The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance novel Chapter 95

She wouldn't have come here alone to face him without a plan. Stella stopped cold, her face a mask of calm as she met the gaze of the towering man before her. When she spoke, her voice didn't waver.

"If you agree to let Abby go, I can give you the medicine Deanna needs," she stated firmly.

Haynes stopped in his tracks, his eyes cold as ice as he turned sharply to face her. "So, you really do have the medicine my mother needs," he said, his voice laced with suspicion.

Stella shrugged off his attitude with ease. "Mr. O'Brien, you've always been the devoted son. Surely, you wouldn't stand by and watch Deanna suffer from her headaches without doing something about it?"

"Stella, you're becoming quite the negotiator," Haynes replied, a bitter edge to his words.

Stella offered a faint smile. "There's a time for emotions, and a time for negotiations. Mr. O'Brien, you didn't let Abby go just because she's my friend, did you?"

"I'm simply following your example, practicing the same tough love. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Human nature, after all, is hypocritical.

So long as the blows don't land on one's own body, the pain is never truly felt.

When he put Rachel in difficult situations for his own sake, did he ever stop to think about how she felt?

Now that it's his turn, he finds it unbearable?

Rachel always loved to make Haynes choose between two things, didn't she?

Fine, let's see Haynes make his choice now.

Let's see what's more important: his mother or getting revenge for his beloved Rachel.

Haynes stared at her for a long time.

Stella met his gaze steadily, without a hint of evasion. After a while, Haynes averted his eyes, disappointment clouding his expression.

She'd stopped expecting anything from Haynes years ago. Let him believe whatever he wanted—she was done trying to justify herself to him.