The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

She didn't care that, in her brother's eyes, Aurora would always come first.

But what she couldn't accept was that her brother would stoop so low for Aurora's

sake-going behind her back, undermining her.

There were so many things she was willing to give up for Aurora. Why did they

have to fight over the same man too?

Simone's anger simmered beneath the surface, threatening to spill over.

For a moment, she wanted nothing more than to march straight up to Leonard

and demand an explanation. But in the end, she forced herself to hold back.

She turned to Joshua, her tone softening. "Joshua, don't take my brother's words

to heart. He's just... well, he wants me to marry for the family, that's all. He only

said those things to push me in that direction."

Joshua's voice was calm, even resigned. "He's not wrong, Simone. You're the

Lerman family's heiress, and I'm just an ordinary guy. I'll never be good enough

for you."

Simone shook her head quickly, desperate to reassure him. "What does it matter if

you're 'ordinary'? There's no such thing as who's worthy or not-only whether

someone is truly deserving."

She looked Joshua straight in the eye, her voice brimming with sincerity. "Joshua,

to me, you will always be the one who's worth it."

If she were in his shoes, Simone thought, she would be deeply moved by words

like these.

But Joshua only replied, "Miss Lerman, I think... it's better if we keep our

distance."

Her heart, which had been pounding with hope, slowly turned cold.

"Joshua, what are you saying?"

He answered quietly, "Mr. Lerman already accused me of trying to kill him in the

hospital, just to keep us apart. Who knows what else he'll blame on me in the

future? I may be a little tougher than the average person, but I'm hardly a

professional assassin. That hospital was locked up tighter than a vault-I honestly

have no idea how I could have even gotten inside to attack your brother."

He let out a weary sigh.

"Miss Lerman, I think it's best if we end things here. I can handle criticism, but I

can't stand being accused of things I haven't done."

Simone rushed to explain, "Joshua, I never doubted you! I'll talk to my brother and

clear this up-"

But Joshua simply shook his head. "Miss Lerman, I have things to do. I'll be on my

way."

No matter how many times Simone called out after him, Joshua never looked

back.

She watched him go, her heart filling with both hurt and a deep resentment towardnoveldrama

Leonard and Aurora.

When Simone returned, she found Leonard and Aurora sitting together in the

parlor, chatting.

As soon as Simone walked in, Aurora glanced up. "Simone, did you just go to see

Joshua?"

Simone lowered her head, her long lashes shadowing her eyes, hiding her

feelings.

She paused, then looked at Aurora, a faint but ambiguous smile tugging at her

lips. "Aurora, you seem awfully interested in what's going on between me and

Joshua, don't you?"

Aurora caught the strange note in Simone's voice and raised an eyebrow, about to

reply.

But Leonard cut in, his tone cold.

"Simone, I've told you-Joshua is the

one who tried to kill me. For all we

know, Stella put him up to it. We

can't say for certain whose side he's

on, but I'm sure of one thing he's not

on ours."

Simone protested, "But Joshua's

been looking for the violinist who

played in the garden. Now, Stella's

hand is injured-she can't play

anymore-and she doesn't seem to

remember anything about losing

that earring. Joshua was willing to

help Rachel back then; he'd do the

same for us."

Aurora considered this for a few

seconds, then nodded. "Simone has

a point. But still-why would he try to

kill Leonard? If he really believed you

were the person he was searching

for, he wouldn't have gone after

Leonard. Would he?"