The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

Chapter 388

"But your pronunciation just now was quite off. The correct way to say it is like this..."

Stella paused, then calmly repeated-in flawless French-the very words Franco had used moments ago to mock her education.

Her voice was light and clear, every syllable crisp and precise, each word pronounced with textbook accuracy.

The entire room froze.

A second earlier, the crowd had been snickering along with Franco, treating Stella as the punchline of his joke. Now, their laughter died on their lips, replaced by stunned silence and awkward, fixed expressions.

Franco's jaw twitched involuntarily, his face cycling rapidly from red to pale. No one had slapped him, yet his cheeks burned as if he'd been struck.

He'd spent his life immersed in languages, built his reputation as one of the most respected professors in the field. Wherever he went, people addressed him as Dr. Franco without hesitation.

story-his accent was always a bit

he was, publicly humiliated by a housewife who hadn't worked in five

desperately wanted to find some flaw in her grammar, some slip in her accent. But no matter how many

stay-at-home mom all these years? How could her grammar be so refined, her accent so perfect? There was

stared up at his mother

He'd understood every word of the exchange between Franco and his mom.

all, let alone with such natural fluency. In fact, her French was smoother than that of the teacher hired

were

must be cheating-maybe someone's feeding

French, she'd never sound that natural. You

Haynes, lowering her voice. "Haynes, did you know Ms. Cameron

at his

play the violin. He hadn't known she could speak French,