Her thoughts echoed Aurora''s exactly.


    Clearly, whoever was behind this was targeting Simone.


    Ste frowned. "Does Rachel have some kind of grudge against Simone?"


    She still didn''t realize that the bad blood between the two women had everything


    to do with Joshua-that their feud had be a fight to the death.


    Haynes shook his head. "I''m not entirely sure, but Simone and Aurora once visited Rachel in prison. They even bailed her out. Maybe they struck some sort of deal-only to turn on each otherter. Who knows?"


    Ste nced at Haynes. "Sellers said all the security cameras along the route were destroyed-there''s nothing left to check. How did you get these videos?"


    Haynes'' eyes darkened with a hint of pride. "This is Neo-Vespera. If someone thinks they can hide something from me here, they''re sorely mistaken. Besides, Jasper used my ownwork to wipe the footage. He might have fooled Sellers and his people, but not mine."


    Understanding dawned on Ste. So, Jasper had helped cover their tracks. That exined a lot.


    But still...


    A mocking smile tugged at her lips.


    Haynes could see through all these cover-ups, yet Rachel had been faking illness right under his nose for so long-even setting Ste up in broad daylight-and somehow he hadn''t caught a thing.


    Haynes noticed the trace of irony in Ste''s eyes and seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.


    He lowered his voice. "Star, I''ve thought about it carefully. Rachel''s little act— pretending to be sick-she had help. Someone was pulling strings for her, and it must have been nned a long time ago. That''s the only reason I couldn''t find anything..."


    He paused, then added, "...And yes, I admit I misjudged her. I put too much trust in Rachel."


    Ste picked up her ss and took a sip of water. "It''s rare for Mr. O''Brien to admit his mistakes."


    When it came to Rachel, Haynes really had no excuses left.


    He spoke up, "This whole thing is on me, but Rachel definitely has someone backing her."


    Ste pressed, "Who? Jasper? He''s not nearly that capable, is he?"


    "Not Jasper." Haynes'' brows knitted. "He doesn''t have that kind of reach. But as for who''s really behind her-I haven''t figured that out yet."


    Ste looked at him coolly. "Haynes, are you sure you''re not just making excuses because you don''t want to admit you misjudged her?"


    Haynes'' voice dropped, rough with frustration. "Star, I already told you-Rachel was my mistake, but I have no reason to lie to you."


    To Ste, Haynes'' credibility was practically zero. She took his words with a healthy dose of skepticism.


    "So, what do you n to do about it?" she asked.


    Haynes replied, "That''s why I''m here—I want to know what you want. If you''d prefer to hand Rachel over to the Williams family, I can say found the culprit for them. If you''d rather stay out of it, I can pretend I know nothing. As for Rachet..."


    His voice turned cold. "I''m already looking for her. She''s not with Jasper anymore.


    Don''t worry, Star-I won''t let Rachel hurt you again."


    Ste had no intention of taking the fall for Rachel-not when the


    Williams family still suspected ne


    hurting Aurora. Rachel had never been someone she liked, anyway.


    of


    "Give me the surveince footage and whatever evidence you have," she said. I hand it over to the Williams family myself. Rachel and I are already enemies-there''s no need for you to y the viin on my behalf."


    She hesitated, then added, "By the way..."


    Ste remembered Joshua. "About that time you framed Joshua-you imed someone set you up. It''s been a while. Did you ever find out who it was?"