The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

Stella returned to the hospital room, carrying the takeout she'd picked up for Joshua.

"Sorry, I'm a bit late," she apologized.

Joshua set his phone aside and studied her face. “You seem to be in a good mood. Did something nice happen?"

Stella touched her own cheek, as if to check whether her emotions were that obvious. "Is it really that noticeable?"

He grinned. "Very."

Stella hesitated for a moment, but decided not to keep it from him-he'd find out about Rachel eventually, anyway.

"I got my hands on solid proof that Rachel's been faking her illness," she said quietly. "If this goes public, there's no way she'll be able to recover her reputation."

Joshua didn't even look surprised. Instead, he smiled. "Well, congratulations. You wanted to expose her, and now you've got exactly what you need."

Stella didn't mention that it was Foreman who'd provided the evidence. She trusted Joshua, but it didn't feel right to drag Foreman's name into this, not when it could make trouble for him.

gave a small nod and began unpacking the food. "Let's eat

gave her a long, thoughtful look, then started his meal with his usual quiet,

***

Illness,” “Rachel's Terminal Diagnosis Exposed,” and “Rachel the Fraud" shot up to the top of

been posted from Stella's account. She'd even written a lengthy post,

current level of fame and a massive online following, her exposé

was on the phone with

ticket sales for my concert are terrible. Even after dropping the price,

voice carrying

need someone tofill the seats. Could you help me out again? Maybe get

Joshua agreed. "Sure, I'll

spreading across her lips. "Thank you, Joshua. In the end, you're the only one I

smiled—a strange, unreadable expression—but said nothing more. Having gotten what she wanted, Rachel didn't feel like chatting with him any longer. She made

time it was the manager from

you seen the news?

Rachel frowned. "What's trending?"