?Chapter 514:

    Marc staggered back to his feet, seething, and swung at William. “You think you can just hit me? If it weren’t for you, Ste never would’ve turned cold on me!”

    Ste thought William would dodge easily—he’d been trained, after all. But to her surprise, Marc’s punchnded right in William’s abdomen. William let out a grunt, his face turning pale.

    Marc froze for a second, shocked his punch had actuallynded, then broke into a smug grin. “Hah! So much for being impressive. Can’t even take a hit.” Then he turned to Ste like he was proud of himself. “See? He’s not all that impressive, right? I’m still the better man.”

    Ste stared at him like he’d grown a second head. “Do you even know what ‘better’ means? You’re delusional. It’s embarrassing.”

    She moved to support William, all concern now. “Come on, let’s get you inside. I’m calling the police in a minute.”

    She didn’t even look at Marc again—just warned him tly, “If you don’t back off, I’ll call security too.”

    Truth be told, Marc’s punch had barelynded. William had almost dodged it.

    Marc stood there, seething, clearly realizing Ste didn’t care at all. That frustration bubbled over, and he lunged, grabbing her shoulder. “You’re not leaving!” he shouted.

    Wrong move. Ste grabbed his arm, stepped back with her left foot, and flipped him clean over her shoulder.

    Marc’s body arced through the air and mmed into the floor with a loud thud. Hey there groaning, every bone in his body screaming in protest.

    Ste dusted off her hands casually. “I warned you. This one’s on you. Don’t me me for fighting back.”

    Marc curled up on the floor, clutching his lower back like it might fall off.

    “Ste,” he whined, “you’ve really let me down. How could you—”

    “Enough,” Ste cut in, already done with the drama. “Please, go ahead and be disappointed. Be so disappointed you nevere near me again. Because next time you show up, I will hit you. I’m serious. I’ve got this bad habit where my fist just flies sometimes.”

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    She raised a fist as if to prove it, and Marc actually flinched.

    Satisfied, Ste turned and helped William back into the room. Once she shut the door, she helped him onto the sofa, checking for any signs of difort.

    Leaning back against the cushions, William let out a low breath. “Think I might’ve aggravated the old injury.”

    Ste’s brows drew together as she heard him speak. The old injury?

    She nced over with concern. “The one you got at the factoryst time?” Nearly a month had passed since that day, yet worry lingered in her mind over how well he’d recovered.

    “Should I get help? What if it’s something serious?”

    Her body tensed as she started to rise, but William reached out and gently stopped her. “Stay put… There’s a crowd outside. With the opening ceremony going on, bringing in an ambnce would cause too muchmotion for the resort.”

    She hadn’t expected William to keep thinking about the resort’s reputation, even now.

    “But you’re not okay.”

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