The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

Abby had all but given up hope—until she saw who had just walked in. Her eyes went wide with sudden delight.

She rushed over. "Star, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just ran into a little trouble," Stella replied, stepping forward. "Sorry I'm late... Did I mess up the show?"

"No, no, you're right on time!" Abby said quickly, relief washing over her. "Antoney, Candida, and Marvin are playing together now. I'll give them a heads-up through the earpiece in a minute.

Star, you get ready-you're up soon."

Stella nodded.

Abby led her into the dressing room. As she helped Stella into her evening gown, she filled her in on what had happened out front.

"Antoney just finished his solo. He said tonight's concert isn't the charity performance we thought it was. It's not just a room full of sweet old folks.

He spotted a lot of unfamiliar faces-even some from the Williams family. Your father and older brother are out there. And... that half-sister of yours."

A shadow flickered across Stella's eyes.

Thinking back to Sherman, what Candida had said about her ex, and the way Jasper Haynes and the others had acted, Stella started to piece things together.

She'd heard of the Burtons back when she was with the Williams family, of course. But she'd never connected Mr. Burton-the quiet man who ran a shabby old clinic with a faded sign and spent his days surrounded by herbal medicine- with the powerful Burton family at the very top of society.

After his wife died, Mr. Burton had practically disappeared. Even Aurora had only met him a handful of times.noveldrama

Someone from a family like that... Stella simply couldn't reconcile the two images.

But time was short, and Abby could only share the essentials, just enough to prepare Stella for what she'd face.

Stella listened intently, nodding as she took it all in.

Once she was dressed, Abby glanced at the clock-there was still a little time. She couldn't help but ask, "Star, what happened out there? You vanished for ages."

"I ran into Sherman. He's Mr. Burton's grandson," Stella said.

Abby let out a shocked gasp. "Sherman? He's... Mr. Burton's grandson?!"

The realization hit her almost instantly.

"Did he give you trouble again after he saw you?"

Stella gave a small nod. "Yeah, but don't worry. I took care of it. Mr. Connolly is handling the rest now."

Abby blinked. "Handling the rest? What's left to deal with?"

"With Sherman's personality, there's no way he'd let our concert go off

without a hitch," Stella sai net

"Instead of waiting for him to

sabotage us, I figured it was better to make sure he couldn't cause any more problems."

Make sure he couldn't cause any more problems?

Abby hesitated, lowering her voice. "Star... you didn't... 'silence' him, did you?”

Stella thought about it for a moment. "More or less."

Abby swallowed, her eyes wide, just about to ask more-when the music from the

stage signaled the others' performance was about to end.

Stella picked up her violin. "I'll explain everything after the show."

With that, she strode toward the stage.

...

Out in the audience, Keen watched

as

and Mr. Watson

l.ne

ed, surprise coloring his face "Wait... so Mom's really performing tonight?"

Rachel smiled. "Maybe she wants Mr. Walden to see how much she's improved."

Jasper gave a derisive snort. "Her? Perform? Even Marvin's better than Stella. Has she even been on stage once tonight?"