A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 1214

But who could have anticipated this twist? Darleen hadn't been the mastermind; she had simply turned a blind eye and refused to help.

Starla closed her eyes. Words failed her. As she listened to the wind howling through Smaro Town, it felt as though the very storm was tearing through her chest, leaving her shattered.

Herbert placed a large, warm hand over hers. "Starla."

"A joke," she whispered. "It was all just a sick joke."

She stared into nothingness. "Why would fate play with people like this?"

Her connection to the Hoggart family had been a joke, and now, everything involving the Yelchins was just another cruel punchline.

"None of that concerns you anymore. To Fairfax, you are already dead."

Dead. The word echoed in her mind. Even in death, there was no peace. Fairfax must loathe her very existence now.

"The conflict between you and him didn't start with your mother's hatred, you know that," Herbert said gently, trying to ease her torment. What a tragic mess this had become.

"You're right," Starla murmured. "Our issues didn't stem from my mother."

It was because of Brinley. Fairfax's sister-in-law.

But did that even matter now? The only reason she had struck the fatal blow against the Yelchins was because she believed they had murdered her mother. If it had only been about Brinley, she never would have gone to such devastating extremes.

Now, all her righteous vengeance was nothing but a catastrophic mistake.

Alive. Tell them she hadn't died in the explosion, that it was all a ruse?

When she didn't answer, Herbert's tone grew harsher. "You paid a massive price to break free from them."

If she resurfaced now, the fallout would be catastrophic. The price of her fake death had been steep; the price of her resurrection would be unimaginable. Fairfax already hated her guts; whether she was dead or alive wouldn't change that.

"I just want to know if he's dead!" she snapped through gritted teeth.

Return to them? No. Never. She refused to let her hard-won peace be shredded again. She never wanted to live that nightmare again.

"Herbert, I can't even tell right from wrong anymore. I don't know what I'm supposed to do." All the boundaries of hatred, vengeance, and morality had completely blurred into a gray, senseless fog. She paused, her voice trembling.