Leonard Lerman?


    Ste frowned.


    There were only a handful of high-end restaurants that were actually good. While a chance encounter was possible, she remembered thest time she''d


    "coincidentally" run into Leonard during her vacation, and she doubted this was any more of an ident.


    Ste had no positive feelings for Leonard and wanted nothing to do with such a brutal man.


    With that in mind, Ste told the front desk attendant, "He doesn''t need to pay for our table. Please return the money to him. I''ll settle the bill."


    The attendant looked troubled. "Miss, the bill for your table has already been closed out. There are no outstanding charges on our end, so we can''t charge you a second time. Why don''t you... give the money directly to that gentleman? Would that work?"


    Ste wasn''t short on money for a meal, but she didn''t want to owe Leonard anything. She didn''t know why he''d done it, but she had no intention of falling into one of his traps over something so trivial. The man''s methods were simple and crude, yet he''d managed to be the head of his family. Ste wasn''t about to underestimate him.


    After a moment''s thought, Ste walked over to where Leonard was dining alone.


    "Leonard, why did you pay for my table?"


    Leonard looked up and gave her a dismissive once over. "Oh, I paid for the wrong one."


    Ste didn''t believe for a second that Leonard would make such a mistake. Besides, the number of her private room and his table didn''t share a single digit. Was he using this as another opportunity to warn or remind her of something?


    At this thought, Ste''s gaze grew even colder.


    Leonard met her wary eyes and smiled inexplicably. "Ste, are you really that paranoid? It was just a simple mistake. How can you read so much into it?"


    "With someone like you, Mr. Lerman, one can''t be too careful," Ste replied. Leonard looked up at her. "Am I really so irredeemable?"


    Ste smiled too, but her eyes were ice-cold. "Are you asking a question you already know the answer to, Mr. Lerman?"


    "Then what about Joshua?" Leonard asked.


    Ste frowned. "What does Joshua have to do with anything?"


    "Joshua..." Leonard looked at her with an unreadable expression. "You still call him Joshua. It seems you''ve forgiven him. You don''t hate him."


    Ste was about to say something when she suddenly realized that Leonard wasn''tpletely in the dark. No, that wasn''t right. The


    meaningful things Leonard b


    said


    to her in the past shed through her mind He wasn''t just aware he probably knew everything, including Joshua''s identity and the things he''d done.


    Yes, Rachel had said she was captured and tortured by Simone Lerman for a time. It wasn''t just Leonard; Aurora was likely involved too. In that instant, Ste


    d things she led vete


    previously overlooked. No wonder the notoriously arrogant Aurora had taken the initiative to ask Joshua out. And Simone had fallen so deeply for a mere bodyguard. It turned out they had known Joshua''s identity all along.


    "So that''s how it is..." Ste murmured.


    She had suspected Joshua''s background was unusual and had even wondered if he might be the runaway young master of some prominent family. That was why she had epted it so quickly when she learned he was one of the Gardners. But what Ste had never imagined was that Joshua was the head of the Gardner family.


    Leonard watched her with a faint, knowing smile. "What Joshua did was no more noble than what I''ve done, yet you don''t hate him. Ste, does this mean you''ll forgive anyone who hurts you, as long as they''re willing to help you afterward?"