The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

Chapter 1036

"If she tries to go live and expose us, we have nothing to worry about," someone said. "She's the one who messed up in the first place, and she still refuses to admit it. Once the truth gets out, her whole image will collapse."

A vein throbbed in Jonathan's temple. "Israel, you know Stella isn't someone to be taken lightly. If you call her here, there's every chance she'll just make things worse."

Israel scoffed. "Come on, big brother, Stella's all bark and no bite. Since when did you start letting people like her get under your skin?"

He leaned back, a smug smile on his face. "Besides, I doubt she even has the guts to show up. She's already burned bridges with Leonard Lerman and Sellers Burton. If she tries to cross two more powerful foreign families, she must have a death wish. And with security at the front desk, she'd never even make it upstairs. I just want to teach her a lesson. That's all."

The truth was, Israel simply couldn't swallow his pride.

Thanks to Stella, this morning's meeting had almost turned into a public shaming for the Williams men. Israel had seen the comments online, too-people were calling him a hypocrite. The socialites who used to message him every day had gone silent. A few-hurt after being turned down by him—started posting thinly veiled insults on their social media.

soundbites, spliced together with snarky TV clips and reaction gifs. The revelation that Aurora

reluctantly had to admit Israel had a point. Stella had always been a rebellious one. Now that she'd made enemies, she'd be more likely to run than show up. She

***

Abby Murphy were glued to the

she nudged Joshua Gardner. "Joshua, that was brilliant! I can't believe you actually got

good at everything-able to protect Stella, stand up to their enemies, and even find crucial

"Joshua, how did you even get your hands on this stuff? People are saying Sellers disappeared...

lately, Joshua seemed capable of anything. If Sellers really had fallen into his hands, it wouldn't

his head. "No.

dying of curiosity. "Then