?Chapter 1582:


    Ste summoned a wan smile at the question. “William’s trust in me has evaporatedpletely. I understand why. If staying away brings him peace, I won’t force my presence on him.”


    Jewell studied her as she spoke, noting how profoundly she had changed from the woman who once dissolved into tears at the slightest provocation. Two years had forged her into someone entirely different — harder, more resilient.


    Evening shadows crept across the vi when Steven returned, pressing a brand-new silver phone into Ste’s waiting palm. “My private number’s already programmed in. Call whoever you need — no tracking software, no monitoring systems.” He pressed his lips together before dropping his voice lower. “I installed anti-tracking measures, but exercise caution anyway — don’t leave it powered on longer than necessary. The SIM card’spletely anonymous. Even William couldn’t trace it back to its source.”


    He had never envisioned a scenario where he’d find himself conspiring with Ste to hide things from William. The realization carried an oddly thrilling edge.


    Ste epted the phone, wrapping her fingers around it protectively. “I’ll be extremely careful.” This phone had cost her significant effort to obtain — she wouldn’t allow William or anyone else to discover it through carelessness.


    After Steven and Jewell delivered their final warnings and reminders, they departed the vi together.


    Silence reimed the space the moment they left. Ste sank into the living room sofa, watching sunset colors bleed across the sky while heavy thoughts circled through her mind. Tasha moved through the kitchen preparing dinner, having overheard every word exchanged between Jewell, Steven, and Ste — yet she harbored no intention of reporting any of it to William. Someone had vited William’s mind and corrupted his memories. Ste and Steven were fighting to restore him. Under these circumstances, Tasha refused to y informant.


    Gazing at the empty vi from the dining table, Ste let out a quiet sigh. “Tasha, about everything that happened today — I need you to keep it from William.”


    Tasha nodded immediately, conviction hardening her features. “Don’t worry, Ms. Russell. My lips are sealed — I won’t breathe a single word.”


    Surprise flickered across Ste’s face. She had fully expected Tasha’s loyalty to William to override everything else, and had already been mentally rehearsing persuasive arguments.


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    “Everything you’re doing serves Mr. Briggs’s best interests. I want him to find happiness again too. Ms. Russell, you have my full support.”


    Tasha’s deration sent warmth flooding through Ste’s chest. The realization struck her then — William wasn’t alone in this world. Beyond her love, he possessed genuine friendships with people who would move mountains for him.


    Finding the antidote presented massive obstacles, certainly, but Ste refused to surrender to passivity. She would seize control and hunt down that cure herself. And if she managed to drag Arlo to justice in the process, all the better.


    She remained at the dining table, fingers tracing the cool surface of the phone case while determination — not doubt — burned behind her eyes. Her thoughts turned toward Nina and the task of extracting Arlo’s physical description, which pulled memories of her abduction flooding back. Nina’s expression when she had spoken Arlo’s name remained burned into Ste’s memory — smugness warring with profound, bone-deep terror. Nina genuinely feared that mercenary. Perhaps Ste could weaponize that fear and use it to pry the truth from Nina’s lips.


    Night deepened around the vi, but appetite eluded Stepletely. She managed a few bites of dinner before retreating to her room to strategize her next moves.


    Across the city, William stood beside the floor-to-ceiling windows of Briggs Group’s executive floor, wrapped in a cold so pervasive it seemed to radiate from within. He remainedpletely ignorant of Ste and Steven’s conspiracy, though his mind churned with enough chaos to generate a vicious, pounding headache.


    Meanwhile, Ste sat in her room with Felix curled in herp, her fingers absently caressing the silver phone Steven had delivered hours earlier. She hesitated briefly before pulling up the dial pad and entering Lance’s number with careful precision. Memory loss had severed most of hermunication with the Carter family, but now that those memories had returned, Lance and Karson deserved to know. Beyond William, Lance and Karson represented her most trusted family in the world. She had no confirmation yet whether Steven had managed to persuade Nina, and if he had failed, the Carter family might provide another avenue of ess.


    Ste drew in a fortifying breath, moved to stand before the window, and dialed Lance’s number.


    The phone rang endlessly before someone finally picked up. Lance’s voice came through heavy with exhaustion. “Hello? Who’s calling?” The unfamiliar number had put caution into his tone.


    Ste kept her voice low, emotion catching in her throat. “It’s me. Ste.”


    “Ste?!”


    Recognition transformed Lance’s voice entirely, lifting it several octaves as disbelief bled through every syble. “Ste! Why are you calling from a number I don’t recognize? We heard about the fire at William’s vi days ago. Are you alright?”


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