"We don''t have to lift a finger, and we still reap the rewards. Isn''t that better?" Harold concluded, though he suspected Joshua had other, deeper motives he couldn''t possibly guess. He looked at Jake again. "Do you know why Mr. Gardner is helping Ste like this?"


    "To make amends?" Jake guessed. Ste''s current troubles were inextricably linked to Joshua''s past decision to help Rachel. It was a ticking time bomb in their rtionship.


    Harold looked surprised. "I thought you were going to say it''s because she''s his long-lost love or something."<fndf94> For original chapters go to F?ndNovel</fndf94>


    Jake might not be a master of corporate intrigue, but he had a clear understanding of matters of the heart. He smiled faintly. "Mr. Gardner likes Ste, but not because she''s some idealized memory. He likes her for who she is. Even if she wasn''t the girl ying the violin in the garden all those years ago, he would still have fallen for her."


    Joshua hadn''t fallen for Ste at first sight. He''d approached her out of a sense of amusement, and his feelings had grown through their time together.


    "As for the girl in the garden," Jake continued, "she was special, yes, but only to a point. Mr. Gardner''s feelings for Ste have little to do with that. It''s simply that he fell in love with her, and she just happened to be that person."


    Harold nodded. "I agree. But his reasons for helping her go beyond just atonement and affection." Having been by Joshua''s side the longest, Harold understood him better than perhaps Joshua understood himself.


    "What other reasons are there?" Jake asked.


    "Think about it," Harold said. "Every powerful leader has blood on their hands. All of them. Mr. Gardner does this for Ste so she doesn''t have to. Everything he handles for her in the shadows is the dirty work-the kind that can''t be brought into the light."


    In other words, he would be the viin. Joshua was no hero, and he knew it. He''d never tried to redeem himself because he was beyond redemption. The only thing he could do was ensure Ste remained untainted.


    Jake frowned. "But is that really what''s best for her?"


    "Why wouldn''t it be?" Harold countered. "The woman Mr. Gardner fell for is kind and pure. Those who live in darkness are drawn to the light Those who have known only cold will seek w?rmth. Ste represents that light and warmth. Don''t you think it would be a terrible shame for her to lose that part of herself in a grubby fight for power?"


    Jake fell silent. He knew Harold was right.


    The release of Leonard''s humiliating photos caused an immediate uproar. He had been a hot topic recently, on the verge of bing a household name for all the wrong reasons.


    At The Burton Group, Sellers Burton,


    now fully recovered, watched the news reports about Leonard with


    cold smirk. "Well, well. To think that


    the legendary Leonard Lerman would fall so far looks like there''s noing back from this."