A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 580

In an instant, Brinley was soaked to the bone, the shock of the cold forcing a sharp scream from her lips. “Ah!”

She was already freezing in the winter wind. Now, the bucket of cold water sent a violent shiver through her entire body.

She spun around to see Darleen standing nearby, holding an empty basin. Brinley shrieked, “What are you doing?”

She was already cold. This drenching made her feel as if the chill had seeped directly into her bones.

Darleen’s face was contorted with fury. “What am *I* doing? What are *you* doing? Are you trying to make sure none of us get to eat?”

“What are you talking about?” Brinley shot back. “Your meals have nothing to do with me!”

The thought that their food now depended on manual labor made her own anger flare.

“What am I talking about? You don’t know?” Darleen sneered. “The new rule is that we’re all in this together. If one person’s work isn’t finished, nobody eats!”

“When did that rule change?”

That wasn’t how it was before. Previously, everyone was responsible for their own tasks, and you could eat as soon as you were done.

What was this nonsense about being ‘in this together’? The work distribution was already unfair, though they hadn’t found the time to complain to Starla. This new collective punishment would only make the imbalance worse.

“It just changed!” Darleen snapped.

She was just as unhappy about the new rule as Brinley. Before, she and Xenia worked as a team, their pace well-matched, and they always finished around the same time.

But Brinley… they had all seen how she’d been ‘working’ these past few days. Her lazy, half-hearted efforts would drag everyone down with her. And that maid of hers, Sally—Harriet couldn’t have sent someone more useless. The old woman was painfully slow. Sally took far more time helping Brinley than she ever had helping Xenia.

Darleen’s face turned ashen. “I’m not capable, which is why I’m following her rules. Got it?”

Brinley stared at Darleen’s smug face, feeling like her chest would explode.

“At the very least, I’m the mother of your grandson! How can you treat me like this?” she cried.

She was soaked and shivering, desperate to go inside and change. But she knew from past experience that entering the house before her work was done was impossible.

Darleen scoffed. “Hah! Whether or not he’s even my grandson remains to be seen!”

Unlike Fairfax, who still talked about needing proof, Darleen was utterly convinced by the sight of Brinley getting into Felix's car. For her, there was no doubt. The child was not a Yelchin.