Israel looked pale from the pain, but even now, he showed no sign of regret.


    "What do you mean, siding with the enemy? Aurora''s innocent! I don''t believe for a second that Mom would say something like that. Ste must''ve put those words in your mouth, right?"


    Joshua shot him a withering look. "Utter foolishness. You never stop to consider your own faults. I must be out of my mind to even waste my breath on idiots like you. What a waste of time."


    With that, Joshua brushed past the group and headed for the stairs.


    But Coleman suddenly stepped into his path. "You haven''t finished what you were saying."


    Joshua nced at him, his voice t. "Wasn''t I clear enough? You and your mother never saw eye to eye. She realized your hearts were never in the same ce so she cut her losses before it was toote."


    Thosest words—"cut her losses"-hit Coleman like a sledgehammer, striking him right in the chest.


    By the time he snapped out of his daze, Joshua was already gone.<fn0a66> The source of th?s content is ?ovelFind</fn0a66>


    Joshua climbed the staircase, turned the corner, and made his way to Ste''s door. But just as he rounded the bend, he saw a slender figure standing there in the dim light, silent and still-he had no idea how long she''d been waiting.


    He stopped in his tracks. "Star?"


    Ste answered quietly, "Did you bring the papers?"


    "I did."


    She gave a small nod and headed into her room.


    She didn''t reach for the folder in his hand, and Joshua understood: she wanted to speak to him first.


    This wasn''t his first time in Ste''s room.


    The most striking thing in the space was a painting-Nocturne Ste-hung in the ce of honor.


    Joshua''s eyes swept over the room, noticing documents scattered across the couch. She must have been poring over them before he arrived.


    Ste finally took the folder from him and flipped through the contents. Once she was satisfied, she nodded.


    Lifting her gaze, she asked, "How did you know my mother used to visit them? That she brought them gifts every year?"


    Joshua replied, "I guessed."


    "You guessed?"


    He exined, Judging by how much your mother cared for you, she must have been a loving parent. If she treated you with such devotion, there''s no way she could have ignored your brothers for all those, years."  s


    Ste looked at him, her expressionplicated. "Even you, an outsider,


    understand that. But they don''t-they only me her.”


    She turned away, her eyes falling on the painting on the wall.


    "Mom really did find ways to visit my brothers every year," she murmured.


    Before Nora passed away, she''d left Ste a letter.


    There was no reproach for Skyler, no resentment toward her three sons, and no request for Ste to mend things between them.


    Nora simply wrote that she found opportunities each year to visit her three sons. Sometimes, she''d even dress up in a teddy bear costume and deliver birthday presents to them in person.


    But over the years, she''d realized her


    sons cherished Aurora like a


    precious gem. Nora knew the child was meless-but she wasn''t that


    forgiving, nor was she that kind


    Everyone has their own path to walk, she wrote; she had no right to interfere, but she couldn''tbring herself to forgive, either. Even at the end she couldn''t forgive Aurora and her mother. Their presence was a lifelong stain she could never wash away.


    s


    Ste continued, "Last month,


    Mom''swyer contacted me. He told


    me that when my brothers started working at The Williams Group, them out


    Momscre


    under the guise of business investments-even the time my oldest brother made his name by


    pulling off that big turnaround, she was the one who provided the funds."


    s


    She paused, her tone gentle but firm. "So, even though she left me an inheritance


    to make sure I''d be taken care of, it''s not like she did nothing for them."