The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance novel Chapter 430

The negotiation ended in a stalemate—neither side got what they wanted.

Afterwards, when Stella uncovered the truth about Mr. Walden, any hope of a constructive conversation between the two vanished completely.

And now…

It turned out star was Stella all along.

The revelation didn’t just leave Haynes reeling—even Benson, who prided himself on keeping his cool, felt a headache coming on.

Driving down the avenue, Benson glanced at Haynes and broke the silence. “Since Ms. Cameron is star, I doubt she’ll be willing to compose for Ms. Pearce anymore. Should we start looking for someone else?”

Haynes’s lips parted slightly. “Star…”

He repeated the name, his dark eyes distant, lost in thoughts Benson couldn’t guess.

Benson waited, but no reply came. After a long pause, he cleared his throat and tried again.

“Mr. O’Brien, do you think we should find a new composer for Ms. Pearce?”

“That won’t be necessary.” Haynes snapped out of his reverie, voice steady and certain. “She’ll agree.”

***

The next morning, Stella had just dropped Marvin Connolly off at preschool when her phone rang. It was Abby.

“Star! Did you see the news? Antoney’s trending again!”

Stella was driving, hands tight on the wheel. She hadn’t had time to check the headlines.

“What happened to Antoney?”

“They say the woman’s been a wreck ever since—struggling with depression for years.”

“Her parents ran into Antoney recently—and now they’ve come looking for him.”

Following the others’ gaze, Stella spotted the commotion at the center of the crowd: a middle-aged couple, faces red with anger, had Antoney by the collar.

Behind them stood a young woman in her twenties, clutching a small child. Her voice trembled as she pleaded, “Honey, please just look at our child.”

Antoney gave her a cold shove, pushing her away. “That’s not my kid. You’ve got the wrong person.”

At that, the woman’s mother erupted, her voice cracking as she wept and shouted, “Antoney, you monster! If you hadn’t taken advantage of my daughter, how would she have gotten pregnant?! You promised to marry her—lied so we wouldn’t call the police!”

“And now you want to walk away like nothing happened? Don’t even think about it! If you don’t give us an answer today, I’ll make sure the whole world knows what kind of man you really are!”

“Everyone—look at this man! Antoney, who took advantage of my daughter, tricked her into staying quiet, abandoned her, and then ran. Take his picture—post it online! Let every girl out there know what kind of person he is, so no one else gets hurt!”