The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance novel Chapter 352

Stella took a slow breath, her voice barely more than a whisper as she recounted the past.

"My father was furious about what Fisherwoman did—how she tore our family apart. Any gratitude he once felt for her slowly faded away.

But at the height of the chaos between my parents, when the fighting over Fisherwoman was at its worst, she showed up at our house. My mother threw her out without a second thought.

She tried calling my father, but my mother wouldn't let him take the call. And then, out of nowhere, Fisherwoman had an accident. She died."

Stella’s eyes drifted toward the window, her tone growing distant. "Her sudden death stirred something in my father. Maybe it brought back memories of what they’d shared, or maybe he just needed someone to blame. Either way, he put all the blame on my mother.

He insisted on adopting Fisherwoman’s daughter—making my mother her legal guardian, demanding that she raise the girl as her own."

"Of course, my mother refused. She even thought about running away. When my father found out, he locked her up."

Stella's hands trembled slightly as she continued. "Eventually, she pretended to submit, waiting for the right moment. When the chance came, she escaped to Novaris, putting as much distance as she could between her and my father."

"It was only after she arrived in Novaris that she discovered she was pregnant again."

"She had no way to bring her three children with her, so she left me behind."

"Later, my mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness. She knew she didn't have much time left, so she told me everything."

Stella fell silent for a moment, lost in memory. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, she said, "I still remember the tears in her eyes as she told me, 'Star, I’m so sorry. The grudges of the previous generation should never have been passed down to the children. If it weren’t for my stubbornness, you would have grown up as a beloved daughter in a wealthy family, never lacking for anything—never having to endure the shame of being called a child without a father.'"

Her words hung in the quiet of the private room, gentle and detached—as if she were telling someone else’s story.

"I was in high school when I was finally brought back to the Williams family for a while. But I never got along with them. My relationship with my half-sister was especially toxic—we were always at each other’s throats.

Abby’s expression darkened, her frustration clear.

"In the end, everyone—even Star’s own father—sided with that adopted girl. Star’s father was one thing, but even her three brothers, her own flesh and blood, turned their backs on her for the sake of that girl.

If it hadn’t been for that girl and her mother, Stella would never have had to leave her home behind."

There was one thing Abby didn’t say aloud.

If Star’s father wanted to take in that girl, fine. But to force Star’s mother to raise her, to make her the legal guardian after everything those two had done—that was unthinkable.

Those two women had ruined Stella’s marriage. What was her father thinking?

By now, Neville finally understood the whole story.