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Magnus’s words warmed his heart.

Perhaps I have been too worried for nothing.

But even though his friend’s words reassured him, he could not help the doubt that crept into his mind.

“I do not deserve her,” he murmured.

Even if she accepted his scars, he still could not shake off the feeling that he did not deserve her.

“Why don’t you let Ava decide that for herself? Do you not see how cruel you are being to her?”

Cruel?

“You are not even giving her the chance to see you, truly and wholly. You assume that she would not want to be with you if she saw all of you, and yet you do not give her the chance to truly see you.”

Edwin swallowed as he pondered his friend’s words. He frowned as he realized with a pang that Magnus was right.

“I will think it over, Magnus,” he lied.

He was not quite ready to face the hard truth.

“Now,” Magnus said as he straightened up on the couch, “I have information that you may find useful.”

Edwin furrowed his brow. “Is it about Wilbury and?—”

“And your mother, yes. My men reported that she threw him out into the streets in the full view of everyone on the same day you paid her a visit.”

“Is that so?” Edwin was taken aback.

“Seems your mother was serious when she claimed she would cut him off,” Magnus said.

“Good for her,” Edwin muttered. “A man as dangerous as him may harm her, after all.”

“At least, now you can rest assured that your mother did not know anything about the attack.”

“It doesn’t mean anything.” Edwin shrugged. “Now, what do we have on Wilbury? He is the culprit, after all.”

Magnus shook his head. “I am sorry, Edwin, but no matter how hard my men tried, they could not find any evidence that links him to the attack.”

Edwin had expected this. He knew it would not be easy to tie Lord Wilbury to the attack. After all, the man had not been foolish enough to attack him.

“If Wilbury is to be punished for what he has done, then we need irrefutable evidence,” Edwin insisted.

“Well, I have some information that might help.”

“Do tell.”

“It may not seem much, but Wilbury has not been stable since your mother threw him out.”

Edwin’s eyebrows rose. “Is that so?”

“Yes. In fact, he has been acting rather recklessly around town. He was thrown out of two gambling hells yesterday because he attacked other patrons after getting drunk.”

Edwin was confused. “Aside from the fact that the man is ruining his reputation, I do not quite see how this benefits me.”

“How can you not see it?” Magnus asked, grinning. “If he continues to act so recklessly, then it is only a matter of time before he slips up.”

Edwin nodded as a smile crept onto his face. For the first time in a long while, he could see an end to this ordeal.