She said gently, "Leonard, I made some food for you. I''ll leave as soon as you''ve eaten."


    Leonard replied, "I''ve already eaten. I don''t have an appetite right now. You should take it with you. And please, don''t visit me again unless it''s important. We aren''t that close."


    The smile on Aurora''s face slowly faded.


    Leonard wasn''t mincing his words. If she continued to pester him, he would likely say something even harsher. At that point, there would be no turning back.


    Aurora said softly, "Since you want to rest, I won''t disturb you."


    She left, but she didn''t take the food she had made with her.


    Leonard nced at it and said to his assistant, "Take what Aurora brought and eat it."


    The assistant studied Leonard''s expression, not daring to disobey, and took the food away.


    Leonard turned back to stare nkly out the window.


    When Abby came to visit Joshua, she could clearly tell the atmosphere between him and Ste was different from before.


    "Joshua certainly knows what he''s doing," Abby thought with admiration. In terms of both intellect and emotional intelligence, Joshua was in a different league from Haynes O''Brien. From the looks of it, winning Ste over was just a matter of time. Joshua''s wound was deep but thankfully hadn''t reached the bone. The three of them finally had a moment to talk about the Wright family.


    Abby said, "I heard the fire at the Wright pce was probably set by Leonard. King Wright is furious with Aurora and has put out a huge bounty for her capture."


    Ste had been at the hospital


    taking care of Joshua and hadn''t e


    had much energy to follow outside events. She was surprised by Abby''s news.


    "King Wright put a bounty on Aurora? Are you sure... he doesn''t want to capture me and Joshua?"


    Abby found it incredible too. "Yes, the bounty is specifically for Aurora." She paused before adding,


    "Apparently, King Wright already


    sent group to grab her. But she get lucky and ran into Leonard at the airport. King Wright''s men had just gotten off the ne and weren''t fully prepared, so in the chaos, Aurora managed to escape. I heard Leonard was seriously injured protecting her and is still in the hospital."


    Ste said, "I thought Leonard genuinely wanted to cut ties with Aurora. It seems... he says one thing but means another."


    Abby deeply agreed. "Of course! If he really wanted to cut ties, why would he give her all those shares? And he probably only set fire to the pce because he found out Aurora had a new man on the hook and wanted to eliminate thepetition


    Ste couldn''t think of any other reason. Leonard had always been unpredictable,


    so nothing he did seemed truly out of character.


    She turned to see Joshua looking down in thought. "Joshua, did somethinge to mind?"


    His dark eyes were somber. "It''s nothing."


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


    Ste got up to open it and was slightly taken aback by the person standing outside. "Ms. Quinn?"


    Laurel Quinn held up a fruit basket. "I heard Joshua was injured and in the hospital, so I came to see him."


    Ste immediately weed her in. "Ms. Quinn, please,e in."


    Laurel Quinn entered the room, her gaze lingering for a few seconds on Joshua''s bandaged and immobilized arm.


    "Joshua, are you okay?"