?Chapter 1659:


    William picked up a slice of salmon, his tone indifferent. “There’s no need to thank me. You earned that opportunity on your own merit.” He hadn’t actually done anything at all. Whether Hurst had misinterpreted something or not was irrelevant — it was simply her good fortune, and it had nothing to do with him.


    “But if you hadn’t said something to Mr. Dixon, he never would have…”


    Alisha cut herself off mid-sentence as something seemed to dawn on her. She nced toward Ste before turning back to William, her voice careful. “Mr. Briggs, have you known Ms. Russell for a long time?”


    The moment the question left her lips, the tension in the room dropped several degrees.


    Ste set down her utensils with deliberate care and fixed her gaze on William, waiting to hear what he would say.


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    William continued chewing in silence for what felt like an eternity before he finally answered with a single, t word. “Yes.” That one syble left both women unsure of his exact meaning.


    Alisha picked up on the undercurrent of tension and offered an awkward smile. “I see. So would you say you’re friends, or… something more than that?” The question mattered to her.


    Ste met Alisha’s gaze with measuredposure, choosing not to answer immediately. Her silence made Alisha falter, and she rushed to backtrack. “I was just making conversation, Ms. Russell. I hope I haven’t offended you.”


    Ste wanted to assure her she hadn’t — part of her even wanted to tell Alisha outright about the engagement that had once bound her to William. But before she could form the words, William broke his silence and cut in. “We’re not together.”


    The statement hit Ste like a physical blow. Her carefully maintained smile crumbled, and she turned to stare at him in stunned disbelief. His expression remained perfectly neutral, as if he were simply stating a fact.


    Relief washed visibly across Alisha’s features.


    So they weren’t a couple. That was wonderful.


    The remainder of the meal descended into excruciating difort. William barely spoke, and on the rare asions when he responded to Alisha’s attempts at conversation, his answers were clipped and brief. Ste kept her expression carefully neutral, but internally she was falling apart. She didn’t hear several of Alisha’s questions, and every bite of food tasted like cardboard. She just wanted this nightmare of a dinner to be over.


    An hourter, it finally was.


    When they stepped out of the restaurant, cool night air washed over them. Alisha stood by the roadside, looked at William, and asked hesitantly, “Mr. Briggs, would you mind giving me a ride home? I live pretty far out, and it’s difficult to catch a taxi this time of night.”


    Ste’s chest constricted painfully. Her eyes flew to William’s face, wide with silent pleading, desperately hoping he would turn the girl down.


    William caught her expression — registered the raw pain swimming in her eyes — and for one fleeting moment something in him nearly softened. But his mind quickly flooded again with those chaotic, fractured memories, apanied by the vicious throb of pain behind his temples. He wrenched his gaze away from Ste and directed his words at Alisha. “Get in.”


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