A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 1183

A low, muffled sob came through the speaker.

Fairfax frowned, his sharp, interrogative edge softening just a fraction. "What's wrong?"

She was still his sister. Hearing her cry so brokenly made a slight twinge pull at his chest. But that fleeting sympathy only amplified the hollow void Starla had left behind.

He remembered when Starla used to cry for him back in Marina City, devastated over Brinley. And how had he reacted? He had offered zero comfort, simply abandoning her to head back to his family estate. If he had cared about her tears back then, they probably wouldn't have ended up in this nightmare.

The thought made it hard to breathe.

"Stop crying!" he commanded coldly. He hadn't valued Starla's tears, and now, he wouldn't tolerate them from his own family either.

"They're gone. They're all gone!" Susanna choked out.

Fairfax's heart skipped a violent beat.

"What's gone?"

The words triggered a creeping sense of dread that instantly filled his chest.

"Yardley is a monster! He killed everyone. The entire family..." Susanna broke down, unable to finish the sentence.

Fairfax went completely numb. A loud ringing filled his ears, and in that split second, all the color drained from his world.

Fairfax remained dead silent.

"He really has lost his mind. He's making the entire family pay for his mother and Starla!" To Susanna, Yardley was nothing short of a deranged beast.

Fairfax's chest tightened so painfully he could barely draw breath. He had no idea how to react. His brain buzzed with static. He could barely process Susanna's voice anymore as he sank into complete despair.

His entire reality had been shattered.

His family had been deeply flawed, yes... but they were still his family. The people he had grown up with.

In a blinding flash of clarity, he realized that everything between him and Starla had been a colossal, catastrophic mistake. If he could turn back time, he would have chosen to never start anything with her at all.