The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

To ensure fairness, Skyler and the three Jonathan brothers abstained from the vote.

Yet, despite Stella's proposal clearly being the stronger one, more people ended up voting for Aurora.

The only ones supporting Stella were the shareholders who had previously

backed Nora, along with a handful of neutral parties hoping to snag a piece of the pie.

Most of the neutral faction, however, remained firmly on the fence.

No matter how impeccable Stella's plan was, or how capable she proved herself to be, they would never risk picking a side so carelessly.

They understood all too well that, in the Williams Group, talent alone could only take you so far.

Over the years, Skyler had openly suppressed Nora's supporters, determined to reclaim the last of the original shares from their hands.

Backing Stella now was as good as defying Skyler.

Considering Skyler was still the Group's largest shareholder, a misstep in these power games could easily land them in the same predicament as Nora's backers -facing elimination.

Without the Williams family's support, Stella never stood a real chance against Aurora.

The shareholders loyal to Nora looked on grimly as the votes were tallied.

Aurora's advantage was overwhelming, crushing Stella's numbers.

last, Israel and Coleman allowed

voting, Skyler turned to

any objections to

a place where

a newcomer, she certainly wasn't going to object in public

polite smile, Stella replied, "Since everyone voted,

of expressions

in the

keep her composure, felt a

certain that, faced with

a

that

and cost her any

her to hold her ground

you must have an alternative candidate for the contract. Why don't you present

fact that her original company

reason to be rattled; she'd never intended

late into the night, analyzing which companies Aurora

and then prepared

purpose of competing with Aurora was to prove that

Aurora presented the best possible company and still lost to Stella, it

make Aurora look incompetent.

if the result was a tie, Stella would