The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance novel Chapter 1259

"We don't have to lift a finger, and we still reap the rewards. Isn't that better?" Harold concluded, though he suspected Joshua had other, deeper motives he couldn't possibly guess. He looked at Jake again. "Do you know why Mr. Gardner is helping Stella like this?"

"To make amends?" Jake guessed. Stella's current troubles were inextricably linked to Joshua's past decision to help Rachel. It was a ticking time bomb in their relationship.

Harold looked surprised. "I thought you were going to say it's because she's his long-lost love or something."

Jake might not be a master of corporate intrigue, but he had a clear understanding of matters of the heart. He smiled faintly. "Mr. Gardner likes Stella, but not because she's some idealized memory. He likes her for who she is. Even if she wasn't the girl playing the violin in the garden all those years ago, he would still have fallen for her."

Joshua hadn't fallen for Stella at first sight. He'd approached her out of a sense of amusement, and his feelings had grown through their time together.

"As for the girl in the garden," Jake continued, "she was special, yes, but only to a point. Mr. Gardner's feelings for Stella have little to do with that. It's simply that he fell in love with her, and she just happened to be that person."

Harold nodded. "I agree. But his reasons for helping her go beyond just atonement and affection." Having been by Joshua's side the longest, Harold understood him better than perhaps Joshua understood himself.

"What other reasons are there?" Jake asked.

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