"Leonard, once Ste and Joshua are married... you''ll have no chance at all."


    Leonard''s fists clenched unconsciously.


    He knew, of course, that Joshua had already chosen a house.


    That was why he had been trying so desperately to see Ste.


    Aurora went on, "In any case, you hurt Star in the first ce for my sake. You''ve treated me well over the years. Since you''ve fallen for Star, I''m willing to help you this once, just to repay the favor."


    Leonard said coolly, "Help me? You suffered because of me. You must hate my guts. Why would you be willing to help me?"


    Aurora gave a small smile. "Leonard, we''ve known each other for years. You know what kind of person I am. What happened to me in the Delta... I just lost my virginity. That sort of thing is hardly worth mentioning to me. I won''t deny that I resent you for it, but I know that you weren''t the main culprit in all this."


    She paused, her beautiful eyes glinting with an icy light.


    "Leonard, I know you would never do anything to hurt Star again. She''s my sister, and I won''t hurt her either. But Joshua? He can''t stay in the picture."


    She looked at Leonard and said slowly, "It''s better for Star to marry you than Joshua. You don''t have to do anything, Leonard. Just be good to Star and win her away from Joshua. That will be enough. In return, I can invite you to stay at the Williams family home. That way, you can see Star every day."


    Leonard fell silent.


    Aurora smiled, the same gentle expression she always wore. "You can think about it, Leonard. There''s no need to rush your answer. Juste find me whenever you''ve made up your mind."


    With that, she didn''t linger, turning and leaving gracefully.


    As soon as she turned away, the smile vanished from her face.


    She knew Leonard would agree. Even if he saw through her scheme, the temptation


    to be near Ste every day would be too great to resist. He would walk into the trap willingly.


    Aurora did hate Leonard, butpared to him, Joshua was the more pressing problem to eliminate.


    A cold, sharp glint flickered in her eyes.


    With Ste as his weakness, she was confident he couldn''t keep winning forever.


    ***


    Ste and Lauretta arrived at their designated room.


    McCoy wasn''t there.


    The two of them exchanged a look.


    Just then, Lauretta''s phone rang.


    It was McCoy.


    "Sorry, Lauretta," he said.


    "Something came up at thest


    minute so I won''t be able to make it


    today You and Ms. Cameron are


    friends Please apologize to per for me."


    JMS


    Lauretta''s heart sank.


    Noticing her friend''s change in mood, Ste tried tofort her


    You cant trust


    hat Leonard said probably just trying to drive


    He was probably just


    as between us."


    Lauretta shook her head. "It''s true


    thing endidn''t


    we can''t trust Leonard, but the fact my show up that says enough."


    They didn''t believe Leonard, so they hade to find McCoy. But McCoy had bailed on them.


    Lauretta didn''t believe it was a coincidence.