Abby exploded. "What are you implying? Are you saying Star ruined her own hands for your precious uncle? Why don''t you take a look at yourself-does Sellers even deserve that kind of sacrifice?"


    Karl sneered, "Everyone knows Ste''s ex-husband is Haynes, and her admirer is Neville. Between the two of them, pulling off a kidnapping here in Novaris would be a piece of cake. So what if she injured her hands? If you''re going to fake something, at least make it convincing-otherwise, who''s going to buy it? Besides, no matter how bad the injuries, as long as my grandfather''s around, he can fix anything."


    His gaze flicked to the file in Ste''s hands, and a flicker of jealousy crossed his eyes. He was Mr. Burton''s own grandson, and yet Mr. Burton had never offered him something this important. Now he''d handed it over to a woman who had nothing to do with their family.


    Mr. Burton finally understood what was going on. He cut Karl off with a grave voice. "Karl, this has nothing to do with Ste, so stop making a scene. Leave now, and let Ste recover in peace. If you keep this up, I''ll have you thrown out myself."


    Though Mr. Burton had long since stepped down as chairman, he was still the founder of The Burton Group. No matter how much Sellers loathed Ste, he still had to show Mr. Burton some respect. He shot Ste a cold re, then turned and left.


    Sherman turned to Mr. Burton. “Grandpa, Karl''s just been in a bad moodtely. Please don''t take his words to heart. We''re still sending people to look for Uncle Sellers..."


    Before Sherman could finish, Mr. Burton waved him off impatiently. "Just go. Don''t get in my way."


    Sherman hurried after Karl, and the two of them ran into Neville in the hallway as he came to visit Ste. Neither side bothered with a greeting-Neville''s position was clear, and there was no point pretending otherwise.


    Neville entered the room just as Mr. Burton was about to leave. Mr. Burton gave him a curt nod and walked out.


    Neville looked around. "Were Karl and Sherman here to see Mr. Burton?"


    Abby snorted. "Hardly. They were here to scold Star."


    "Scold her?" Neville arched an eyebrow.


    Abby rolled her eyes. "What else? Sellers has been missing all this time, and Karl now ims Star kidnapped him-he even said she hurt herself on purpose, as some twisted ploy."


    She quickly filled Neville in on what had just happened. After hearing it, Neville''s eyes darkened. "Sellers is still missing?"


    Abby shrugged. "Maybe Leonard and Sellers got scared their plot against Star would be exposed and turned on each other. For all we know, the hitman who attacked Leonard was actually hired by Sellers. Then Leonard snapped, hired someone to kidnap Sellers, and made sure he disappeared."


    Neville was silent, his imagination running wild at Abby''s theory. His gaze drifted toward Joshua, who now that his memory had returned, everyone knew by his realst name. Still, they all preferred to call him Joshua.


    Suddenly, Nevillemented, "Come to think of it, the reason Star was rescued


    so quickly this time is thanks to Joshua."


    Ste and Abby both looked at him, puzzled.


    Neville smiled. "I''d justnded when I


    got a call from Joshua. He told me


    you couldn''t be reached and might be in trouble, so he urged me to get to Sandford immediately. If it weren''t for Joshua, Leonard probably wouldn''t have made his getaway so fast."