The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

Chapter 1007

Stella could hardly believe her eyes.

Almost in a trance, she stepped into the room and reached for her violin.

The familiar feel of the polished wood brought tears to her eyes before she could stop them. She cradled the instrument gently, the cool surface against her cheek awakening a flood of memories and longing.

Stella hadn't cried in a long, long time. But now, the tears came-quiet and unstoppable.

This violin was all she had left from her mother.

And yet, she'd been forced to watch as it was destroyed, powerless to protect it- just as she'd failed to protect so many other precious things in her life.

The bitterness of her own helplessness nearly overwhelmed her.

Abby, watching Stella's silent tears, felt a lump rise in her throat too, her eyes stinging.

She and Stella had been best friends for years-she'd met Stella's mother, Nora, more times than she could count, sharing countless home-cooked meals at their table.

Nora had always been gentle and graceful, a woman untouched by the passage of years. In Abby's memory, Nora was forever radiant, playing her violin with effortless brilliance.

saw the shattered Nocturne Stella for the first time, her heart ached- not just for Stella, but

silent vow: she would help Stella get

Stella was hospitalized, Abby asked Foreman and Neville to search for the missing violin. But despite their efforts, it remained

Stella still recovering, she couldn't

help. After days of searching-spurred on by Abby's

deep inside a hollow

ran her fingers lightly across the

room,

no longer play with the virtuoso's touch she once had, nør command the stage as a concert violinist. But she could

in her heart

"You replaced the strings,

managed

herself, added,

restoration himself. He actually studied artifact restoration, so he did a better job than some

violin was recovered,

wanted to send it out for repairs. But Nocturne Stella was

believed it could ever be