The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

Chapter 77

Jasper smirked with smugness. "Dealing with someone like Stella, who's got no steady income, is a piece of cake."

"Haynie, let's leave Stella in the cold for a few days. Then, I'll figure out a few tricks to make her come crawling back."

Haynes ignored Jasper and turned his attention to Rachel instead. "Rachel, you fell down the stairs accidentally. Why didn't you tell us?"

A flicker of panic crossed Rachel's eyes. Haynes wasn't as easy to fool as Jasper and Keen. He had a knack for seeing through people's facades.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at Haynes. "I thought Ms. Cameron was coming to apologize to Keen and you, so I wanted to take her to see you guys..."

"I might have gotten too eager and reached out to Ms. Cameron. I'm unsure if she shook me off or if I lost my footing and fell..."

Jasper interjected, "Haynie, Rachel was trying to help. The video shows Rachel trying to bring Stella to you guys. And Rachel never said it was Stella's fault."

Stella. Who would doubt that? Besides, Stella's always picking on Rachel. If people

head. "Dad,

to make mistakes. If you need to blame someone, blame

pleadingly. "Haynie, I've been punished enough. Please

the blame upon herself, feeling grateful and a

buttons. What he didn't realize was that Rachel had skillfully redirected the blame onto him, neatly

wouldn't have fallen if you hadn't been trying to catch

he finished speaking,

hasn't brought the new batch. Mom's been in bed all day with one of her headaches. It's worse than usual. You need to

his brow. "What's Stella

No doctor seems to help. A few

it's been working wonders. Stella's been delivering

she's