?Chapter 1676:


    A wry smile tugged at Ste’s lips. She had witnessed this scene countless times before. William had always attracted this kind of attention, and wherever he went, his striking appearance invariably drew admirers. Memories surfaced of all the times she had stood beside him, diplomatically deflecting the attention of his would-be admirers. A softugh escaped her.


    Her eyes stayed locked on his figure. As though sensing her scrutiny, William lifted his head and looked directly toward her window. Their gazes collided across the distance.


    Ste’s throat constricted. The next moment, he broke eye contact and turned away, following university staff toward the auditorium entrance.


    She released a quiet sigh and moved to pour herself a ss of water to ease the tightness in her throat. Her role today involved only informal mentoring sessions with students — nothing requiring her to take the stage — so she hadn’t prepared any formal remarks. William, however, would be delivering a keynote address to the entire assembled universitymunity in honor of the centennial.


    It appeared they wouldn’t have many opportunities to interact today. She found herself wondering if he would wait for her once his speech concluded.


    Inside the main auditorium, not a single seat remained empty. William stood backstage and peered through a gap in the heavy curtain at the ocean of faces stretching before him. The host’s voice rang out over the sound system, and enthusiastic apuse rippled through the crowd.


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    “Mr. Briggs, you’re on in five minutes,” a staff member reminded him softly.


    William acknowledged this with a nod and straightened his suit. His eyes swept across the VIP seating in the front rows, where he caught sight of Ste being escorted to her assigned seat.


    “And now, please join me in weing the CEO of Briggs Group, Mr. William Briggs, to the stage to share some thoughts in celebration of our centennial!”


    The president’s amplified voice resonated through the auditorium, followed immediately by thunderous apuse. William strode onto the stage with steady, unhurried steps. The spotlight found him at once. Thousands of eyes tracked his every movement as he approached the podium, adjusted the microphone, and began to speak.


    Midway through his remarks, his gaze pulled itself toward Ste against his will.


    She appeared to be listening intently. A young man seated next to her leaned in close and murmured something. She turned toward him with a smile — warm, genuine, radiant — the kind of smile William hadn’t seen directed at anyone in months.


    Who was that man? Why was he sitting close enough to whisper in her ear?


    The questions detonated through William’s mind like grenades, igniting a vicious headache behind his temples. He wrenched his attention back to his prepared remarks and powered through the rest of his speech, wrapping up in just under ten minutes.


    From her seat in the audience, Ste’s brow creased with concern. She had noticed the shift in his delivery — his pace had elerated dramatically from the measured opening, as though he couldn’t wait to escape the stage. Worried that his condition might be destabilizing, she kept her eyes trained on him without wavering, refusing to look away until he had safely exited.


    William felt the weight of her gaze. In that fleeting moment, the tension coiled tight in his chest loosened — just fractionally.


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