The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

When Stella found out Neville's birthday was coming up, she spent a long time thinking before finally deciding to make him a gift with her own hands.

Neville had helped her so much. If it hadn't been for him, she would have been cornered by Haynes' endless pressure, left with nowhere to go and forced to sleep on the streets. There was no way she could have gone through her divorce so smoothly without Neville's support.

She was deeply grateful to him.

Neville glanced down at the keychain in his hand, his dark eyes as deep and unfathomable as the sea.

He looked at her, lips curled in a gentle smile, his voice low and warm.

"Thank you. I really like your gift.”

The way he looked at her was too intense, too soft, sending a shiver down her

spine. It was not the way you'd look at a friend.

Stella's heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively avoided his gaze.

She stood up. "It's getting late. We should head back."

But as soon as she got to her feet, a hand closed firmly around her wrist.

looked

"Don't go. I

so Stella

her a small gift box. "Open it. See if you

wasn't very big or heavy, making

the packaging to reveal a

a delicate, finely crafted

exquisitely made. Tiny black diamonds were set in the chain, catching the light with a subtle,

the renowned jeweler Muses It was his masterpiece, his final work-the kind of piece you

talking about this bracelet with Abby after she'd won her competition and taken Neville and the others out for dinner. Abby had said the "Forever" bracelet would look incredible with Stella's Nocturne performance. Stella had admitted she loved it, but it

actually get his hands on

tell at a glance that this was

her head. "I can't accept this.

an eyebrow. "Why

valuable," she

about the thought behind them. If a cheap gift can hold meaning, why can't an expensive one? Should something be rejected just

uneven. "That's not

accept it. I never take back gifts," he said, meeting her