Leonard said nothing.


    Old Mr. Wyatt continued, "Son, that''s not how you court a woman. Secretly watching her, secretly trying to talk to her—is that courting? That''s stalking. You might enjoy it, but she doesn''t feel a thing for you. And when she ignores you, you kidnap her? What were you thinking? You''re lucky she doesn''t hate your guts, let alone have feelings for you. You''re a young man, you should have some romance in you. How are you even worse than an old codger like me?"


    Leonard was silent for a moment before asking, "Then how should I pursue her?"


    Old Mr. Wyatt said, "We''ll talk about that after you''ve recovered. You look like you''re at death''s door. Who are you going to win over like this? Don''t work yourself into an early grave."


    Leonard fell silent again.


    Old Mr. Wyatt, long ustomed to Leonard''s reticence, grumbled a few more things about him being a lost cause before turning his attention back to nning the surgery.


    ***


    Ste''s surgery was soon put on the schedule.


    At the same time, when Ste met with Lauretta, Lauretta told her the news of Aurora''s impending engagement to McCoy.


    Lauretta said, "With Jonathan in aa, my engagement to him is at a standstill. The Chapman family initially wanted me to break it off with Jonathan and get engaged to Coleman instead. But Coleman refused. He said it would be like stealing his own brother''s fiancée and would attract a lot of public criticism. He also said he wouldn''t know how to face Jonathan when he woke up, and that it would damage their brotherly bond."


    As she spoke, a trace of mockery crossed Lauretta''s face. "If Coleman hadn''t refused, I probably would have been sold off like property again."


    Ste looked at Lauretta. "From what I know, McCoy isn''t the type to prioritize profit above all else."


    Lauretta took a sip of her coffee and sighed. "People change. Over the past year, my brother has be more and more like a stranger to me. I still clearly remember when I was a child and snuck out to y. When our parents found out, my brother took all the me and took the punishment for me. When I was sick and our parents were busy, it was always my brother who took care of me. That''s why I was willing to ept the family''s arrangement and marry Jonathan-to repay my brother for his kindness back then. I never thought... that in the end, my brother and I couldn''t escape the cold calculus of profit."


    With Jonathan in aa, Ste was poised to be all-powerful. The Williams


    family would never allow that to happen.


    Aurora wasn''t young anymore, and


    over the past year, she had


    managed to tarnish the good


    reputation she had spent so many


    years building. The Burton family


    would absolutely not allow her to


    marry into their family. Aurora''s


    options were bing very limited.


    Now that McCoy was willing to marry her, it was better to marry her off quickly. As


    she got older, any further dy would cause her value to depreciate, regardless of her talent and reputation.


    Ste asked, "Have they set a date for their engagement?"


    "The engagement is at the end of this month, and the wedding is three months after that," Lauretta said.


    Ste was surprised. "That fast?"


    Lauretta said, They''re probably


    worried about something else


    unexpected happening. I''ve run into


    Aurora a few times recently, and feel like she changed a lot Given her personality, she wouldn''t have agreed to this engagement so easily unless she had no other choice. Star, you have to be careful. I''m worried she''ll do something desperate and


    try to harm you."


    Ste said softly, "I will. And if you run into any trouble you can''t handle, be sure to let me know."


    "Okay," Lauretta replied.