The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

Stella recounted the call she'd just received from the shareholders to Joshua, laying out every detail. By the time she finished, she could practically piece the entire scheme together.

"I'm almost certain this is my brothers' doing," she sighed.

As for Skyler, she doubted he'd ever get his hands dirty or leave any evidence behind, but he certainly wouldn't lift a finger to stop them, either.

Stella's gaze drifted to the stack of acquisition documents on the table. "Haynes really does have vision," she mused.

Joshua leaned in with a suggestion. "Maybe we should reach out to that Jake guy first. If he's for real, not only will we have nothing to worry about financially, but we'll even have leftover funds to invest elsewhere."

"My thoughts exactly," Stella replied. "Jake was my first choice, too. Still, we need a backup plan. If he turns out to be a fraud, we can't afford to be caught completely unprepared."

Right now, selling off their original shares had hit a snag.

Their options were clear: Jake, or scraping together loans from various sources.

She trusted Haynes, Foreman, and the others implicitly. They would never cheat her; if it came to it, relying on them as a last resort made the most sense.

But she'd owe them-big time.

With the contract signing looming, this wasn't the moment to dwell on favors owed.

After a moment's thought, Stella decided to contact Jake herself.

her call, Jake answered right away. As soon as she explained her purpose, he set a time

was private-a discreet club outside the city center- far from the Williams family and anyone who

early, but when she opened the door, Jake was already there,

was alone-no assistant,

stood and greeted her with a warm smile

exchange of pleasantries, he slid the contract

trust Aicken just yet, so she hadn't

would come of it. In his mind, Jake was just another con

that much on the line, nobody would just hand it over without

had reviewed the Contract and found no

to him for a

it over carefully, then

final page,

signature—just

a signature like that really be legally binding? The thought flickered across her

her phone buzzed in

pulled it out and blinked

zeros after the five made

them, twice, then a third time, before finally accepting that the full

Upfront. The entire amount.