The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

Stella turned to Antoney. "What's wrong?"

Antoney hesitated, then asked, "If you don't go back to the Williams family, everything that belongs to them will have nothing to do with you anymore. Are you really okay with that?"

Stella was surprised to hear Antoney say something like that. He was always the idealist, never one to care much about money or property. If he had, he wouldn't have turned down his own father, Nicolle Watson, all those years ago.

Stella answered honestly, "If it's not mine, I don't waste my time thinking about it.” Antoney pressed, "But what if you were supposed to have a share?"

She paused to consider. “If it's not mine, I don't want it. But if it is, then no one's taking it from me."

Antoney glanced at his watch, silently calculating. The founder's original shares would be maturing at the end of the year. When that happened, the lawyers and the company's old guard would definitely reach out to Stella. On one side was the career she loved, and on the other, the shares Nora had left behind. He wondered what Stella would choose.

No one but Antoney knew about the shares Nora had left Stella-not even Stella herself. The Williams family was completely in the dark. If they'd known, they never would have driven her out. But once the shares matured, the truth would come out. And knowing those four scheming men in the Williams clan, they'd move heaven and earth to pressure Stella into transferring the shares.

but taking on those four

the concert, Antoney would have to hurry back to his own family. When the time came, Stella would need all the help she could get to claim what was

now, though, he would let her focus

long before Joshua arrived. The group ordered dinner and the restaurant soon filled with laughter and chatter as

over, Stella remembered she'd left something important back at the studio. She asked Abby to take Marvin back to her place and keep him company for a while. Stella would swing by the studio to pick up her

since her

and immediately started requesting

their favorites, then

to the office. He needed to finish up the next couple days' tasks so he could carve out time to spend with Marvin-well, if he was honest, he really wanted more

off, didn't have the luxury-unlike the boss, she couldn't just disappear. She was different from Abby and Antoney; just because she was friends with Stella didn't mean she could be casual about things. Besides, she genuinely wanted to improve her piano skills. She'd already wasted too much time over Karl. With someone as gifted

the car, Stella said to