William finally inquired, "Would you mind if I made a copy?"

"Not at all," Elise responded.

"Thank you."

Elise pressed her lips together—he was expressing gratitude even though he was assisting with her legal situation.

"I should get going now. I'll contact you immediately if there are any developments on my end," he stated before departing without delay.

"I only have two weeks," Elise reminded him.

"I'm aware."

With that, she watched him exit. He had appeared composed and showed no visible tension while reviewing the file, yet he left in such haste.

So, this would prove challenging for him as well? Elizabeth returned shortly after William's departure. She and Samantha had likely remained nearby, with Elizabeth coming back once she saw William leave.

"Samantha mentioned she has other matters to attend to," Elizabeth informed her.

"She said she'll notify you right away if she finds anything relevant to the case and that you should reach out to her if you uncover anything too. Her phone will be available around the clock."

"Understood," Elise replied.

As she continued reviewing her case files once more, Elizabeth stared at her for an extended period. Without looking up, Elise asked, "What is it?"

"It's about William..." Elizabeth began cautiously.

Elise tightened her lips.

Though she remained silent, she didn't tell Elizabeth to stop either. Encouraged, Elizabeth gathered her courage and continued, "William definitely had no choice in his engagement to Victoria. I get the sense he struggled to navigate the situation between you, him, and Victoria properly, but given the circumstances, there was no clean resolution possible. He never anticipated the Stuarts' intentions when he was pursuing you, but if he had known, he would have dealt with them before approaching you."

"That being said, since he started a relationship with you and the Stuarts now know about you, you were inevitably going to become entangled. Of course, it's also impossible for William to abruptly cut all ties with you to be with Victoria—especially since he doesn't love her, and he'd never marry her even if you weren't involved."

"Conversely, your existence has become leverage for the Stuarts against William, and they must recognize how significant you are to him. That's why they framed you to force William to comply with their demands. I'm not accusing you or placing blame on anyone, but I just want to emphasize that his position is extremely difficult right now."

Elizabeth explained everything thoroughly to prevent any misunderstanding, not wanting Elise to resent William.

In reality, he must be experiencing just as much pressure as Elise.

"And I assure you, William would never allow any harm to come to you, even if it costs him everything," Elizabeth added with determination.

"So you shouldn't be too hard on him. I'm genuinely concerned his heart might break."

"I'm not," Elise said, her tone consistently even.

"We've already reached an agreement."

"What agreement?" Elizabeth asked curiously.

"Perhaps later," Elise responded.

It wasn't significant enough to conceal from Elizabeth, but she preferred not to have Elizabeth worrying about them.

Still, Elizabeth couldn't help sighing—she could still sense Elise's detachment toward William.

Only those in the relationship truly understood their feelings for each other, and outsiders couldn't fully comprehend the dynamics.

All she could do was voice her thoughts honestly.

The rest would unfold as fate intended.

That was when Elizabeth remembered something else.

"Hmm..."

As Elise looked up, Elizabeth said, "Did you know William wasn't originally named William?"

"Really?"

Elise certainly hadn't known.

"He was actually named Jasper at birth, but he suddenly asked our grandfather to change his name to William when he was twelve. He never explained his reasons, but grandfather approved it anyway," Elizabeth shared seriously.

"Why do you think he did that?"