The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

After a tense round of treatment, Rachel was finally out of danger.

Haynes, Keen, and Jasper spent the entire night by her bedside at the hospital, refusing to leave her alone. The next day, they hovered over her with gentle concern, attentive to her every need.

Rachel noticed that Haynes and Keen, who had been growing distant lately, now seemed to have returned to the way they used to be warm, solicitous, almost doting. That pleased her immensely.

She hadn't managed to use this incident to get rid of Stella as she'd hoped, but regaining the affection of Haynes and his son was a decent consolation prize.

That afternoon, Jasper went out to pick up lunch, leaving Rachel alone in her hospital room. Bored, she lounged back against the pillows, scrolling absently through her phone.

Despite the dramatic bruises and bandages, her injuries weren't as severe as they looked-just some cuts and bruises, nothing that would jeopardize her upcoming concert.

A soft knock came at the door.

Rachel assumed Jasper was back. "Jasper, did Haynie say anything? Is he coming by today or-"

She broke off mid-sentence. Her face froze.

"Joshua Gardner... What are you doing here?"

Joshua set down a bouquet of fresh flowers and offered her a pleasant smile. "You were hurt pretty badly. It's only natural I'd want to check in on you, isn't it? Or am I not welcome?"

Rachel forced a smile. "Of course you're welcome... It's just—Jasper and Haynie could walk in any minute. If they saw you here, they might start asking questions."

At that moment, Rachel still had no idea that Joshua had already succeeded in getting close to Stella.

Joshua's tone was calm, almost casual. "Don't worry. Jasper's been delayed by one of my people-he won't be back for a while. As for Haynes, he's tied up at the signing event right now. He won't be here any time soon. No one's going to find out I was here."

Rachel hesitated, a chill breaking out across her palms.

Neither of them spoke, and the room fell into a tense, uneasy silence.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Rachel broke it. “Joshua... Is Lind one of yours?"

Joshua gave a faint, knowing smile. “I run things on the underground market. No job, no deal happens there without me knowing about it."

Rachel's lips parted, her panic ebbing away, replaced by a steely, bitter gloom. "Joshua, why didn't you just kill Stella?"

Joshua replied, "I already told you my reasons. But you, Rachel-why didn't you come to me about this? Something this big, and you kept me in the dark?"noveldrama

His smile was almost mocking. "Or is it that you don't trust me?"

Rachel exhaled, steadying herself. "It's not that didn't want to tell you. I was afraid if something went wrong, you'd get dragged down with me. So

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I figured it was better to go all and hire someone through the underground."

Joshua shook his head. “Rachel, your plan was full of holes. If I hadn't stepped in to clean up your mess, you'd have been caught by Haynes and Foreman long before Stella even showed up to swap places.

Rachel knew she couldn't hold a candle to Joshua when it came to brains. Ten of her couldn't match him.

Still, Stella made her feel threatened—an urgent, gnawing danger she couldn't ignore. Stella was a thorn in her side, and no matter the cost, Rachel was determined to get rid of her.

She looked Joshua in the eye. "So you're the one who turned my attempt on Stella's life into a setup to win sympathy?"

Joshua didn't deny it. "Lind's the

man I arranged for you. He's skilled, a dead shot-he can handle himself, even if things go sideways. He's far better than those unreliable

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mercenaries you scraped together on the black market."

Rachel pressed her lips together, saying nothing. Transactions on the underground were always anonymous. In truth, she had no idea who she'd actually hired.