The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

"Not only did someone avenge us, but our hands stayed clean."

Yes, their hands stayed clean.

That had been Candida Fletcher's intention all along-she'd stopped Stella from getting involved because she didn't want Stella's reputation sullied, didn't want to give anyone ammunition against her.

Stella's expression grew thoughtful.

For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that this whole thing had something to do with her.

But who could it have been?

Haynes?

Just then, a gentle knock sounded at the hospital room door.

"I'll get it," Abby said.

She opened the door and froze for a split second at the sight of the three people standing outside. Her face immediately hardened.

"What are you doing here?"

Standing there were none other than Haynes, Foreman, and Rachel.

Foreman was one thing-he'd helped Stella before-but what were Haynes and Rachel doing here?

Foreman put on a pleasant smile. "We heard Ms. Cameron hurt her hand. We just wanted to see how she was doing."

Since Foreman had been good to Stella, Abby couldn't exactly slam the door in his face, so she let them in. Stella was sitting on the couch, leafing through some sheet music.

Joshua, lost in a game on his phone, looked up as they entered, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"You're here for Ms. Cameron?"

Stella had been staying at the hospital to look after Joshua-a single woman alone with a man, which could easily be misconstrued. Usually, Abby would stay and keep her company to ward off any gossip.

Now, Stella's brow furrowed ever so slightly.

She had no desire to deal with Haynes; he'd caused her enough trouble already. Just the sight of him irritated her.

But Joshua needed peace and quiet, so Stella stood up.

"If you want to talk, let's step outside."

Haynes didn't budge. He cut straight to the point. “Actually, I have a few questions for Joshua.”

Questions for Joshua?

Stella glanced at Joshua, who smiled calmly. “What would you like to ask, Mr. O'Brien?"

Haynes stared intently at him. “Was it you who did that to Karl?"

Joshua hadn't answered yet when Abby let out a cold laugh.

"Haynes, are you accusing others to cover your own guilt? I always thought you were a jerk, but at least you used to be up front about it. Since when did you start stooping to this kind of petty trickery?"

Abby shot a pointed look at Rachel. “You're getting pretty good at framing others, aren't you?”

Haynes turned to Abby. "You think I set someone up?"

"Isn't that what you're doing?" Abby retorted. "You're saying Joshua went after Kart, but for all I know, it was you. Haynes, if you don't want people to find out, maybe don't do it in the first place.

Don't tell me that incident-when you roughed Karl up and had him stripped and thrown out on the street— wasn't your handiwork?"

Neville had already looked into it. There was no definitive evidence, but the clues at the scene all pointed to Haynes.

Haynes's voice was low and tense. "I did teach him a lesson, but the stripping part? That wasn't me."

Abby snorted. "So you're saying you just beat the guy up, and someone else did the rest?"

“That's right.”noveldrama

Abby laughed outright, her tone

cutting. "Haynes, you do realize that

humiliating Karl like that is exactly

why he snapped and tried to get back at Star, right? Are you trying to dodge responsibility now?"

Not long ago, Stella and the others had discussed why Karl had lost it and caused the car wreck.

Joshua had pointed out that it was impossible to separate Karl's breakdown from the public humiliation of being dumped naked on the street.