone? Without William’s knowledge. He can’t find out.”


    Steven recoiled slightly, as though her words hadn’t registered properly. “Wait — a phone? William explicitly forbade you from having one. If he discovers I gave you one, he’ll have my head on a tter. Besides, how do I know what you n to do with it?” They were all working toward William’s benefit, certainly, but Ste had lost all memory of their shared past. Complete trust felt impossible under these circumstances.


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