chapter1665

Stella glanced down at their joined hands but ultimately didn't pull away.

Although she had known Joshua's address for some time, Stella had never once visited. He was currently living in a rather secluded villa, sparsely populated but nestled by mountains and water, creating an exceptionally beautiful environment. Before, Joshua had been living with her, and the decor was whatever the house came with. Stella had never seen his own home.

Now, arriving at his place, Stella couldn't help but look around.

"This is just a temporary residence," Joshua said. "Everything inside was just thrown together."

Stella noticed items in the villa that reflected Joshua's personal tastes. Though he said it was casually prepared, Harold had clearly arranged the decor and furnishings to match Joshua's aesthetic.

Despite his words, Joshua still gave Stella a tour of the villa.

Seeing her curiosity, Joshua said, "Once you're done with your business here, I'll take you back to Aetheria to see it. You can live wherever you like in the future."

Stella fell silent.

"The future." It felt like such a distant word.

Ever since coming to Solmaris, Stella had rarely thought about the future. She could only take things one step at a time. She was living on thin ice, unsure if she even had a future to look forward to.

And yet, Joshua's words stirred a strange emotion deep inside her.

After touring Joshua's home, Stella gradually calmed down. After some thought, she took the initiative to ask, "Is it confirmed? Is L Leonard?"

At the mention of Leonard's name, Joshua's eyes turned icy. He gave a slight nod. "It's him."

Though Stella had prepared herself for this on the way over, seeing Joshua confirm it made her heart sink.

The reason she had never

considered Leonard was that she

believed someone with his

personality would never have thonet

patience to spend so much time

slowly earning her trust. He was the type who preferred a more direct approach like when he had. kidnapped her and tried to destroy her hand.

But now, for Aurora's sake, he had been willing to spend all this time just chatting with her.

Thinking back to the way Leonard had looked at her at the hospital, an inexplicable unease washed over Stella. It wasn't Leonard's overt cruelty that was scary; it was the fear of him plotting something behind her back.

Stella took a deep breath, pulled out her phone, and blocked L without a moment's hesitation.

"This is probably just another one of his schemes to mess with me for Aurora," Stella said.

When Joshua saw that she hadn't even tried to confirm the truth with L or doubted his word, immediately blocking Leonard, the violent rage churning inside him subsided significantly.

During the time he was gone,

an

Leonard had been chatting with Stella every day. They talked about shared interests, manufactured few chance encounters, and he gave her small gifts-little by little, he had been secretly seeping into her life.

fonet

Joshua couldn't bear to think about it in detail. The very thought that Leonard had coveted Stella even before he had left was enough make him struggle against the urge to kill. But he had to control himself. He knew that if he truly lost control, he would not only frighten her but might also do something irreversible.

So many people liked Star-Neville Connolly, Haynes, Foreman... He couldn't kill

every single one of them.

He had to endure.