Initially, Skyler and Jonathan had thought a pretty boy might be a good distraction for Ste. But they soon realized that with Joshua by her side, not only was she not distracted, but her rtionship with them was deteriorating. They were certain Joshua was poisoning her against them. He had gotten into several fights on Ste''s behalf, and they had long since grown tired of him, just waiting for an excuse to get rid of him.


    This was the perfect opportunity.<fn3f18> Official source is FιndＮovel</fn3f18>


    Jake frowned at their words and stepped forward to object, but Harold caught his arm and gave a slight shake of his head.


    "Don''t you find Gibson''s story contradictory?" Ste asked. "If he wanted to kidnap Keen, he would have done it discreetly. He ims Joshua pledged allegiance to him, so how would Joshua have known Gibson wasing to Solmaris in the first ce?"


    Skyler and Jonathan paused, taken aback.


    Israel, however, reacted quickly. "Because they were in contact before Gibson even arrived. Joshua offered to help with the kidnapping, and that''s why Gibson came. How else could he have pulled it off so sessfully?"


    It was, annoyingly, a usible exnation.


    Ste nced at Israel and suddenly smiled. "Actually, Gibson was right. I did order Joshua to kill Stuart. The man broke into my room and tried to assault me, then had the audacity to im I seduced him. Someone like that is just a waste of resources."


    Jonathan frowned. "Star, even if you want to take the fall for him, you need a better excuse. We know you''re not the type to kill indiscriminately."


    "Indiscriminately?" Steughed. "Was he innocent? How many girls did he hurt? How many lives was he responsible for? All I did was deliver justice. As for your theory Joshua contacted Gibson


    did. But it was on my orders. I wanted to lure him to Solmaris to finish the job for good. Unfortunately, Gibson saw through my n and changed the time of the kidnapping, ruining everything and getting Keen involved."


    beforehand... you''re right te


    She looked up at them, her gaze sharp "It was my mistake. I was inexperienced and didn''t think through. I''ll be more careful next


    time."  "ext"


    A stunned silence fell over the room. Everyone stared at Ste, not believing a word she said.


    Harold, however, was filled with


    admiration. She was shouldering all


    the me, leaving them with no pretext to go after Joshua. With Gibson dead, proving his ims false was nearly impossible. Rather than waste time and energy


    gathering evidence and arguing with them, she had chosen to confess, ending the matter once and for all. It was brilliant if they wanted to refute her, they''d have to find holes in Gibson''s story, which would mean clearing Joshua''s name by default. It was the same as admitting they were wrong.


    Skyler''s and Jonathan''s faces darkened.


    Israel let out a derisive snort. "You, finish the job? Go on, kill someone and show


    us. Talk is cheap."


    Ste looked at him and smiled faintly.


    "If you don''t believe me," she said, her voice dropping to a cool whisper, "why


    don''t you try and touch Joshua and see what happens?"


    A chill went through the room. At that moment, no one doubted the sincerity of her threat. Even Haynes stared at her in disbelief.


    Israel pointed a trembling finger at her. "Ste, are you insane? You''d kill your own family for aplete stranger?!"