Simone was taken aback for a moment, then a strange smile spread across her face.


    "It seems Joshua is finally getting what he wished for."


    She murmured as if to herself, "That''s good, I suppose. At least Joshua will be happy. It''s just a shame that Leonard had to die like that..."


    "Do you need to think about it, or can you give me an answer now?" Ste asked.


    Ste''s words finally brought Simone back to the present.


    She looked at Ste and asked, "Did Leonard''s death really not leave even the slightest trace, not a single ripple, in your heart?"


    Before Ste could answer, Simone let out a softugh and continued on her own.


    "Leonard wasn''t a good person, but he was truly good to the people he liked. Perhaps this was karma for all the bad things he''d done, that he would never get what he wanted in this life."


    At this, Simone turned to look at Ste.


    "Before Leonard tried to seize power, all he cared about was painting. He never hurt anyone and had no ambition for the Lerman family. Because we were both illegitimate children, Leonard and I were bullied constantly growing up. Life was terrible. The Lermans intentionally spread the news about our parentage, which led to Leonard being isted and bullied at school."


    For a rare moment, Ste asked, "What about you? Weren''t you bullied?"


    "I was at first," Simone said. "But my mother transferred me to a new school, and very few people there knew about my past."


    She smiled faintly. "I''m just a girl, not much of a threat. Leonard was the one who posed the biggest threat to them."


    Ste asked, "You were just illegitimate children. Were you really that much of a threat to the Lerman family?"


    Leonard and Simone had clearly had a difficult childhood, which suggested they had been severely targeted.


    Simone shrugged. "Normally, no. But what you do when our dear


    fathod our mother as a stone


    MM2


    for the woman he truly loved?"


    Ste''s brow twitched. "A shield?"


    "My mother was of low status, just a maid in the Lerman household at the time," Simone exined. "The matriarch of the family, my father''s wife, came from a background that matched his-a powerful family with underworld connections. She might not have loved my father much, but she was always scheming for her own children. She wouldn''t allow anyone to have a chance at taking what belonged to her son Hand That''s why she was exceptionally ruthless toward our father''s illegitimate children. Leonard and I were just two of the victims."


    "You said your mother was a shield. What did you mean by that?" Ste asked.


    Simone''s tone was mocking. "My father was in love with another woman. He knew how capable his wife was and worried his true love would be harmed, so he deliberately created the illusion that he doted on my mother, even having two children with her. You grew up in Novaris, so you might find it unbelievable, but the Lerman family has always been rife with illegitimate children. For those men, their bodies and hearts are separate. They see nothing wrong with it. As a result, Hand''s mother targeted Leonard and me almost our entire lives Though we grew up together eonard and weren''t actually that close. He was withdrawn and always gloomy. To be honest, I was afraid of him. Once, I saw him hold one of the boys who bullied him underwater. He almost drowned him. The look in Leonard''s eyes at that moment was terrifying. I had a feeling that if no one had stopped him in time, that person really would have died at his hands."