Sherman''s heart sank when he saw the deep frowns on his uncles'' faces.


    "Uncle Zane, Uncle Edward, you guys can''t seriously believe him, do you?"


    Uncle Zane replied, "He makes a fair point. If he wanted to get back at you, why would he go so far as to kidnap Sellers? There are a million ways to exact revenge. This one carries the highest risk for the lowest reward."


    Sherman snapped, "Because he doesn''t just have a grudge against me! He has it out for my uncle, too!"


    Uncle Zane looked skeptical. "You keep harping on about this bad blood between him and Sellers. What exactly is this deep-seated hatred you''re talking about?" Sherman froze. He stammered, suddenly unable to articte a coherent answer.


    If, in the beginning, Sellers had only despised Ste because of Aurora...


    Thenter, it was purely because Ste had won Mr. Burton''s favor, which threatened Sellers''s piece of the pie.


    It made sense for Sellers to hate Ste.


    But Ste was the one who hade out on top.


    She had gained so much; there was no reason for her to harbor any hatred toward Sellers.


    As for the things Sellers had done to Ste and Joshua behind closed doors...


    Sherman didn''t dare breathe a word of it.


    If he spilled everything, it wouldn''t guarantee Joshua''s downfall. Instead, it would just blow up in his own face, making him look like an absolute fool.


    At that moment, Joshua''s crisp, maic voice chimed in.


    "Since Sherman can''t seem to string a sentence together, I''lly it out for everyone. Why am I pointing the finger at Sherman for kidnapping Sellers? The answers Simplex it''s because of Aurora. It''s an open secret that both Sherman and his uncle, Sellers, arepletely infatuated with Aurora. And as for Aurora..."


    Joshua offered a faint smile. "It''s no


    secret that Aurora is drawn to


    power. As long as Sellers is around


    Sherman doesn''t stand a chance.


    that with


    Now, we all know that with


    Sherman''s track record, even if Setters were out of the picture, he wouldn''t have a shot at bing the head of the family. But to Sherman? Taking that gamble meant winning the girl and the empire. It was the ultimate jackpot.


    "I heard that after the fiasco at Aurora''s engagement party, Sherman went around silencing


    anyone who gossiped about her


    even defending her honor in public. Of course, there''s another


    no


    possibility. Maybe he''s been


    ying the fool all along to keep everyone''s guard down, while secretly waiting, for the perfect moment to strike. Because once Sellers vanished, no one would ever suspect him. Then, by pointing the finger at me first, he sessfully deflects all the


    attention. And just like that, he gets exactly what he wants."


    Hearing this masterful spin on the truth, Sherman shook with rage.


    "You... you''re twisting everything! You''re the one who kidnapped my uncle!"


    Sherman waspletely out of his depth against Joshua.


    He felt entirely powerless and suffocated by frustration.


    He knew for a fact that Joshua was behind Sellers''s disappearance, but he didn''t have a shred of proof.


    Without evidence, he couldn''t even win a simple argument against the man.


    The Burtons had listened closely to Joshua''s words, and the way they looked at Sherman began to change.


    They were actually starting to buy into Joshua''s theory.


    And why wouldn''t they? After Aurora''s scandal blew up, Sherman had publicly dered his willingness to marry her, insisting she was innocent.


    Any rational person would have run for the hills, pretending they never even knew her just to avoid the fallout.


    The fact that Sherman threw himself right into the crossfire was definitely off.


    No one backed Sherman up anymore.


    The Burtons fell silent, weighing the truth of the whole situation.