"Besides," Antoney had argued, "we have no idea when the counselors will find us. We need that water."


    The three of them had been chased by a wild boar earlier and had lost their backpacks in the scramble. All they had left was the single bottle of water Ste was carrying.


    But Ste looked at Foreman, his consciousness fading, and said, "He''s severely dehydrated. If we don''t help him now, he could die."


    She gave him her water and, worried he would take a turn for the worse, stayed by his side until a rescue party finally found them.


    "If Star had left me there," Foreman said now, "no one would havee looking for me. I would have died."


    He only stayed in Ste''s city for two years before his grandfather''s people found him, had his face treated, and swiftly expelled his stepmother and her son from the family. After returning home, he had quietly kept tabs on Ste. When he learned that she was suffering a simr fate-her rightful ce usurped by an illegitimate sibling-he felt an even deeper kinship with her, a profound ache in his heart for what she was enduring.


    But he was young then, with no power of his own. He wanted to help, but he was helpless.


    By the time he had seized control and be the head of the Richards family, she had married his best friend.


    "When I found out you two were together," Foreman said, "I buried my feelings and wished you both happiness. We grew up together, Haynes. I knew your character, and I trusted you with her. But I never imagined you would betray her sopletely for Rachel."


    Finally, all the pieces clicked into ce for Haynes. Foreman must have been the one secretly passing information to Ste all those times. Yet he couldn''t bring himself to


    help,


    me him, Without Folhance for


    there might have been no chance for reconciliation between him and


    Ste at all.


    He had been wrong about Rachel. And Foreman, during their entire marriage, had never crossed a line. He had hidden his own feelings so well that neither Ste


    nor even Haynes himself had ever suspected a thing.


    ***


    Keen was rushed into emergency care. He was in shock and had inhaled a great deal of smoke, leaving him in poor condition. But Joshua''s state was far worse the doctors had already warned them multiple times that he might not make it.


    Ste stood numbly outside the operating room, her thoughts a tangled mess.


    After what felt like an eternity, Haynes appeared at her side. "Keen''s out of surgery. He''s stable and out of danger, but he''s still unconscious from the shock."


    Ste gave a slight nod to show she''d heard.


    Keen was safe, but Joshua was still fighting for his life. His injuries were catastrophic, both internal and external. The surgeon had been blunt: he might not survive the operation.


    Harold and Jake waited nearby, their<fn45c2> Th? link to the orig?n of this information r?sts ?n fι?dnοvel</fn45c2>


    deployed their own security locking


    faces grim. They had already


    down the entire hospital. In


    his


    candle in the wind; the slightest


    current state, Joshua was like a


    disturbance could be fatal.


    Suddenly, amotion of hurried footsteps echoed from the end of the hall.