Coleman''s eyes glinted. "Aurora, are you sure about this information? Could Rachel be lying, or maybe... Joshua is a con artist who duped both Rachel and you?"


    "I''ve considered that possibility," Aurora said, "which is why I kept this from you while I worked to verify it. Joshua was the one who helped Rachel forge medical records and bribe doctors to deceive Haynes O''Brien. Without his help, Rachel never could have pulled it off. Also..."


    Aurora listed several other feats that would have been impossible for Rachel and Ste Cameron to aplish on their own.


    Finally, she added, "And when Ste suddenly came up with enough capital to acquire the Pearce Group, I suspect that was Joshua''s doing as well. All signs point to him being the head of the Gardner family."


    Israel chimed in, "So, Joshua, the esteemed head of a powerful family, is content to y bodyguard for Ste? What''s his angle? Is he running some kind of long con?"


    "From what we can gather, Joshua''s ambition is immense," Aurora replied. "He''s likely aiming to swallow the Lerman family whole, and he probably has his sights set on us next."


    It was the only exnation that made sense. Unlike Leonard Lerman, Aurora didn''t believe Foreman Richards was behind the cargo heist; she was convinced it was Joshua.


    Coleman suddenly recalled something. "Aurora, I remember you''re quite good friends with Adah Gardner. Has she never mentioned anything about her family''s affairs?"


    Aurora had a knack for making useful friends and was never one to be concerned with reputations.


    She shook her head. "We touched on it a few times when we first met, but Joshua wasn''t the head of the family back then."<fnfac9> ??? ????? ???????s ??? ?????s??? ?? F?ndNovel</fnfac9>


    Her friendship with Adah had been a matter of chance. While the Gardners were reclusive, they weren''t entirely cut off from the world.


    Most people, however, avoided them like the gue, terrified of being tainted by their family''s infamous curse. Aurora had met Adah right around the time the previous head of the Gardner family had met an untimely end.


    Even a girl of Adah''s standing faced discrimination and istion.


    No one wanted to befriend her, or even speak to her, fearing she might suddenly have a psychotic break and murder them.


    Aurora, witnessing Adah''s predicament, offered her help on a few asions, and Adah quickly came to see her as a dear friend and confidante.


    "Adah rarely talks about her family, and I''ve never pried," Aurora continued. "On the rare asions she does bring it up, she''s always incredibly evasive, as it''s a forbidden topic. We don''t see each other often in person. We text, but we seldom discuss our families. Still, I''m fairly certain there''s no mistake about Joshua''s identity."


    Aurora made it a rule not to push people on subjects they were reluctant to discuss. Since Adah clearly didn''t want to talk, Aurora never pressed the issue.


    Israel and Coleman fell silent. Their original n had been to recruit Joshua for their own purposes, but how could they possibly control the head of the Gardner family? Just look at what he''d done to Leonard, ying him like a fiddle. The man''s cunning was profound, his methods ruthless.


    Dealing with Joshua was like making a deal with the devil. One wrong move, and they''d be the ones getting burned.


    As for Ste... all three of them now saw her as nothing more than Joshua''s puppet.


    They couldn''t believe Joshua was staying by her side simply to help her. He had to have his own agenda.