"You were thinking about Leonard, weren''t you?" Joshua said.


    This time, Ste waspletely stunned. "How... how did you guess?"


    "You scanned the room just now," Joshua exined. "Of all of Aurora''s admirers, only Leonard is missing. Abby mentioned you ran into him at the hospital recently. And Aurora disappeared while visiting him."


    Joshua''s lips still held a faint smile, but his eyes were icy cold. "Star, you must have suspected that his motive for setting the fire at the pce was moreplicated than just wanting to eliminate a rival, right?"


    Ste was speechless. What Joshua suspected was almost identical to her own thoughts. For a moment, she felt that being with someone like him was a terrifying prospect. He was too intelligent, so perceptive that he could see right through to a person''s thoughts. If he wanted to, there would be no secrets between them.


    He watched her with an unreadable expression. "Star, has Leonard be so important to you now?"


    Ste didn''t quite understand why Joshua was suddenly so focused on Leonard. Her rtionship with Leonard was hostile, to say the least. They were practically enemies who couldn''t stand the sight of each other. It would have made more sense if he''d thought she was preupied with Sellers or Sherman.


    Despite her confusion, Ste exined, "No, I''m just worried he''s nning some new trick. A man like Leonard is insidious and vicious; you can''t let your guard down around him..."


    Before she could finish, a hoarse, grim voice sounded from behind them.


    "You''re blocking the way."


    Ste turned to see Leonard sitting in a wheelchair, staring at them with a nk expression. The assistant behind him was swallowing nervously, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.


    Ste fell silent. Had she just been caught bad-mouthing him to his face?


    Actually, she didn''t feel particrly embarrassed. Her dislike for Leonard was no secret; she had said plenty of things to his face before.


    Ste pulled Joshua aside to clear the path. The assistant pushed Leonard into the living room.


    Joshua watched Leonard''s back, his dark eyes deep with thought.


    After realizing Leonard had blocked their numbers, the Williams family used a different phone to call him.


    They had previously wondered ifet


    Leonard had genuinely fallen for Ste But after seeing him risk his life to save Aurora, they dismissed the idea, concluding that Simone had been spouting nonsense to manipte Aurora into going after Ste. After all, Simone was in love with Joshua, and Joshua''s


    rtionship with Ste was


    ambiguous. It was a clear attempt to use someone else to do her dirty work.


    Besides, apart from being the artist Summer, Ste had no outstanding qualities that would attract someone like Leonard. The fact that she was a divorced woman alone meant Aurora was leagues ahead of her.


    Inside the living room, Skyler and Jonathan were busy on their phones and couldn''t lead the meeting just yet. Sellers and McCoy exchanged a few pleasantries.


    Leonard hated noisy environments. When Jonathan had called, his first instinct was to hang up. But then Jonathan had said, "You and Ste both bear half the responsibility for Aurora''s kidnapping. She was targeted because of you two."


    Leonard recalled that Coleman had gone to see Ste earlier, after which she and Joshua had left the hospital room. He quessed they were heading to the William''s estate on a strange impulse, he had agreed toe.


    He arrived at the door just in time to hear Ste''s assessment of him.