?Chapter 1714:


    Luca had to admit Steven had a point — they couldn’t tell Ste right now. But could they really keep it hidden forever? That didn’t sit right with him either. What if Ste discovered the truth by ident one day? Secrets like this never stayed buried.


    Steven sank into the sofa, brows pulled together in confusion. He couldn’t wrap his head around how William could attend a simple banquet and end up in bed with another woman. That wasn’t like William at all. And who exactly was this Alisha Cooper?


    The question gnawed at him until he decided to deliver the pill to Alisha himself. He wanted to see firsthand what kind of woman could make William abandon his principles like this.


    Steven tracked down Alisha’s current address, stopped at a pharmacy, and made his way to her apartment. He pressed the doorbell and waited.


    Alisha had showered as soon as she arrived home. Now she sat curled up on the sofa, waiting for news. When the doorbell rang, her pulse quickened — it had to be William. She jumped up, hurried to the door, paused to smooth down her clothes, drew in a breath, and opened it.


    The figure standing outside wasn’t William. It was a stranger — tall and undeniably handsome, wearing a well-tailored ck suit, surveying her from head to toe with unsettling thoroughness.


    His voice carried no warmth, each word delivered with clinical indifference. “Alisha Cooper?”


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    Alisha retreated a step on instinct, nodded, and studied him with guarded suspicion. “Who are you? I don’t know you.”


    Steven arched an eyebrow. “I’m a friend of William’s — Steven Harrison. Can we talk inside?” He detested conducting conversations on doorsteps, and expectedmon courtesy wouldn’t allow her to refuse him entry.


    Alisha hesitated, uncertainty flickering across her face, before stepping aside. “Please,e in.”


    She had expected William toe himself, so his decision to send a friend in his ce caught her off guard. That could only mean one thing — his friend knew what had happened between them. Shame burned through her chest, and she couldn’t bring herself to meet Steven’s eyes.


    Steven stepped into the living room and swept his gaze across the space. Though modestly furnished and spotlessly clean, the ce carried an air of poverty. He remained standing, making no move to sit.


    “William asked me to bring you the morning-after pills.” He withdrew a small box from his pocket and set it on the coffee table. “It’s effective within twenty-four hours. Take it.”


    Alisha’s face drained of color. She hadn’t anticipated such bluntness. He looked at her with unmistakable disdain, as though she were something distasteful, and the weight of his judgment made her feel utterly ashamed.


    She caught her lower lip between her teeth as tears gathered in her eyes. “Mr. Harrison,st night was an ident. Mr. Briggs was drunk, and I never meant to—”


    Steven cut her off, his voice ice-cold. “ident or not, William and I will get to the bottom of it. Right now, just take the pill.”


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