The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance novel Chapter 1979

After happily rambling about how much he had missed her, the boy craned his neck, looking around the terminal.

"Mom, where's Mr. Joshua?"

"He had some business to take care of," Stella lied smoothly.

Keen's face fell in obvious disappointment.

He had been practicing his marksmanship non-stop and had been dying to show off his skills to the older man.

Taking his small hand, she guided him toward the exit. "Let's grab a bite. I made a reservation."

After dinner, Haynes was preparing to take his son back to his own apartment, but Stella stopped him.

"I haven't seen Keen in forever. Let him stay with me tonight."

Haynes didn't object. The boy had stayed over at her place plenty of times before.

However, when he offered to drive them, Stella rattled off the address to the massive villa where they had all briefly lived together.

Haynes shot her a questioning look, but kept his mouth shut.

As he put the car in park outside the familiar gates, Stella turned to him. "Come inside for a minute. We need to talk."

Once they were indoors and Keen had excitedly sprinted off to his old bedroom, Haynes crossed his arms. "You practically demanded we fly out here immediately. What's going on?"

Stella didn't sugarcoat anything. She laid out the entire brutal scheme, piece by horrifying piece.

Haynes listened in stunned silence. His initially calm demeanor rapidly warped into a deep, furious scowl.

When she finally finished, he dragged a hand down his face.

"Stella, if you asked me for a favor—any favor—I'd do it. If it meant putting my life on the line, fine.

But dragging our son into this?

If Deanna O'Brien hadn't been in that accident, we never would have returned to Novaris in the first place.

At the funeral fire, Joshua literally walked into an inferno to drag Keen out. That traumatic event accelerated his psychological collapse.

And that wasn't the only time he put his life on the line for our son.

That psycho you brought into our lives, Rachel Pearce? She hired black-market thugs to kidnap Keen and execute us both.

If Joshua hadn't secretly swapped out one of the hitmen to protect us, Keen and I would be rotting in the ground.

Then there's your wonderful buddy, Foreman Richards. He pulled strings behind your back, and you were too blind to see it. You let him take Keen, which led straight to our boy getting abducted by the Gibson family.

Once again, it was Joshua who bled to get him out safely."

Stella let the silence hang for a bitter moment before delivering the final blow. "So, even if Joshua snapped and lashed out, it's a debt Keen owes him.

Haynes, this isn't just about me saving him. You, me, Keen... we're paying back the blood we owe."