"That was the first time I saw such a fierce, savage look in Leonard''s eyes," Simone said, "as if he was ready to kill his enemy in the next second."


    She let out a mockingugh.


    "Before that, I''d always thought Leonard was a verypassionate person."


    Ste smiled. "Compassionate? Are you talking about Leonard?"


    "Is there a problem with that?" Simone countered. "Who says a bad person has to be thoroughly evil? Or that a good person will never do anything wrong? There are murderers who give up their seats for the elderly, and there are ruthless people who show no mercy to their enemies but are fiercely loyal to their own. Unless someone is born evil or a natural-born saint, how can anything be so ck and white? Joshua isn''t a good person either, but you love him, don''t you? Your hatred for Leonard is no different from Aurora''s hatred for Joshua. Leonard would hurt you for Aurora, and Joshua would hurt Aurora for you. Whether you''re good or bad doesn''t matter to them. If you wanted to kill someone, Joshua would hand you the knife and clean up the mess afterward. He doesn''t love your kindness; he just loves you."


    Simone paused.


    "The reason I thought Leonard hadpassion was that when he was painting, he would often feed stray cats. But someone who feeds stray cats isn''t necessarily a good person. He could be gentle with animals and incredibly cruel to people. Then again, animals are much more lovable than people. After all, when an animal receives a kindness, it might wag its tail at the one who fed it. But people take it for granted. No matter what they get, they always feel like they''re owed more. They take the benefits with a clear conscience while simultaneously judging you from their moral high ground. Isn''t that hrious?"


    "Are you talking about me?" Ste asked.


    Simone gave her a strange smile. "Why would you think that? I was clearly talking


    about Aurora. Or... do you feel you and Aurora are very much alike?"


    "As you said, there''s no essential difference," Ste replied.


    Simone froze. "You actually dare to admit that?"


    "There''s nothing to be afraid of admitting. Since I''ve epted the benefits, there''s no need to pretend to be innocent. The moment I chose this path, I gave up on maintaining kind of of pure, unblemished image. You


    some don''t have to think


    deliberately unting some kind of virtue, because I''ve never considered myself a particrly good person."


    The smile on Simone''s face gradually faded. She looked Ste up and down, as if seeing her for the first time.


    "You''re surprisingly frank. I think I can finally understand a little why both Joshua and Leonard fell for you. If Leonard bad met you much earlier, perhaps things would have turned out differently."


    Simone didn''t have a rigid moralpass. In her eyes, whether one was good or bad, there was no point in denying it. It was true that she had wanted to get rid of Ste, and was also true that she had fanned the mes with Leonard, deliberately sowing discord between them.


    She had grown up being suppressed. If being a bad person made her life better, why should she choose to be a good one? She wasn''t the type to endure hardship for no reason.


    Even now, she still disliked Ste. But Simone understood that Ste was her only option.


    Choosing the Lermans would be like making a deal with the devil.


    In that moment, Simone found it all deeply ironic.


    Between her own rtives and an outsider, she could only choose the outsider.