He had heard such words countless times, many from Ste''s own mouth. It never used to bother him, but now, for some reason, it stung.


    A short whileter, a bruised and swollen Israel Williams arrived. He looked haggard and disheveled, his hair a mess. He was already overwhelmed dealing with Violet Yancey, and he didn''t have the energy to worry about Aurora''s disappearance. Besides, after being used as a pawn and losing his shares to Ste, a rift had formed between him and Jonathan''s side of the family.


    Now powerless in The Williams Group, his future consisted of little more than coasting until he died. Israel waspletely demoralized and had no desire to fight Ste anymore. Any victory he might win wouldn''t be his own; he would just be doing the hard work for someone else to reap the rewards. Why bother?


    After a while, Skyler and Jonathan finally finished their calls.


    Jonathan''s expression was grim. "King Wright denies kidnapping Aurora."


    Israel, blunt as ever, chimed in, "Anyone with half a brain would deny it. Why would he just hand you leverage against him?"


    Jonathan ignored him and continued, "I''ve already sent people to keep an eye on things in Germany." He looked at Sellers, Leonard, and McCoy. "The Williams family has people stationed in Germany, which means we''re short-staffed to search elsewhere. I''ve asked the three of you here today hoping you can lend us some manpower for the search."


    For Sellers and McCoy, this was a small matter, and they agreed without hesitation. Only Leonard remained silent, but the Williams family took his assent for granted.


    Once they had discussed the search n, Skyler turned his attention to Ste. He asked hesitantly, "Star, what exactly happened between you and Joshua in Germany? Why would Wright kidnap Aurora?"


    "Princess Wright kidnapped Abby," Ste said. "We just went to rescue her."


    Coleman sneered, "You went to rescue someone and ended up getting Prince Wright killed. You did it on purpose, didn''t you, Ste? You deliberately killed him so Aurora would take the fall."


    Before Ste could respond, Joshua spoke up. "I was the one who killed him. It has nothing to do with


    And as for making Aurora the


    scapegoat, killed highting


    of King Wright. There''s no way the me could fall on her."


    Joshua offered a meaningful smile. "Perhaps Aurora did something


    privately that King Wright found


    even more hateful than the death of


    his own son, prompting this


    revenge? Otherwise, why would e ignore his son''s killer and go after


    Aurora instead?"


    Coleman''s eyes turned cold. "So, you and Ste just get off scot-free?"


    Joshua offered a helpful suggestion. "Why don''t you discuss it with King Wright? Ask


    him to stop targeting Aurora ande after me instead."


    They had no control over who King


    Wright chose to take revenge on And although the Williams family was also confused as to why Wright would target Aurora instead of Ste and Joshua, they had no answers.


    Coleman was speechless with anger. After a long moment, he managed, "Regardless, you two are inextricably linked to King Wright''s decision to kidnap Aurora."


    Joshua asked, "So what do you want, Mr. Williams? Compensation for your emotional distress?"


    Coleman was furious. "You..."


    "That''s enough," Skyler cut in, ending the argument. "Right now, the most important thing is to find out where Aurora is."


    Arguing over whether Ste was to me was a meaningless waste of time.