?Chapter 1713:


    Alisha pulled the nket higher to cover herself and turned toward him with timid eyes that rapidly filled with tears. Her voice trembled. “Mr. Briggs,st night you were intoxicated and you… you insisted I stay with you. I…” She trailed off as tears began streaming down her face, making her seem heartbreakingly vulnerable.


    Watching her, William felt the world spinning.


    He knew he had been drugged — that much was obvious. But in the fragmented memories he could ess, the woman in this room with him had been Ste, not Alisha. Yet the crimson stains on the sheets mocked his self-deception from the previous night.


    William threw the covers back violently and surged out of bed, turning his back on Alisha without another word.


    Alisha’s heart hammered against her ribs as she watched his rigid back. “Mr. Briggs, if you regret what happenedst night, we can both just pretend it never urred. It’s only that… it was my first time, and I don’t know how to… Could you help me get a morning-after pill?”


    The mention of a “morning-after pill” struck a nerve. William’s brow twitched sharply — an involuntary reaction he couldn’t suppress.


    He turned away, his voice dropping to ice. “I’m going to find out what happenedst night. Until I do, keep quiet. If you don’t, you’ll handle whateveres next on your own.”


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    The door mmed shut behind him. Heavy silence flooded the room in his wake.


    Alisha sat on the bed, reying the way he had looked — tense, almost helpless. Augh escaped her suddenly, but as the sound left her lips, tears began streaming down her face. She knew William wouldn’t abandon her to deal with this alone — that wasn’t in his nature. So why didn’t she feel the slightest bit relieved?


    William left the room and headed straight for the underground parking lot. Inside his car, he caught sight of his reflection in the rearview mirror — haggard, worn — and swallowed hard.


    He pulled out his phone and dialed Luca’s number. “I need you to find out what Hurst slipped into my drinkst night.”


    Luca’s tone shifted immediately, growing cautious. “Understood, Mr. Briggs. Did you… make it home safelyst night?”


    William rubbed the bridge of his nose, ignoring the question entirely. “Transfer money into Alisha Cooper’s ount. And get her the morning-after pill.”


    Luca fell momentarily silent on the other end of the line. Had he heard that correctly? Morning-after pills?


    William ended the call and drove out of the parking garage. Bright sunlight assaulted his eyes the moment he emerged, making him feel even worse than before. All he wanted was to get home and scrub every trace ofst night off his body. Alisha’s scent still lingered on his clothes, and it made him want to strip them off and throw them straight into the trash.


    Meanwhile, Luca hung up the phone and stared at Steven across from him,pletely tongue-tied. The call had been on speaker. Steven had heard every single word.


    “Mr. Harrison,” Luca asked carefully, “should we tell Ms. Russell about this?”


    Steven pped him on the back. “Are you out of your mind? Knowing Ste’s personality, do you really think she’d stay with William if we told her?”


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