Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1748

Steve's fingertips trembled slightly, and his heart felt as though it had been pierced by a barbed needle. "No." He stared at her stubbornly, though his tone remained completely gentle. "If you lost, then I absolutely cannot stay away from you. I told you, even if I fail to win you back, we are still going to be friends."

Sylvia buried her face against her knees, her voice suppressed and strained. "We really are not compatible. We cannot even be friends."

Steve watched her quietly for a few seconds before asking softly, "Is this because of what your mother said on the phone just now?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Sylvia's fingers, which were tightly gripping her knees, began to shake uncontrollably again. The trembling spread to her shoulders, and then her entire back shook.

Steve finally understood just how massive an impact her family had on her. It was so profound that her mother could easily obliterate all of Sylvia's defenses with just a few sentences, utterly shattering the fragile trust he had spent the last few days painstakingly building.

Unable to hold himself back any longer, Steve moved half a step closer. He raised his arms and pulled her head gently into his embrace.

"Sylvia, listen to me," he said, his voice low and close to her ear, every single word landing with absolute certainty. "I know your toxic family has brought you a tremendous amount of pain. I know they have always treated you as nothing more than a bargaining chip. But you are grown up now. You have left them. You no longer have to live under their control, and you absolutely do not have to force yourself to cater to anyone just because of blood ties."

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