The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

He had no intention of telling Foreman about any of this. Foreman was a nice guy, the kind who'd never let him go through with such a plan.

If Foreman went and told Haynes, the whole scheme against Stella would fall apart before it even began.

Jasper hesitated, trying too hard to sound casual. "Foreman, let's not mention running into Stella's blind date here today to Haynie, alright?

You know how Haynie's always hoping Stella will come back and take care of Keen O'Brien. If he finds out she's seeing someone new, it'll ruin his mood all over again."

Foreman shot Jasper a knowing look, the sharp glimmer in his eyes fading as he nodded.

"Alright. I get it."

...noveldrama

The next morning.

Sellers was in his office, busy with paperwork.

Suddenly, the door swung open with a bang.

Sherman rushed in, looking frantic. "Uncle, it's bad! You're all over the news!"

Sellers frowned. "Me?"

"Yes, you!" Sherman swallowed hard, eyes wide. "They're saying you're a two- timer, a total jerk who cheated on your longtime girlfriend and dumped her for someone else..."

Sellers stiffened, yesterday's events flashing through his mind.

His face darkened with fury. "Utter nonsense!"

"I know it's not true," Sherman said quickly, "but the rest of the world doesn't. The Williams family is still in Novaris-they're going to see these headlines... Uncle, we have to get this trending story taken down right away, or it'll do real damage to your reputation."

Sellers' eyes glinted coldly as he pulled out his phone and dialed.

"Remove every article and post about me from the internet. All of them. Now."

But it wasn't long before his phone rang again.

This time, it was Sellers' assistant, sounding positively terrified.

"Mr. Burton, we... we can't get the story off the trending lists! In fact, it's only getting bigger-it's hit number one on every major platform... Everyone's talking about it, even the fake accounts can't drown it out." The assistant's voice was trembling. "This isn't

Solmaris-we don't have any control here, Mr. Burton... Maybe you need another plan?"

Sellers' eyes narrowed to icy slits, his lips curling into a bitter line.

"Stella. Again."

But Sherman shook his head. "Uncle, I checked. The story started with one of Jasper's media companies.

I've looked into Jasper, too—he and Stella have a long, messy history. He's always picking fights with her.

But..."

He hesitated, searching for the right words.

Sellers turned that cold gaze on him. "But what?"

Sherman took a breath. "Stella's rise-her success, her current position-she couldn't have gotten here without Jasper's involvement.

In public, Jasper's always at odds with Stella, but behind the scenes, he's helped her out more than once.

Uncle, what if Jasper's actually helping Stella by pretending to be her enemy?

I heard he's Haynes' closest maybe he's secretly in I

bet

Stella, but doesn't want enes

to find out, so he's putting

on this

act?

And there's more..."

Sherman started listing out everything he'd dug up.

"At the last auction, it was Jasper who humiliated you in front of everyone, saying all those nasty things.

And now, this news story also came from one of his companies—it's hard not to read between the lines."

He handed Sellers the file he'd compiled.

Sellers flipped through the papers, his expression growing darker and more severe with every page.

"A little outfit like The Wilkinson Group dares to cross me?" he muttered, voice icy.

Sherman offered a quiet warning.

"Uncle, this is Neo-Vespera. Jasper's

got Haynes and Foreman backing

him up-it won't be easy to bring him down."