A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 1226

"...he would have already dragged me out of here," Starla finished, looking at Romy.

*Dragged,* not searched.

She let out a dry, defeated laugh. Who could have ever predicted this twisted script? The truths, the lies, the constant emotional whiplash.

Romy exhaled in immense relief. "I was terrified you'd think I sold you out."

"Whatever your actual agenda is for being in Smaro Town," Starla said softly, "you need to leave now."

Romy's brows knitted in defiance. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Romy..."

"I meant what I said. You give the word, and I'll get you out of here!"

"Get me out? We tried that. Herbert is..."

"Well, you didn't give me a heads up!" Romy protested. "You just made a run for it out of nowhere. I had zero time to prep, which is why we got caught!"

Romy trailed off, but her determination remained fierce. Despite Herbert's suffocating surveillance, and now Fairfax's impending manhunt, she was willing to risk it all for Starla.

But Starla just shook her head. "I'm done running."

"What?"

"I'm not running anymore. I just... I don't have the energy."

She was completely depleted. She used to believe that if she just put enough miles between herself, Yardley, Fairfax, and Herbert, she would finally find peace.

"Starla, please."

"Just go, Romy," Starla insisted.

Whatever came next—whether it was Fairfax or Yardley—it was going to be infinitely worse than anything she had faced before.

"If Fairfax finds you, he's going to destroy you," Romy warned.

"I know."

"But listen, even if the Hoggart family is practically a corporate freezer, Elmer Hoggart is still your biological father. He won't just stand by and let Fairfax slaughter you!"

No matter how consumed by vengeance Fairfax was, Starla was still Hoggart royalty. If he wanted to break her, he'd have to go through them. Yardley would be furious, but at the end of the day, she was his sister.