The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance novel Chapter 1605

"But that's impossible. Without using hypnosis, a year is the absolute minimum. And even then, it only delays his condition and postpones the next relapse. It can't cure him."

Lola sighed sympathetically. "Well, I guess that's how life evens things out. No one is perfect."

Laurel's brow furrowed with worry. "This is Joshua's only weakness, and it's a fatal one."

Lola heard the concern in her voice. "Is it really that serious? Even if he has an episode, with his skills, it wouldn't be easy for anyone to hurt him, right?"

"Lola, there's more than one way to hurt someone," Laurel said. "You don't need a weapon to destroy a person. Before, he didn't have any obvious weaknesses. But things are different now. Right now, Stella is the one thing that protects him, and the one thing that could ruin him.."

***

On the way back, Abby noticed that Stella was staring silently out the window, her mood low. Even after securing such a major project, there was no trace of joy on her face.

"Don't worry about the Williams family," Abby said. "We'll take it one step at a time. Aurora's two knights in shining armor are out of the picture for now. Leonard Lerman has been keeping such a low profile he's practically become a hermit, and Sellers is too busy with his own problems to help her. We have Aurora completely suppressed right now; there's no way she can take control of The Williams Group. This breathing room is enough for us to grow stronger. By the time they recover, they won't be able to touch us."

Joshua hadn't been by Stella's side for a particularly long time, but it wasn't short either. A year wasn't enough to bring down the Burton and Lerman families. His goal hadn't been to destroy them, but to keep them too preoccupied to bother Stella, giving her a safe environment to grow.

"Today is Joshua's birthday," Stella said suddenly.

Abby was taken aback. Over the past six months, Stella never avoided the topic when Abby brought up Joshua, but she rarely mentioned him herself.

Abby wanted to say something, but in the end, she just let out a silent sigh.

Stella didn't think Aurora would make any mistakes or oversights while running a meeting. Lately, Jonathan Williams seemed to be intentionally promoting Aurora, giving her many of the company's major clients. And to her credit, Aurora had successfully secured all of them.

Now, she had apparently landed another major client, and Jonathan had assigned it to her as well.

Stella didn't mind. She negotiated her own partnerships independently of the Williams family, which gave her more control. Just a short while ago, she had been in the middle of a business meeting when she received an urgent call from Skyler Williams, summoning her back to the office.

Her assistant's eyes darted around, her expression a mixture of complicated emotions. She mumbled, "You'll see when you get there."

Stella was still engrossed in the file and didn't notice the assistant's strange behavior.

As she neared the conference room, Stella knocked once before walking in.