?Chapter 1661:


    The ck car elerated into the darkness, leaving Alisha alone on the curb. Her heart felt as though it were being slowly crushed, making it difficult to draw a full breath.


    Alisha couldn’t make sense of William at all. He had agreed to see her, had even seemed approachable for a moment — so why had he turned so cold again? Had she said something wrong without realizing it?


    Meanwhile, William headed neither to his office nor back to the mansion. Instead, he directed the driver to the riverside, then stepped out of the car and began walking along the water’s edge with no particr destination in mind.


    The night breeze caught at his hair and pulled at his clothes as the river rippled before him, its surface alive with the reflected glow of buildings lining both shores. Despite the beauty spread out before him, his heart remainedpletely numb. His thoughts had scattered into such chaos that he couldn’t even identify what he was feeling.


    His phone vibrated in his pocket. A message from Merrick appeared on the screen: “Arlo asked about the progress. I responded exactly as you instructed.”


    William’s eyes fixed on the words, his expression icy. He swiped the message away and pulled up Luca’s contact instead. The call connected after barely one ring.


    “Mr. Briggs?”


    “I need you to run a background check on someone. Alisha Cooper, final-year student at Crossroads University. She’s doing an internship at Dixon Group right now.”


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    Luca clearly hadn’t anticipated a request to investigate a college student, but despite his obvious confusion, he agreed without question.


    Once the call ended, William slipped his phone back into his pocket and resumed his aimless wandering. The memory of Ste walking away from him yed on a relentless loop in his head, each repetition driving a fresh spike of pain straight through his chest. He knew perfectly well that she must be devastated — and yet every time they were in the same room, he found himself saying and doing things that hurt her. Which meant the only answer was to avoid her as much as possible. But she kept seeking him out anyway, and he had no idea how to handle it.


    Time lost all meaning as he walked. Eventually he came to a halt and stood staring down at the dark water rushing below.


    His phone buzzed again — a message from Jewell. “William, there’s something important we need to talk about. When can you make time?”


    His fingers tightened around the phone as he stared at the screen, uncertain how to answer. After several minutes of indecision, he finally typed a response: “I’ll be at your office tomorrow morning at ten.”


    Across the city, lights zed in Sharon’s apartment.


    Ste sat on the carpet by the picture window, a ss of red wine cradled in her hands, sorrow swimming in her eyes. Sharon and Josie upied the space across from her, worry etched deeply into both their faces as Ste recounted every excruciating detail of what had transpired between her and William that evening.


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