"It might not have been sudden," Harold said.


    "What do you mean?" Jake asked.


    "Perhaps Mr. Gardner never intended to give up," Harold exined. "This trip to Solmaris just gave him a legitimate reason not to. He was forced toe back this time. Work at thepany has been piling up, and his condition needs to be treated right away. He''s been away for too long and had no choice but to return. As for Ste..."


    Harold looked at Jake. "Would you really hand over something you''d poured your own time and effort into? Even if Mr. Gardner hadn''t changed his mind so quickly, he would have found another excuse to convince himself eventually."


    Harold wasn''t surprised by this at all. He was just surprised Joshua had managed to talk himself into it so fast.


    ...He had only just left.


    Jake thought about it and realized it made sense. After you''ve put that much time and energy into someone, no one in their right mind would be happy to just pass them on to somebody else. And the Gardner family was famous for its obsessive nature.


    "This is good, too," Jake said. "The next time they meet, Mr. Gardner won''t be appearing before Ste as a bodyguard."


    Harold smiled at Jake. "The right rtionship makes a person better. The fact that Mr. Gardner is willing to get treatment shows that Ms. Cameron is a good match for him."


    Despite his words, a shadow of worry lingered in Harold''s heart. He was already starting to worry about the Gardners'' inescapable fate.


    ***


    Keen, unaware of what was happening outside, had fallen asleep at Ste''s bedside after Joshua left.


    When he woke up, Abby was whispering with Ste. Keen himself had been moved to another bed in the room.


    He nced at the clock and realized he had slept until noon.


    Rubbing his eyes, Keen asked, "Abby, when did you get here?"


    Abby smiled. "I came this morning. You were sleeping so soundly, I didn''t want to wake you."


    Just then, there was a soft knock on the door.


    Neville


    6th Connolly had also


    "Star, how are you feeling now?"


    "I''m fine," Ste said. "The doctor just came by and said I can be discharged tomorrow... Thank you for everything."


    Abby had already told Ste about Neville helping out during the night.


    "You helped me a lot with my grandmother, so you don''t have to be so formal," Neville said.


    He turned to Abby. "Ms. Murphy, haven''t had lunch yet,


    and


    stay with Star nee


    two should go eat."


    Abby knew Neville wanted to talk to Ste alone.


    She nodded. "Keen, let''s go get some food."


    "Okay."


    After Abby and Keen left, Neville finally said, "Star, Joshua was herest night." Ste froze at the mention of his name.


    Neville continued, "Even though I know his identity, I''m still used to calling him Joshua."


    Ste lowered her eyes and murmured, "Joshua was here...?"


    Neville looked at her. "Star, can you tell me... what are your real feelings about Joshua?"


    For the first time, Ste, who usually fell silent at the mention of his name, didn''t avoid the question.


    "I don''t know," she said, shaking her head. "He hurt me, but he also helped me. He taught me so many things. To me, he was like a teacher


    ? w no


    I really looked up to Se, after finding out the truth, I don''t really hate him. But I can''t bring myself topletely ignore it either."