Jonathan paused, his expression thoughtful. “You know, Father has always admired people with guts and real skill. Otherwise, he wouldn''t hold Aurora in such high regard."<fn64e0> ??? ????? ???????s ??? ?????s??? ?? Find1Novel</fn64e0>


    He looked at Israel, his gaze steady. "If you go begging at Father''s feet now, he might just end up disappointed in you-and start admiring Ste even more."


    "Israel, Ste is his child too. If she proves herself truly capable, you know Father will give her more responsibility. If it weren''t for the issue with those initial shares, he''d probably be grooming Ste right now."


    Israel''s face stiffened. He knew Jonathan was right. The truth stung. His eyes reddened with frustration and unwillingness.


    "Ste''s got no brains," he muttered bitterly. "She''s just got someone clever pulling the strings for her."


    Jonathan shrugged. "Connections are a kind of strength too. If Father finds out Ste has someone thatpetent backing her up, don''t you think he''ll value her even more?"


    Israel fell silent, lost for words. He realized, with a sinking heart, that he had lost this roundpletely.


    Jonathan took in Israel''s defeated slump and tried to encourage him. "So what if thepany''s gone? You''re still young. There''s plenty of time to start over."


    “Sure, you lost yourpany, but you still have your position at The Williams Group. Focus on that—sometimes, managing something established is better than starting from scratch."


    A weary, self-deprecating smile crossed Israel''s lips. In a world changing so fast, the golden age of opportunity was long gone. Starting over wasn''t as easy as Jonathan made it sound.


    Jonathan nced at Coleman. "Coleman, talk some sense into him, will you?"


    Coleman nodded. "I will."


    Meanwhile, Aurora was in Leonard''s office.


    She''d heard Israel mention his partnership with Leonard, but she''d never pressed for details. When it came to issues involving Ste, she tried not to get too deeply involved.


    Still, Israel''spany copsing overnight caught Aurorapletely off guard. She hurried over, anxious to ask Leonard what had happened.


    Leonard didn''t hold back-heid out the whole sequence of events.


    Aurora frowned slightly as she listened. "This is all very strange."


    Leonard poured her a cup of tea. "It''s not so strange. Ever since Ste got her hands on that money to buy out the Pearce Group, I started to suspect


    something. Taking down Foreman was just a way to test my theory."


    Aurora looked up at him, and in that instant, they both seemed to reach the same conclusion.


    Joshua was behind it.


    Leonard spoke first. "Ste turned down money from Haynes and the others, yet somehow managed to produce that kind of cash in three- days. Not only that when


    Foreman''spany hit a crisis, she funneled almost $200 million into it.”  s


    "She''s got at least half a billion at her disposal."


    His eyes darkened. If it hadn''t been for Ste''s injection of that $200 million, he and Israel wouldn''t have let their guard down. That


    miscafotion let Ste swoop and buy out Israel''spany at rock-bottom price.  s


    This time, Ste had yed them brilliantly.


    Aurora shook her head, puzzled. "But why would Joshua help Ste? Are they working together?"


    Leonard gave a derisiveugh. "Joshua''s as ruthless as theye possibly even more than me. He''s a born predator, not the type to team up with someone as na?ve as Ste."


    Once he''d figured out who Joshua really was, Leonard had people look into him. The Gardner family was shrouded in mystery, rarely


    interacting with outsiders. On top of that they changed family heads frequently that almost no one


    bothered to keep track of their affairs anymore.  s