The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

Her voice trailed off, and a faint, inscrutable smile flickered across her lips.

"And then there's her whole 'pretending to be sick' act... I can't tell if she came up with it herself, or if Jasper put her up to it with one of his harebrained schemes."

Abby frowned in confusion. "Why would you call it a bad idea? If Rachel hadn't faked being ill to get sympathy, you and Haynes never would have gotten divorced."

Stella shook her head. "The truth is, Haynes and I got divorced because our marriage was already falling apart. Rachel was just the match that lit the fuse.

Even if Rachel hadn't shown up, Haynes and I would have run into other problems eventually."

Abby considered that, and it made sense.

She pressed on, "Then why do you say Rachel's 'pretending to be sick' was a stupid idea?"

Stella met Abby's gaze. "Because every lie eventually gets exposed. It's like living with a sword hanging over your head-you never know when it will drop.

Even if she got what she wanted through deception, what happens when the truth comes out?

Don't forget, Rachel's whole public persona is this poor, fragile, endlessly understanding angel.

And it's not just that she faked being sick-she went all in and pretended to have a terminal illness..."

Stella gave a soft, incredulous laugh and shook her head. "I honestly don't know what was going through Rachel's mind.

Doesn't she realize that if she doesn't die on schedule, she'll have to explain herself somehow?"

Listening to Stella, Abby couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"You're right. Of all the things to fake, why a terminal illness? She's practically digging her own grave.

Even if she'd claimed depression or some mental health issue, that would've been easier to get away with than a terminal diagnosis, don't you think?"

Stella smiled wryly. "Haven't you noticed? Rachel always seems to back herself into a corner.

So if she wants to keep up the act, let her. We'll just sit back and watch her self- destruct."

Abby hesitated. "But what if she never gets caught? What if she actually manages to win at life because of all this?"

Stella carefully packed away her violin-her beloved "Nameless."

"If she can pull off a lie like that for the rest of her life, then honestly? I guess that's her talent."

A strange flicker crossed Joshua Gardner's eyes-something curious, almost feverish.

Stella's words seemed to lift a weight from Abby's shoulders. She glanced at her watch. "Star, the competition's about to start.C

and Joshua should get goare?e

Stella nodded.

The first round of the tournament wrapped up quickly.noveldrama

Stella finished at the top of the leaderboard, utterly dominating the competition.

In the second round-the solo performances-Stella stunned everyone by scoring

a perfect mark, leaving Rachel in the dust to take first place again.

A number of respected musicians in the audience noticed that with every round, Stella's skill seemed to leap to yet another level.

Anyone with a real ear for music

could see that Stella was miles ahead of Rachel-no matter how many fake many fake followers or votes Rachel racked up online, she couldn't steal Stella's spotlight.

Meanwhile, in the Burton family home, Karl sat alone in a dim room, his expression dark and brooding.

Lately, Stella's star had risen higher than ever-her success was the talk of the town.

The better things went for her, the more Karl seethed with resentment.

His experiences over the years had slowly twisted his personality, e making him increasingly bitter and volatile. No matter how many therapists he saw, it never seemed to help.

Every time he saw Stella basking in glory, something inside him twisted tighter, warping his heart beyond repair.

He hated her with every fiber of his being.

If it weren't for Stella, he never would have been so humiliated.

Sure, it was Haynes who'd actually done the deed, but if Stella hadn't been whispering in his ear, would Haynes have gone out of his way to ruin Karl's life?