"Leonard, I''ll go get my father and brother. They''lle help you."


    After speaking with grave sincerity, Aurora opened the car door and hurried away.


    Leonard watched her retreating figure, feeling a strange sense of detachment.


    He thought of Ste.


    If it had been Ste, she never would have left.


    On the ne, Leonard had seen the security footage of Ste and Joshua escaping the pce. His current predicament was remarkably simr to what they had faced. Yet Ste hadn''t abandoned Joshua to escape alone.


    In fact, it could be said that Ste had never abandoned Joshua.


    In that moment, he suddenly understood why Joshua, despite having so many other options, was so devoted to Ste.


    Joshua had gotten the response he wanted.


    But he hadn''t.


    He had nothing.


    All he ever received were pathetic handouts.


    Leaning back in the car seat, Leonard watched as Aurora''s silhouette shrank and then vanished from his sight.


    He was badly injured. His leg was almostpletely numb, and he couldn''t even get out of the car. If Aurora had paid a little more attention, she would have noticed he was hurt.


    But she hadn''t.


    Leonard looked away, gazing up at the sky, his heart utterly calm.


    When you do enough evil, you eventually face the consequences. But he had never been afraid of retribution. Without it, he wouldn''t have survived this long.


    What goes aroundes around. Just as those people had died at his hands, there woulde a day when he would die at someone else''s in the same way.


    When Leonard woke up, he found he wasn''t dead. Instead, he was lying in a hospital bed.


    His assistant, seeing him awake, let out a sigh of relief.


    "Thank God, Mr. Lerman. You''re finally awake."


    Leonard''s wounds had been cleaned and bandaged. None were life-threatening.


    The assistant reported, "I''ve already investigated. The people who attacked you and Ms. Williams were sent by King Wright."


    Solmaris was Leonard''s territory, after all, and as the head of his family, he could still manage to summon a few skilled men for immediate backup.


    Not long after Leonard lost consciousness, his men had arrived


    and rescued him. Seeing that


    Leonard''s reinforcements hade, Wright''s men knew they couldn''t


    linger and quickly fled.


    Leonard listened quietly as his assistant recounted the events, then suddenly asked, "Where''s Aurora?"


    The assistant paused.


    He had assumed Leonard was done with Aurora but was surprised to see he was still asking about her.


    So much for giving her up.


    The assistant answered truthfully, "Ms. Williams returned home safely. She called while you were being taken into surgery. She said She said she also sustained some injuries and woulde


    to see you after she had them treated..."


    Leonard asked, "She didn''te back at the time, did she?"


    The assistant took a moment to understand his meaning. "ording to the men on the scene... they didn''t see Ms. Williams when they rescued you, sir


    Leonard fell silent. He didn''t seem surprised, as if he had expected as much.


    Just then, the assistant remembered something else.


    "Oh, right. A little while ago, when I was bringing you to the hospital, I saw Ste and Joshua here."


    At the mention of Ste''s name, a flicker of light entered Leonard''s eyes.


    "They''re at this hospital?"


    The assistant nodded. "It looked like Joshua was injured. Ste seemed incredibly anxious..."


    Before the assistant could finish, Leonard cut him off.


    "Take me to them."