The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance novel Chapter 19

Rachel casually brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, revealing a delicate emerald bracelet on her wrist. The bracelet shimmered with a gentle glow, its serene green somehow strikingly bold.

Stella's eyes widened in disbelief. That bracelet was the O'Brien family heirloom, traditionally passed down to the daughters-in-law. But Deanna O'Brien, Haynes' mother, had never liked Stella. Even after Stella had Keen, Deanna remained indifferent, barely acknowledging her presence.

Deanna always preferred women from prestigious backgrounds and wasn't fond of Rachel either. She had played a part in breaking up Haynes and Rachel back then. Ironically, Haynes had married Stella, whom they all looked down upon. The entire O'Brien family treated her like an outsider. Even the staff at the O'Brien Mansion mocked her, believing she had schemed to marry into the O'Brien family.

For the first few years of their marriage, Deanna couldn't stand the sight of Stella and barred her from setting foot in the mansion during holidays. But as Keen grew up, his resemblance to Haynes became undeniable, and his sharp wit eventually softened Deanna's stance. She even handed the heirloom bracelet to Keen, instructing him to give it to his future wife one day.

Keen clutched the heirloom like a dragon guarding its hoard. "Grandma says this stays locked up tight 'til I pick a wife," came his miniature patriarch's decree. "No bracelet, no wife!" His grave recitation of Deanna's dogma had sparked laughter.

But the situation felt like a cruel joke to Stella. The bracelet seemed to leech warmth from the room, its ancestral whispers hissing cruel truths: You were never one of us.