Ste didn''t offer a verbal reply. Instead, she pushed the crisp cotton fabric off his broad shoulders, her fingertips gently tracing the faded, silvery scars mapping his chest and ribs.


    These were relics of a brutal past.


    For scars to remain this prominent after years of cutting-edge medical treatment, the initial trauma must have been catastrophically severe.


    A sharp, suffocating ache seized her heart.


    No one was simply born with the terrifying power Joshua wielded.


    His entire empire had been forged in blood, agony, and ruthless survival.


    She was currently standing safely inside a fortress built entirely on his shattered bones.


    It was almostughable how she had spent so long believing he was an untouchable god.


    Leonard had been absolutely right-before she could pull him out of the darkness, she needed to plunge her hands into the very depths of his horrific past.


    Leaning in, Ste pressed a feather-light, reverent kiss directly over the jagged scar tissue.


    Joshua''s entire body went rigidly taut, his muscles bunching beneath her lips.


    "Star..."


    She tilted her head back, her cheeks flushed a stunning shade of crimson, but her dark eyes were resolute and unyielding.


    "Let me take care of you today," she whispered softly. "Please."


    Joshua swallowed hard, his Adam''s apple bobbing sharply. The darkness in his eyes ignited into a raging, blistering inferno, hot enough to scorch the very soul.


    Her breathtakingly gorgeous, flushed face reflected in his dted pupils.


    A violent, intoxicating surge of adrenaline and raw euphoria roared through his veins, setting his blood on fire.


    The muscr arms banded securely around her waist actually began to tremble as he fought to suppress the overwhelming tsunami of emotion crashing into him.


    Muchter, whenever he was forced to relive this exact, perfect moment, his chest would constrict as if venomous, thorny vines were wrapping around his heart. Suffocating, shredding his insides.


    Only when the agonizing pain brought him to his knees would he finally realize that the emotion tearing him apart was pure, unadulterated hatred.


    ...


    By the time Sellers Burton was unceremoniously dumped back at the family estate, his life-threatening wounds had been mostly stabilized.


    But the horrific disfigurement of his face and the permanent amputation of his leg were beyond the realm of miracles.


    No matter how advanced the Burton family''s medical connections were, they couldn''t regrow shattered limbs or reconstruct a melted face.


    Given his grotesque appearance and crippled state, the board unanimously agreed


    he waspletely unfit to serve as the face of the empire.


    A swift, brutal decision was made: Sellers was to be permanently sidelined to a "behind-the-scenes" advisory role.


    Standing in the sterile recovery room, Sherman Burton nervously ryed the board''s decision, watching his brother''s mangled face for an explosion.


    "Behind-the-scenes" was just corporate speak for stripping him of every ounce of his


    power.


    In elite circles, a disgraced heir''s only shot at aeback was through a massive, strategic marriage alliance.


    But Sellers''s value on the marriage


    market hadpletely tanked. Even Leonard Lerman, who required a


    prosthetic leg, still possessed his striking, unblemished looks.


    Half of Sellers''s face was a horrific ruin of scar tissue.


    What billionaire heiress would willingly shackle herself to a deformed cripple?


    And marrying some ordinary woman would offer absolutely zero leverage against the board. His chances of securing a power alliance were dead in the water.


    "All those stuck-up board members fought tooth and nail against you marrying Aurora Williams," Sherman muttered bitterly, pacing at the foot of the bed. "Looking at the mess were in now it would have beer a helf of a lot better if you had just married her anyway."


    At the sound of Aurora''s name, a dangerous spark finally flickered to life in Sellers''s deadened eyes.


    The horrific memory of Joshua''s parting taunt echoed in his mind like a death knell.


    "Aurora is pregnant with your child. I hear the Burtons have a strict, zero-tolerance policy regarding illegitimate heirs. If the board finds out you knocked up your ex-fiancée, won''t they just strip you of your title entirely?


    And McCoy Chapman... I highly doubt he''ll just politely look the other way.


    Tell me, Sellers, do you think that bastard child is going to survive the fallout?"


    Sellers''s one good eye darkened with a chilling, desperate malice.


    He turned his head toward his brother, his voice a hoarse, grating rasp. "Sherman. Call Aurora. Tell her to get here right now."