The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

"Honestly, things like this don't really bother me anymore-I've gotten used to it," Stella said with a wry smile.

After all, she'd weathered some of the nastiest online attacks imaginable; compared to those, this was nothing.

She offered Mr. Burton a few more words of reassurance before hanging up. "In a few days, I'll bring Marvin Connolly by to see you."

No sooner had she ended the call than she received a message: the official schedule for the violin competition had arrived.

Last time, she'd made it through the preliminaries. Now, the real competition would begin tomorrow.

Stella didn't have much time to dwell on everything else. Her energy needed to be focused elsewhere.

As for the rumors swirling online, well, Sellers would have to handle them himself -he could step in and put a stop to things when he finally had the guts for it.

For now, she was content to let Jasper and Sellers bite at each other for a while, freeing her up to throw herself into the competition.

The next morning, Joshua drove Stella to the concert hall.

Her car luck had been abysmal lately—last time, her newly modified car broke down halfway, and before that, she'd even collided with Sellers.

Abby, convinced Stella was jinxed on the road, flatly refused to let her drive herself anymore.

Since this was only the first round, Stella didn't bother bringing her prized violin, Nocturne Stella. She was so far ahead of the other competitors that it would have felt like bullying to bring out her best instrument.

This competition was a big deal, and the opening day had drawn quite a crowd; every contestant seemed to be surrounded by friends and family.

Except for Stella. She had only Joshua by her side, which made her look a bit solitary.

Abby, Antoney, and even Neville and Marvin hadn't spared the preliminary round a second thought. In their eyes, Stella was destined to win it all-why waste time on the early stages?

Joshua handed her the violin case. "Good luck, Ms. Cameron. If you need anything, I'm right here."

Stella accepted it with a grateful nod. "Thanks."

Just as she was about to head into the hall, a gentle voice called out behind her.

"Star."

She turned and spotted Foreman standing a little ways off.

"Foreman?" Stella blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

A flash of something sharp crossed his eyes before he smiled. “I'm here looking for Haynie."

He paused, as if mentioning it casually. "Ms. Pearce is competing today, so Haynie's here to cheer

on. I was nearby finalizing a

contract, so I thought I'd stop next

just ran into you while looking for

him.”

The mention of Haynie didn't even elicit a flicker from Stella. She'd long since stopped caring about him. If he wanted to come and support Rachel, it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Seeing she wasn't interested in discussing Haynie, Foreman smoothly changed the subject.

He nodded toward Joshua, who stood quietly by Stella's side.

"Star, I've seen this gentleman with you several times now. May I ask who he is?"

Stella realized she'd never introduced them. "This is Joshua, my assistant. Joshua, this is Foreman, a friend of mine."

Joshua smiled and extended his hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Richards."

Foreman shook his hand warmly. "Nice to meet you too, Joshua."

After the introductions, Foreman turned back to Stella.

"So, you're competing today as well?"

Stella nodded.

"Perfect, I've got some free time—I'll stick around and root for you," Foreman said with a smile. Then, as if anticipating her refusal, he added, "Haynie will be waiting on Rachel for ages, so I've got plenty of time tonoveldrama

spare." nee