The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance novel Chapter 1144

Haynes asked, “What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

Stella snapped out of her thoughts. “No, it’s nothing. I just thought The Richards Group was having issues because of a cash flow problem.”

Haynes explained patiently, “A cash flow problem is actually the easiest kind to solve when a company’s in trouble.

If it were just a matter of liquidity, The O'Brien Group could simply inject capital and help them through the rough patch.”

Stella pressed further, “But what if the gap in cash flow is huge?”

“How huge are we talking?” Haynes replied.

“What if it’s, say, fifty billion?” she ventured.

Haynes chuckled softly at that.

“Are you thinking that because it was a bit of a scramble for us to pull together thirty-six billion for you last time, a shortfall as big as fifty billion would make it impossible for the company to keep running if there’s a cash crisis?”

Stella nodded lightly. “Isn’t that the case?”

Haynes replied, “Yes—and no.

You needed the money within three days. We couldn’t sell off our shares and bonds that quickly, so we couldn’t free up that much cash on such short notice.

But dumping huge amounts of shares and bonds onto the market all at once would only trigger panic and send the company’s stock price spiraling.”

He glanced at Stella, who was listening with rapt attention, and a gentle smile flickered in his eyes.

In an uncharacteristically reassuring tone, he said, “Star, you’ve only been learning about business for a few months. Of course you won’t be as seasoned as those of us who majored in it at university and have spent years in the field.

Don’t worry about making mistakes—everyone makes them, me included.

Men could rely on family, parents, friends, or even strategic marriages to gain resources—and no one questioned it. It was simply expected.

But the moment a woman tried to use those same resources, people would say she was dependent, that she couldn’t stand on her own.

As if accepting help automatically made her incapable.

Yet when Haynes and Foreman supported each other, no one batted an eye. It was just how things worked.

Every one of them—Haynes, Neville, the Williams family—had grown up with every advantage, silver spoons in their mouths.

They’d been surrounded by the best connections and resources from the start, and when they grew up, they had their family’s company to fall back on.

Even when the Williams Group was in turmoil all those years ago, Nora still had to rely on it to invest.

Stella, on the other hand, had nothing but the original shares that Nora left her. Her family and their business were in no position to support her—she was left to fight her battles alone.