The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance novel Chapter 1996

Stella glared into Joshua's striking features, her voice dripping with venom.

"Have you really stooped so low that you're using a child to threaten me?"

The slap hadn't carried all her physical strength, but executed in broad daylight, it was an undeniable, calculated humiliation. She had always treated him with respect. Even when she discovered he had once aided Rachel Pearce, she had never raised a hand to him.

Joshua hadn't tried to dodge. He didn't even look angry.

He just stood there, staring at her. A dark, suffocating abyss seemed to bleed into his eyes, swallowing every ounce of light.

"Star," he said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Is that truly the kind of monster you think I am?"

Stella's fists trembled, a suffocating wave of despair threatening to drag her under.

She forced the cruelest words she could find past her lips. "It wouldn't be the first time, would it? Didn't you use Marvin Connolly to threaten Neville Connolly?"

The afternoon sun cascaded over Joshua, painting his handsome face in a soft golden hue. Yet, bathed in all that warmth, he looked utterly desolate.

A thin, hazy mist seemed to roll through his dark eyes, making his gaze unreadable.

"Star, is that really what you think of me?"

Stella knew that no matter how brilliant he was, her relentless hostility over the past few days had finally drawn blood.

Her plan was working.

A raw, burning ache ripped through her chest. And yet, her mind had never been so hyper-focused and ruthlessly clear.

Her red lips parted, and she dealt the final blow.

"Yes."

She saw his thick eyelashes flutter. A devastating vulnerability flickered in his eyes—so fleeting she might have imagined it—before vanishing completely.

Within seconds, his tall frame disappeared from sight.

Once he was gone, Keen peeked into the bag. It was filled with Stella's favorite artisan pastries, alongside Keen's favorite cookies.

Tears welling in his eyes, Keen grabbed Stella's hand. "Uncle Joshua knew you haven't been eating well, so he baked these for you himself. Why did you hit him, Mom?"

Stella's fingers were as cold as ice.

Stella kept her head bowed, letting her long hair cascade forward to hide her face.

Seeing her deafening silence, Keen opened his mouth to press further, but Haynes intervened.