The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

"Star, don't let all that stuff you read

online mess with your head. All that

'independent woman, never rely on a

man' nonsense-don't buy into it.

Look at the people sitting at the

top how many of them got there

without connections? You know

what connections really are? They're

friends, family, business

partners-everyone you can lean on

when you need help.

I'm not talking about anyone else.

Just look at me. If I didn't have the

Connolly family's backing, I'd never

be where am today. My strength is

my family. That's what people these

days call 'winning the birth lottery.'

Of course, I've got plenty of friends

too, and some of them-powerful

women-are interested in marrying

me. I'm not going to refuse their help

just because they like me. We're all

adults, all working in the same

ruthless business world. No one's

going to cut ties over a little

romantic tension.

Take Aurora, for example. If she

wasn't the Williams family heiress,

would anyone call her the city's

leading socialite? People like us,

born into wealthy families, all have

something to fall back on. Even

Haynes-without the O'Brien Group

behind him, would anyone benoveldrama

lauding his abilities? If he'd started

from scratch, you think he could

have built this kind of empire in just

a few years?"