The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance novel Chapter 285

Only one thing can truly wake a person up: self-interest.

And perhaps it was time Jasper got a wake-up call of his own.

Abby frowned in confusion. "Didn't Jasper want you and Haynes to get divorced more than anyone? Now that you're finally doing it, why would he suddenly jump in and try to sabotage things?"

As Stella browsed through the items in the display case, she replied casually, "Odds are, he just doesn't want to see me catch a break. He'd rather I stayed on as the O'Brien family's glorified housekeeper. Of course, there's another possibility…"

Abby perked up. "What's that?"

"Foreman could be lying to me."

Abby dismissed it without hesitation. "No, I think the first option makes more sense. Foreman's a smart guy—he wouldn't have gone out of his way to meet you just to spin an obvious lie that could be exposed so easily."

She paused, brow furrowing in thought. "Still, you can never be too careful. What if Foreman really is lying?"

Stella just shrugged. "Either way, it doesn't matter much to me. Honestly, I've been sick of Jasper for years. If he gets a hard lesson out of this, all the better."

Over the years, Jasper had pocketed plenty of lucrative contracts and favors from the O'Brien Group. If it hadn't been for Haynes and Foreman stepping in to bail him out more than once, his company—given Jasper's questionable business instincts—would have gone under long ago.

Haynes had done Jasper so many favors that Jasper couldn't exactly be stingy in return. Whenever Haynes shopped at one of Jasper's upscale malls, the bill always went straight to Jasper's account. Haynes wore nothing but custom-tailored suits, and every now and then he'd visit one of Jasper's entertainment venues—though he never spent much.

A few hundred thousand, maybe a million or so, was pocket change to Jasper.

But when the total climbed past ten million? That was a different story.

Abby grinned at that. "You're right. It's about time they both learned a lesson."