"Of all the things Ste could have done, treating Simone that way was thest straw."


    One day, if he ever got the chance, he''d make her pay back a hundredfold.


    Israel was only willing to cooperate with Leonard because he wanted to dig up something on Ste-enough to ruin her reputation for good.


    He warned, "Leonard, don''t act rashly. No matter what, Ste is still part of the Williams family. After what you pulledst time, Dad and the Williams Group''s shareholders are already fed up with you. If youy another finger on Ste, Aurora Williams will cut you off for good."


    Leonard was unpredictable—a loose cannon. Israel had no choice but to use Aurora as leverage. After all, what he wanted was Ste''s shares, not Ste''s life.


    With a sigh, Israel couldn''t help butin, "You know, when you kidnapped Ste before, it would''ve been enough to scare her straight. Why''d you have to ruin her hand? Now she can''t y violin anymore. She had to join the Williams Group andpete with Aurora for resources. If she''d been able to keep ying, let her y-Aurora would have dly let her walk all over her. Are you avenging Aurora, or just making things worse for her?"


    Back then, even though Ste held some original shares, no one in the Williams family saw her as a threat. She''d spent her whole life immersed in music and art, never once dipping her toes into the world of business. Aurora hadn''t been able to get into the Williams Group at first, but she''d kept up with private business courses behind the scenes. Compared to Aurora, Ste was aplete novice- nothing to be worried about.


    Even when Ste officially joined the Williams Group recently, the family just thought she''d be a nuisance at worst-nothing worth losing sleep over.


    That all changed when Ste acquired the Pearce family''s shares. Only then did the family finally start taking her seriously.


    They couldn''t let Ste keep expanding her influence.


    But putting a stop to Ste didn''t mean they had to destroy her-or let Leonard


    hurt her again. After all, Ste was still their own flesh and blood.


    A cold glint shed in Leonard''s eyes, but he didn''t argue with Israel.


    He''d only wanted to clear Aurora''s path, to give Ste a lesson she''d never forget a warning not to challenge Aurora again. He hadn''t expected Ste to fight back


    go


    alone dere open war and head-to-head with Aurora in the Williams Group.  s


    Leonard changed the subject. "Since we''ve confirmed it''s Foreman, things just got easier. If Haynes is backing him, we can take Haynes down too and cut off one of Ste Supporters in the process.  s


    The two men began plotting how to deal with Foreman and Haynes.


    What neither of them expected was that the first person to help Foreman wouldn''t be Haynes at all-it was Ste.


    Israel was so excited he could barely


    sleep. He immediately called Leonard. Leonard, you won''t believe this-Ste, that fool, just invested a billion dors into the Richards Group to keep things stable! Dused to think she was some kind of prodigy-so sharp, so quick, after just a few months of learning the ropes. But now it''s clear she just lucked out. The Pearce Group only agreed to be acquired because of the shares she had from the start. And the money she raised? Someone else handed it to her.


    She''s not as clever as we thought. We really gave her too much credit."


    s


    Leonard sat at his desk, eyes fixed on the stock market charts. He replied, "Don''t


    be so quick to judge. Let''s wait and see what happens."<fnbd98> ?????? ???? F?nd-Novel</fnbd98>


    He''d underestimated Ste before-and paid the price. This time, he wouldn''t fall into her trap again.