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.

shattered Nocturne Stella for the first time, her heart

made a silent vow: she would help Stella get justice, no

search for the missing violin. But despite their efforts,

search herself, but with Stella still recovering, she couldn't

upon himself to help. After days of searching-spurred on by Abby's constant questions-he finally

deep inside a hollow tree, so well concealed that

fingers

room, bringing Abby back from her

stage as a concert violinist. But she could still coax a tune from the

by little, the storm in her heart

Joshua. "You

managed to find the same

herself,

did almost all the restoration himself. He actually studied artifact restoration, so he did a

violin was recovered,

send it out for repairs. But Nocturne Stella was so badly damaged that even string replacements

one believed it