Abby''s eyes were bloodshot, her voice raw with anguish. "Star, don''t-please! Let theme after me, just me! I don''t want you sacrificing yourself for me!"


    Leonard frowned. "Too loud."


    One of the bodyguards understood and pped Abby hard across the face.


    She fell to the floor, dazed but defiant, refusing to give in. In that moment, hatred eclipsed her fear. She red at Leonard, hurling every hateful word she could


    summon.


    But Leonard didn''t even look her way. Her venom meant nothing; to him, she was an insect-not even worth his anger.


    Then a sharp, sickening crack cut through the silence.


    Everything seemed to freeze.


    Abby''s curses died on her lips. She stared, stunned, at Ste. Even Sellers couldn''t help but nce over, an odd glimmer in his eyes.


    This woman was truly ruthless. She actually did it. With a mind like hers, she could be a real threat to Aurora one day.


    Leonard, it seemed, had always known.


    Ste''s face went white from pain, cold sweat beading on her brow. A strangled groan escaped her as the hammer fell from her trembling hand. She nearly cked out from the agony.


    Leonard''s voice drifted toward her, cold and distant-like something risen from hell.


    "Ms. Cameron, what are you waiting for? The next finger."


    Pain clouded Ste''s mind, making her vision swim. She couldn''t even manage to pick up the hammer again.


    Leonard only sneered. “Looks like Ms. Cameron can''t keep up. Let her rest a bit, then."


    He beckoned to a man standing nearby.


    The man lumbered over-middle-aged, greasy, with a bulbous gut and a face that turned your stomach just to look at.


    At Leonard''s signal, the man licked his lips and advanced toward Abby, hands flexing eagerly.


    He grabbed Abby and tore her clothes. The sound of ripping fabric echoed in the silent room.


    Tears streamed down Abby''s


    cheeks as she bit her lip so hard it bled. She didn''t dare make a sound, terrified that any cry from he would make Ste hurt herself even more.


    But Ste''s mind had cleared. She snatched the hammer from the floor and,


    without hesitation, brought it down on her own finger.


    Another sickening crack split the air.


    Ste raised her pain-blurred eyes to Leonard. "Make that man-step away from Abby."


    Leonard''s gaze narrowed.


    Just now, she hadn''t bargained with him-she''d simply acted, brutally and decisively. Her resolve and self-sacrifice would put most men to shame. If they weren''t enemies, he might have admired her.


    He signaled for the man to step back.


    Maybe pain had numbed her by now, but Ste continued, her movements brisk and determined, without the slightest hesitation.


    Abby sobbed uncontrobly, clutching her fists so tightly her knuckles nched. For the first time, she tasted the raw, burning hatred that made someone want to kill.


    Leonard and Sellers watched with stone-cold faces, unmoved.


    After Ste smashed thest of her five fingers, she let the hammer fall and whispered, her voice barely a thread, "My hand''s done for. I doubt I can keep going on my own. Mr Lerman, perhaps you''d like to have someone finish the job?"


    Sellers looked at Ste and sneered silently to himself.