The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

"If Stella really is Skyler's daughter, doesn't that make it even harder for us to deal with her?!"

Her voice was sharp, the calm, graceful persona she'd carefully maintained

slipping away.

She used to stay as far away from Joshua as possible. Now, she was desperate for him to get rid of Stella once and for all.

Rachel's face twisted with pure malice.

Why did she get everything?!

Nora was her biological mother. Skyler, her father. She even had siblings like Jonathan and Aurora.

Her husband was Haynes. Her childhood sweetheart, Antoney.

And Neville would go to any lengths to help her. She even had Mr. Burton in her corner.

How could one person be so lucky?

Rachel was eaten up with jealousy, her features contorting with envy.

Stella's hand was just too good. No matter how she tried to convince herself that Stella was beneath her, the truth was staring her in the face.

Stella was surrounded by powerful, influential people.

But Rachel? She had a brainless Jasper, a husband who no longer took her side, and Joshua, always one step away from uncovering her lies.

She'd been dealt a miserable hand.

How could she possibly compete with Stella?

Joshua's voice was as calm as ever.

"Not necessarily. If the Williams family really intended to announce Stella's identity, there would have been rumors at the very least, some whispers in our circles.

But this secret has been kept airtight. Even I didn't know, and do you realize what that means?"

Rachel's mind was a mess, her ability to think completely gone.

She asked, "What does it mean?"

Joshua let out a quiet chuckle. "It means they've gone to great lengths to keep this hidden.

Which tells me that neither Stella nor the Williams family is as untouchable as you think.

If Stella's identity is revealed, the fallout between her and the Williams family will be explosive.

If this were before, Stella would have been powerless-she could have been crushed without a sound.

But now..."

There was a hint of intrigue in Joshua's tone.

"She has some powerful friends on her side. The Williams family can't control Stella as easily as they'd like.

Wouldn't it be far more interesting to hem tear each other apart,

watch

and then take them both do when

they're weakest?"

Joshua's words were like a calming tonic, finally soothing Rachel's frantic thoughts.

She took a deep breath, her composure slowly returning. "You're right. I... I was just being impatient."

With Stella's new identity, making her disappear was nearly impossible now.

As Rachel's thoughts scattered, Joshua spoke again.

"Rachel, the earring I gave you—you still have it, right?"

The mention of the earring made Rachel start.noveldrama

"Yes, I still have it... Why?"

Rachel had thought about losing it on purpose.

But Joshua was too

resourceful-he'd probably find it again. Besides, she knew how much he valued the earring's original owner. If she lost it, who knew what he'd do? She didn't dare take that risk. sŵnovel

Joshua said, “Find it for me. I'll send someone to pick it up later."

Rachel tensed. "Joshua, why are you taking it back all of a sudden? Did you... find the other one?"

"No." Joshua's voice was

unreadable. "You can't wear just one

earring. I'm planning to have a

jeweler make a matching pain, so

you can wear them properly."

Hearing that, Rachel finally relaxed.

"All right."