Joshua was silent for a few seconds before finally saying, "No, actually... I''m kind of happy about it."


    But even as he said it, Ste couldn''t spot the slightest trace of joy on his face.


    It was his private matter, and Ste knew she shouldn''t pry. Still, after everything Joshua had done to help her, she couldn''t just pretend not to care.


    She hesitated, then asked, "Joshua, did you remember something?"


    There seemed to be only one exnation for his sudden shift in mood: he must have remembered something important.


    His hands, steady on the steering wheel, tensed just a little.


    "You could say that."


    Ste nced at him. "Do you want to talk about it? Maybe I could offer some advice... Of course, if you''d rather not, I understand."


    Silence fell between them, thick and unmoving.


    Ste assumed he didn''t want to share, so she let the subject drop. She turned her gaze outside, watching the scenery blur past, her mind wandering to thoughts of the uing internationalpetition.


    Then, unexpectedly, Joshua''s voice-clear and cool as a mountain spring-broke the hush inside the car.


    "I found the person I''d been searching for all this time."


    Ste turned. His handsome features flickered in and out of the shifting glow from the streetlights.


    In her mind, the image of Simone surfaced unbidden.


    Forcing down her curiosity, Ste said gently, "That sounds like good news. Why do you look so down about it?"


    Night seemed to swallow up all the light, and even Joshua''s voice, usually warm and upbeat, sounded hollow and impossibly distant.


    "The so-called savior I''d been looking for was just someone I used to pin my hopes on. Honestly it was just me, reaching for something to hold onto. There was a time when my life felt


    suffocating-dark, hopelenovel.ne


    was


    falling apart, barely holding myself together. I could feel it: I was either about to lose my mind, or I wasn''t going to make it at all. Sometimes, I just wanted to burn everything to the ground.”


    Listening to him, Ste didn''t feel afraid or unsettled.


    She''d been through her own share of darkness. Maybe not as extreme as Joshua''s, but enough to know what it was like to stand on the edge.


    As for Joshua... She''d never endured what he had, so she didn''t feel qualified to judge him. If she''d gone through what he did, she might have fallen apart sooner.


    Her voice was soft, almost like a caring older sister''s. “And then what happened?"


    Joshua replied, "Then, I met someone in the garden ying the violin."


    ed


    At the time, he''d been barely holding back the urge to destroy everything,


    teetering on the brink of m


    He''d always believed he was doomed to end up like every


    head of the Gardner family-either losing his mind or dying at the hands of someone he trusted.


    Ste blinked in surprise.


    No wonder he loved listening to her y the violin so much.


    Joshua continued, "Somehow, her music calmed me down. I hadn''t slept properly in ages, but listening to her y, I actually fell asleep When Dwoke up and tried to find her, she was gone. After that, life just got busier and busier. By the time I had a chance to look for her again, so much time had passed that finding her was nearly impossible."


    Ste realized, as she listened, that Joshua might really have regained his memories.


    She asked, "So, you never found her?"


    Joshua shook his head. "No, I actually found her pretty quickly. It''s just that—”


    He hesitated, then said, "The one I found wasn''t the real her."


    Ste blinked in surprise. "Not the real one? Did she trick you?"