She didn''t care that, in her brother''s eyes, Aurora would alwayse first.
But what she couldn''t ept was that her brother would stoop so low for Aurora''s
sake-going behind her back, undermining her.
There were so many things she was willing to give up for Aurora. Why did they
have to fight over the same man too?
Simone''s anger simmered beneath the surface, threatening to spill over.
For a moment, she wanted nothing more than to march straight up to Leonard
and demand an exnation. But in the end, she forced herself to hold back.
She turned to Joshua, her tone softening. "Joshua, don''t take my brother''s words
to heart. He''s just... well, he wants me to marry for the family, that''s all. He only
said those things to push me in that direction."
Joshua''s voice was calm, even resigned. "He''s not wrong, Simone. You''re the
Lerman family''s heiress, and I''m just an ordinary guy. I''ll never be good enough
for you."
Simone shook her head quickly, desperate to reassure him. "What does it matter if
you''re ''ordinary''? There''s no such thing as who''s worthy or not-only whether
someone is truly deserving."
She looked Joshua straight in the eye, her voice brimming with sincerity. "Joshua,
to me, you will always be the one who''s worth it."
If she were in his shoes, Simone thought, she would be deeply moved by words
like these.
But Joshua only replied, "Miss Lerman, I think... it''s better if we keep our
distance."
Her heart, which had been pounding with hope, slowly turned cold.
"Joshua, what are you saying?"
He answered quietly, "Mr. Lerman already used me of trying to kill him in the
hospital, just to keep us apart. Who knows what else he''ll me on me in the
future? I may be a little tougher than the average person, but I''m hardly a
professional assassin. That hospital was locked up tighter than a vault-I honestly
have no idea how I could have even gotten inside to attack your brother."
He let out a weary sigh.
"Miss Lerman, I think it''s best if we end things here. I can handle criticism, but I
can''t stand being used of things I haven''t done."
Simone rushed to exin, "Joshua, I never doubted you! I''ll talk to my brother and
clear this up-"
But Joshua simply shook his head. "Miss Lerman, I have things to do. I''ll be on my
way."
No matter how many times Simone called out after him, Joshua never looked
back.
She watched him go, her heart filling with both hurt and a deep resentment toward
Leonard and Aurora.
When Simone returned, she found Leonard and Aurora sitting together in the
parlor, chatting.
As soon as Simone walked in, Aurora nced up. "Simone, did you just go to see
Joshua?"
Simone lowered her head, her longshes shadowing her eyes, hiding her
feelings.
She paused, then looked at Aurora, a faint but ambiguous smile tugging at her
lips. "Aurora, you seem awfully interested in what''s going on between me and
Joshua, don''t you?"
Aurora caught the strange note in Simone''s voice and raised an eyebrow, about to
reply.
But Leonard cut in, his tone cold.
"Simone, I''ve told you-Joshua is the
one who tried to kill me. For all we
know, Ste put him up to it. We
can''t say for certain whose side he''s
on, but I''m sure of one thing he''s not
on ours."
Simone protested, "But Joshua''s
been looking for the violinist who
yed in the garden. Now, Ste''s
hand is injured-she can''t y
anymore-and she doesn''t seem to
remember anything about losing
that earring. Joshua was willing to
help Rachel back then; he''d do the
same for us."
Aurora considered this for a few
seconds, then nodded. "Simone has
a point. But still-why would he try to
kill Leonard? If he really believed you
were the person he was searching
for, he wouldn''t have gone after
Leonard. Would he?"