Joshua didn''t hold back, calling them out in front of everyone.


    Jonathan''s face turned ck, and a sh of humiliation crossed Aurora''s eyes. Joshua was the same as ever, utterly dismissive of everyone else.


    Even the smile on Skyler''s face faded slightly.


    When the letter of intent from the Gardner family arrived, Skyler had been surprised. At the time, he didn''t know Joshua''s true identity and had assumed Jonathan had managed to secure some business after his apology trip to the Gardner family. Now, not only had the Gardner family extended an olive branch, but they had offered an incredibly generous deal.


    No matter how dangerous the rumors about the Gardner family were, Skyler couldn''t refuse. The profits were simply too high.


    Assuming Jonathan had negotiated the deal, Skyler had let him handle the arrangements. Since the Gardner family had explicitly stated that their head would be attending in person, the entire Williams Group treated the matter with utmost seriousness. The shareholders had been asked to clear their schedules well in advance.


    This, of course, did not include Ste. She was exempt from attending meetings for any coborations that fell under Skyler''s faction.


    Jonathan had seized the opportunity to assign the project to Aurora.


    But when Joshua arrived, everyone was dumbfounded. Many of the shareholders even thought he had walked into the wrong room and taken the wrong seat. It was only after his representative rified the situation that they realized Joshua was, in fact, the head of the Gardner family.


    It was a massive, public humiliation.


    Whether they were shareholders from Skyler''s faction or Nora''s, everyone felt the sting.


    Joshua''s voice echoed from beside Ste again.


    "If any of you had a shred of self-awareness, I wouldn''t have had to embarrass you all like this... wouldn''t you agree?"


    Everyone remained silent. No one dared to argue with Joshua. In the face of such a lucrative deal, what was a little humiliation?


    Skyler shot a re at Jonathan, knowing he had been hiding something. But he didn''t make a scene and give others more to gossip about.


    He smiled and said, "I apologize, Mr... Mr. Gardner. There was an internal mimunication on our part. Please, forgive us."


    Though Skyler was a seasoned


    politician who knew when to foldet


    the shift from calling him Joshuà, the bodyguard to M Gardner, the family head, still felt awkward."


    "Star," Skyler said, turning to Ste. "Since you are Mr. Gardner''s designated


    choice, you will be fully in charge of this coboration."


    With that single sentence, the project lead changed.


    Aurora''s smile became forced.


    In truth, they had known for some time that the coborator was Joshua. But they had clung to a sliver of hope that he and Ste might have had a falling out, which was why they sent Aurora to lead the meeting anyway.


    This was the real reason Jonathan


    had chosen to keep Joshua''s identity a secret, even when he knew it would eventuallye out. If Joshua had left Ste''s side, it must have meant they''d had a


    ''d had a nasty. of breakup. No matter what, Joshua was the head of a powerful family; he had his pride. He was unlikely to seek Ste out after leaving her. And if he didn''t, his identity would remain a secret forever. Even if he did reappear, there was no guarantee he would still be willing to help her.


    They''d done the math. In their minds, the chances of it working out were way higher


    than the chances of it blowing up in their faces, so why back down?


    After discussing it among themselves, Aurora had convinced Jonathan to go along


    with the n. But now, things had unfolded in the exact way they had feared.