A glimmer of delight shed in Simone''s eyes. "Big brother, you''re finally done with work?"


    Leonard''s voice was deep and low. "Yeah. Those old men in the family, clinging to power just because of their age, always scheming to keep control. They never stop to consider whether they''re actually up to the task."


    Simone tilted her head, curiosity in her voice. "Have you ever met the head of the Gardner family?"


    Leonard''s tone lifted a little. "The head of the Gardners? I met the previous patriarch a few times, but never the current one. Why do you ask?”


    Simone hesitated, her voice turning shy. "Big brother, if I were to marry him, would you approve?"


    Leonard''s tone shifted. "Marry him? Simone, how do you even know him? Are you sure he''s really the head of the Gardner family?"


    Simone nodded. "I don''t think I''m mistaken."


    With that, she recounted to Leonard how she hade to know Joshua, exining everything from the beginning.


    Leonard listened, astonished. "That''s quite something, Simone. You did well this time."


    The Lerman and Gardner families hadn''t had much direct contact, but the Gardners were powerful enough to rival any of the major families. Their hidden wealth and influence were not to be underestimated.


    If Simone truly had a connection with the Gardner patriarch, and if it could lead to something more, it would be a tremendous asset for the Lermans.


    As an illegitimate son who''d wed his way to the top, Leonard''s position was anything but secure. Even now, there were those in the family still plotting to unseat him. But if he could form an alliance with Joshua, no one would dare challenge him.


    Simone beamed with pride at her brother''s praise.


    Still, Leonard''s expression darkened. "But this is Novaris. Some things are harder to aplish here. And there are always a few fools getting in my way, trying to ruin my ns."


    Simone hesitated, then changed the subject. "By the way, big brother, did you hear that Aurora was hurt?"


    Leonard''s voice turned instantly cold. "Aurora was hurt? What happened?"


    Simone didn''t try to hide anything. She told Leonard the whole story without embellishment.


    Simone and Leonard were full siblings, born of the same mother and father, and had grown up together. Leonard had always genuinely cared for his little sister.


    When he heard that someone had targeted Simone—and even worse, that his beloved woman had been hurt because of it-his voice grew dangerously icy.


    "Simone, do you have any idea who''s behind it?"


    Simone didn''t hesitate. "Ste."


    Leonard frowned. "Ste? Who''s that? Why have I never heard of her?"


    Until now, Simone had never considered Ste important enough to mention, so she''d hardly spoken of her. Aurora, for her part, never gossiped or spoke ill of others, so she''d never brought Ste upeither. To Leonard, Ste was aplete unknown.


    "Big brother," Simone exined, "Ste is Aurora''s half-sister. Aurora''s mother


    died because of Ste''s mother."


    Leonard''s own connection to Aurora had been just as dramatic.


    Back then, Leonard was just a disregarded bastard, barely scraping by under the Lerman family''s roof During a family banquet, he had overheard Aurora''s uncle telling her about her mother. That''s when Leonard realized that the morous, ever-poised socialite Aurora was, in fact, an illegitimate child herself.


    Leonard, who had survived in the Lerman household by any means necessary, was far from naive. After that talk, he''d deliberately approached Aurora, telling her he''d heard everything, and asking if she nned to silence him.


    But Aurora had only smiled, calm and unflustered. "Why would I need to? Is being


    an illegitimate child a crime worthy of death?"