Without waiting for a response, Ste turned and walked out of the room.


    She had once made Keen her entire world, but all she had gotten in return was a loss of self. She had imprisoned herself in a tiny cage built of love, cing all her hopes and dreams onto him. But the weight of that emotion was too much for a small child to bear. He felt suffocated, annoyed, unable to breathe.


    The truth was, from the moment a child is born, the process of separation begins. It''s never the child who can''t leave the mother, but the mother who can''t let go of the child.


    Now, finally free, Ste was beginning to understand.


    ***


    Returning to the hospital, Ste was about to knock on Joshua''s door when she heard voices from inside. It was Harold and Joshua.


    "There was definitely a problem with Foreman''s music box," Harold was saying. "It had a listening device inside, cleverly designed with a self-destruct mechanism. It would have been impossible to recover if not for a real expert."


    That exined why it had taken him so long to get results.


    After a moment of silence, Joshua said, "I understand."


    "Should we tell Ms. Cameron?" Harold asked tentatively. Foreman was a treacherous man. Even Joshua had suffered at his hands, and this time, Foreman had nearly gotten him killed by Gibson. If not for Ste''s feelings, Joshua would never have let someone like that run free for so long.


    Just as Joshua was about to reply, his brow twitched, and he nced toward the door. Harold understood and opened it. Seeing Ste standing there, he greeted her warmly.


    "Ms. Cameron, you''re back."


    Ste entered the room. "Is Joshua awake?"


    "Yes, he woke up a little while ago," Harold said with a smile. While Ste was out, he and Jake took turns watching over Joshua.


    "Thank you for your hard work," Ste said. "You can go rest now. I''ll take it from here."


    Harold didn''t object. He knew the person Joshua most wanted to see was Ste. "Alright, I''ll be off then."


    After he left, Ste walked to the bedside. "Is there anything you want to eat? I can make it for you."


    "Just have Harold grab something," Joshua said. "You don''t need to cook for me every day."


    "It''s fine. It''s the least I can do."


    Joshua''s dark eyes were deep and quiet. He seemed to want to say something but remained silent Ste noticed his hesitation and recalled the conversation she''d overheard about Foreman


    She decided to bring it up herself. "Joshua, Keen told me most of what happened. As for Foreman..." She spoke his name softly, a knot


    had helped her but he was also the man who had nearly killed Joshua. And the bullet extracted from Joshua''s leg was from the same type of gun Foreman carried.


    difort in her stomach


    "I will get you justice," Ste said firmly.


    Before she could finish, Joshua cut her off quietly. "Star, if I let this go, would your


    debt to him be cleared?"


    Ste immediately understood his


    meaning and rejected it out of hand.


    "I am me, and you are you. You don''t


    owe him anything. I can''t use your forgiveness to repay my debt to him."


    "But I want to," Joshua said.


    Ste stared at him, stunned.


    "If my letting it go can settle your debt to Foreman, I''m willing," he continued.


    "That way, you won''t owe him anything anymore."


    "But that''s not fair to you," she protested.


    "There''s no such thing as pure fairness in this world," Joshua said. "If I think it''s fair, then it is."