?Chapter 1731:


    Alisha’s head jerked up sharply, panic shing across her features. “No, that’s not what I want at all. I just — I just need Mr. Briggs to know this child exists. At the very least, once the baby is born, maybe he could spend some time with them.”


    Every single word out of her mouth centered on that unborn child, which Ste found utterly absurd.


    She looked down at Alisha and spoke slowly, deliberately. “These are all things you need to take up with him directly.”


    Alisha pressed her lips together, hurt flooding her expression. “I know that — but Mr. Briggs won’t take my calls anymore. He says he doesn’t want you getting the wrong idea.” Her voice dropped to something close to pleading. “Ms. Russell, I’m begging you. I’m doing this for the child’s sake, not to drive you away.”


    Alisha continued begging, her voice strained, but Ste’s expression never shifted even slightly.


    “If William has no intention of seeing you, then saying any of this to me is pointless. And since you’ve just imed he doesn’t feel much for me either, tell me — why isn’t he openly with you instead? If you’re trying to manipte things, at least put some thought into it.”


    With that, she turned on her heel and walked away without sparing Alisha a single backward nce.


    Alisha remained frozen where she stood, disbelief washing over her at how little reaction she had managed to provoke.


    The truth was, this encounter had never been idental. Alisha had nned it carefully — she’d had someone track Ste’s whereabouts, learned she would be at this mall, then rushed over to stage the chance meeting. She had been convinced that once Ste found out about her connection with William, Ste would walk away from him without hesitation.


    Ste moved quickly through the nearly deserted mall, her stride growing faster with every step. When she reached the elevator, the mirrored walls reflected her image back at her. Seeing herself, she felt a sharp, almost mocking bitterness rise in her chest.


    By the time the elevator descended to the underground parking level, tears were slipping silently down her face. She had always believed she wouldn’t cry over something like this.


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    Keeping her steps even, she exited the elevator and raised her hand, brushing the moisture from her cheeks. Once inside her car, she pulled out her phone. William’s name glowed on the screen, and her finger hovered over the call button for what felt like forever, unmoving.


    In the end, she didn’t call. She locked the screen, started the engine, and drove toward the vi.


    Her hands tightened around the steering wheel as the road ahead blurred, her chest hollow, as though everything inside her had already burned itself out. Rain streamed across the windshield, washing over the car in sheets, yet doing nothing to cleanse the emptiness weighing on her heart.


    When the car finally stopped in the garage outside Sharon’s vi, her fingers were still trembling faintly. She studied herself in the rearview mirror, drawing in several slow, deep breaths before pushing the door open. She didn’t want Sharon and Josie to notice anything wrong, so she sat there for a long while, forcing herself back toposure.


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