The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance novel Chapter 661

Foreman insisted on waiting for Haynes—he clearly had little patience for Rachel but agreed to watch her match anyway, which left Stella little room to refuse.

Just as Stella was about to speak, a familiar, childish voice rang out behind her.

“Mom! You’re here too?!”

A small figure darted over, face lit with delight.

“Keen?” Stella was caught off guard at first, but quickly recovered.

Haynes must have brought him here—no doubt to see Rachel.

Stella looked up and, sure enough, spotted Haynes approaching. He was as handsome and composed as ever, his expression unreadable.

Trying to keep her tone neutral, Stella asked, “Keen, weren’t you supposed to be with the Williams family today?”

Keen’s eyes sparkled with excitement at seeing her. “Dad wanted to come watch Rachel’s match, so he picked me up.”

Haynes came up beside them just in time to hear this. He frowned. “Keen, when did I ever say I was bringing you to see Rachel’s match?”

Keen looked genuinely confused. “Didn’t Rachel invite us when we all had dinner together? She said we should come watch her today.”

A brief look of realization crossed Haynes’s face as he remembered the conversation. He glanced at Stella, a bit awkward. “Actually, I brought Keen today to watch your match.”

It was the weekend, and Haynes had made plans to watch Stella compete, then maybe take her and Keen out afterwards—just the three of them, like old times. Maybe they could try to rekindle some of the warmth they’d lost.

But the thought struck Haynes rather painfully: in the past five years, family outings had been few and far between. Truth be told, there weren’t many “good memories” to reminisce about. He’d probably spent more time out with Rachel than he ever had with Stella.

Foreman explained, “I tried calling you earlier, but you didn’t pick up. I was nearby for a meeting, and Jasper mentioned Ms. Pearce would be competing here. Since you weren’t answering, I figured I’d take a chance and drop by.” He chuckled. “Didn’t expect to actually run into you.”

Haynes pulled out his phone and saw two missed calls from Foreman. His expression softened. “Was it something urgent?”

Foreman shook his head. “Not exactly urgent—it’s about Jasper…” He hesitated, glancing at Stella, then lowered his voice. “We’ll talk about it in a bit.”

Just hearing Jasper’s name made Haynes tense up. He’d cleaned up Jasper’s messes too many times, and Jasper never seemed grateful—never even listened to his advice. If it weren’t for the fact that Jasper had once saved his life, Haynes would have washed his hands of him long ago.

Joshua, meanwhile, watched Foreman with a guarded curiosity.

Stella, for her part, had no interest in the debate over whose match everyone had come to see. “The match is about to start. I need to go get ready.”

Keen’s eyes lit up with anticipation. He loved seeing his mom on stage—radiant, confident, and utterly dazzling.