After all, dealing with Rachel was child''s ypared to taking on the entire Williams family. "Frankly," Ste admitted, "back then, I was worried you were a spy sent by Rachel to destroy my Nocturne Ste brand."


    The air in the room seemed to freeze. The faint smile on Joshua''s face vanished.


    Ste immediately sensed the shift in his demeanor. Recalling what he''d just said about trust, she worried she had offended him by admitting her past suspicions.


    "I was just being paranoid," she quickly exined. "Rachel had stabbed me in the back so many times, I was seeing enemies everywhere. Besides, if you had really been sent by her, there''s no way I''d still be standing here today."


    The more she knew of Joshua, the more she understood how formidable he was. With his skills and intellect, if he had truly wanted to destroy her, she would have been ruined long ago.


    Joshua looked at her, his dark eyes unreadable. "Star, what if I had been sent by Rachel?"


    Instead of immediately denying the possibility, Ste considered it seriously for a moment. "If that were true," she said finally, "then it would only mean that you showed me mercy."


    His pupils contracted slightly. A strange, indescribable sensation bloomed in his chest and spread through his entire body. Her answer wasn''t the one he might have wanted, nor was it the mostforting. And yet, somehow, she always managed to say the one thing that struck the very core of his being, pulling him deeper and deeper.


    Unable to restrain himself any longer, he suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace. Ste''s body stiffened for a second, but she didn''t push him away. After a moment''s hesitation, she raised her hand and gently patted his back in aforting gesture.


    "Joshua, I will always trust you."


    His voice was a low murmur against her hair. "Star, I don''t deserve that trust."


    "Even if one day you stand against me," Ste said softly, "I will never regret having met you."


    For the first time, Joshua


    understood what it felt like to be


    caught between heaven and hell. His


    voice grew hoarse with emotion. "Star, Eve done things I shouldn''t have in the past but ive never regretted them. Without those mistakes, I might never have met her. We... we would have missed each otherpletely."


    Her?


    Ste''s senses went on high alert. Who was Joshua talking about? The woman he loved?


    She opened her mouth to say something, but her throat felt tight, as if it were stuffed with cotton.


    Words failed her. Everyone had met


    past; she was no exception. From the sound of it, Joshua''s wasn''t happy one. It was hard to imagine that someone as capable as him had also suffered such misfortune.


    She felt a pang of sympathy, a sense of regret, and a faint, unidentifiable feeling of loss.


    After a moment, Joshua released her. "I''m sorry, Star. I lost myposure."


    "It''s okay," Ste said. "You can always talk to me if you have something on your mind."


    It was gettingte. They chatted for a few more minutes before Joshua took his leave.


    The next day, Leonard saw that Ste and Joshua were back at The Williams Group. Although he hadn''t followed them on their business trip, he was kept fully informed of their every move.


    He flipped through the investigation file on his desk and sneered. "So she had time to go watch a male revue? It seems Joshua isn''t so impressive after all."


    Then he turned the page and saw a


    photo of Joshua''s injured hand, followed by another of Ste, her face etched with worry, rushing him to the hospital Thefort held found in his correspondence with Summer evaporated, reced by a sharp, familiar ache in his chest.