Abby knew Leonard had been injured, but she hadn''t realized it was this severe.


    His hand was gone?


    A wave of vicious satisfaction washed over her. He deserved it for what he did to Star''s hand.


    "Medical technology is so advanced these days," Abby said. "Maybe they can reattach it."


    Hand shook his head. "Absolutely not."


    "How can you be so sure, Master Hand?"


    "Because," Hand said, "his men still haven''t found the severed arm."


    After a full day and night of emergency surgery, Leonard finally regained consciousness. His injuries weren''t fatal, so his life was never in danger. However, the moment he awoke, his assistant was there, face grim, to deliver the bad news. "Mr. Lerman, about our hijacked shipment... I don''t know who started the rumor, but the Eder family is using us of staging the robbery to double-cross them. They''re demanding an exnation! Because you haven''t made a statement, the Eder patriarch thinks you''re admitting guilt by silence, and he''s telling everyone who will listen. Several of our other partners have already put their deals with us on hold. Mr. Lerman, if we don''t do something soon, the family is going to be in serious trouble!"


    Ste''s previous exposés had already caused The Lerman Group''s market value to plummet by nearly a hundred billion. But for a top-tier family, that was a manageable risk. The family''s true foundation was its arms business. While legal in Solmaris, it was a trade best kept out of the public eye. Ste''s moves had caused Leonard headaches, but they hadn''t touched his core operations.


    An issue with the arms business, however, was a different story.


    Leonard''s eyes turned icy. "Have you found out who was behind the robbery?"


    The assistant kept his head bowed, avoiding Leonard''s gaze.


    "Well... about that..."


    Leonard''s pale face flushed with anger. "Spit it out! Stop stammering!"


    "The robbery was... strange," the assistant said. "The Eder family''s men reported no firefight. In fact... there were no casualties at all. They were robbed without a single person getting hurt."


    Leonard''s dark eyes narrowed. He had suspected from the beginning that Joshua was connected to the hijacking. The timing of his appearance was too perfect. However be had looked into Joshua''s background. The man had a reputation for being thorough, for eliminating all loose ends. Almost every operation he was involved in ended in bloodshed. A clean robbery with no casualties wasn''t his style.  s


    He then remembered the person who had tipped him off. It was clear that Joshua had been surprised to see him. That meant a third party. was pulling the strings, hoping the two of them would destroy each


    other so they could reap the


    benefits.


    s


    Who could it be?


    Ste''s name


    ame came to mind, but he


    quickly dismissed it. She didn''t have the brains or the resources to hijack a Lerman family shipment. It was even less likely that she would know the time and location of the deal. The whole story about rescuing Abby<fneedf> For original chapters go to f?i?n?d?n?o?v?e?l?</fneedf>


    as probably just ap smokescreen. Abby was never on the Lerman estate in the first ce.  s


    Someone was deliberately misleading him.


    Leonard quickly zeroed in on a suspect.