But Ste didn''t fully trust him.


    For all she knew, he could be doing this for Aurora''s sake deliberately framing McCoy to drive a wedge between her and Lauretta, and to create suspicion between the siblings.


    His sudden deration of love for her could very well be part of the act. After all, Sherman Burton had once pretended to be interested in her for Aurora''s benefit.


    Ste turned to Lauretta. "Lauretta, let''s go inside and talk."


    As their eyes met, Lauretta began to calm down. That was right. This was all just Leonard''s side of the story. He could easily be lying to turn them against each other. Lauretta took a shallow breath. "Okay."


    As the two were about to leave, Leonard blocked Ste''s path.


    His eyes were dark. "Ste, you don''t believe me?"


    His expression tightened. "Have you ever given anyone a reason to?"


    Leonard had never been a man of many words, and for a moment, he was at a loss.


    Ste turned to Lauretta. "Let''s go."


    "Okay," Lauretta nodded.


    Leonard, not ready to give up, started to follow them to exin, but Aurora, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.


    "Leonard, just let Star go. She has her own judgment and won''t believe someone''s story at face value... especially not yours."


    Aurora straightened her messy hair and smiled. "Don''t push her so hard. You have to give her some space to figure things out for herself."


    Ste merely gave Aurora a cool nce before leaving with Lauretta.


    Of course, Leonard wasn''t going to listen to her. He tried to follow again but was stopped by Lauretta.


    "Mr. Lerman." Lauretta looked up at him. "Thank you for the warning. Now, Star and I need to confirm if it''s true. I hope you can give us some time to investigate."


    Lauretta was the one who had helped Leonard get in touch with Summer and had given him the three paintings. Leonard could ruthless, but he also remembered his debts.


    He might not respect others, but he couldn''t ignore Lauretta.


    Leonard stopped.


    Ste and Lauretta walked away.


    He watched her walk away, and the weight of his attention followed her down the


    hall, heavy enough that she didn''t need to look back to feel it.


    Only when Ste''s figure finally disappeared from view did Leonard reluctantly look away.


    Aurora had seen the entire exchange.


    In that one moment, all of Leonard''s strange behavior and demands from the past suddenly made sense.


    Aurora couldn''t help butugh out loud.


    Hearing her, Leonard frowned. "What are youughing at?"


    "I''mughing at how pathetic you are," Aurora said. "To fall in love with the woman you personally hurt. You know what Ste''s like No matter what you do, she''ll never


    forgive you


    much less believe you."


    Leonard''s expression turned cold. "My business is none of your concern."


    Aurora smiled. "Leonard, did you see the ring on Ste''s hand? I saw one just like it on Joshua''s."


    Leonard''s lips tightened into a thin line.


    "I heard from my father that Ste


    and Joshua are getting married soon," Aurora continued. "They''ve even finished renovating their house. If I hadn''t gone missing, they would have been engaged by now. Ste mentioned in a chat with Abby that she''s moving in with Joshua very soon."