A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 641

Xenia Yelchin tried her best to comfort Darleen.

But the rest of the Yelchin family didn't share her sympathy. Not after learning that Darleen had caused the death of Starla Lansbury's mother, triggering this entire nightmare.

They didn't care about the hypothetical—that if Darleen hadn't mistreated Starla for Brinley Seabrook's sake, none of this would have happened.

To them, the verdict was simple: Darleen was the ultimate sinner.

Harley Yelchin and Annika found out almost immediately.

Annika was the first to call. "You venomous bitch!" she screeched through the phone. "I wondered why Starla was being so ruthless to our family lately. It was you all along!"

"You absolute curse! When Harley first got together with you, I knew you were poison. I just never imagined your venom would be the death of this family!"

"I... I was just a terrible judge of character," Darleen stammered, her usual arrogance shrinking under the older woman's wrath. "I shouldn't have treated her like that for Brinley's sake."

Annika had ruled over her for decades. No matter how fierce Darleen acted in front of outsiders, she always cowered like a frightened bird before her mother-in-law. After all, because of Annika's interference, she and Harley had actually divorced once before. Annika held absolute authority in the Yelchin household, and Harley, more often than not, bowed to his mother's demands.

Terrified, Darleen scrambled to explain. "I was wrong about Brinley! I misjudged her!"

"You misjudged alright! Two daughters-in-law, and you were dead wrong about both of them!"

The revelation that Brinley had long betrayed Faraday Yelchin had left Annika half-dead with rage. Even though she herself had always doted on Brinley, she was now conveniently pinning all the blame on Darleen.

"Yes, I was wrong! I admit it!" Darleen cried.

"Then fix it!"

Xenia's earlier comforting words had temporarily eased her guilt, but the phone call plunged her right back into a suffocating abyss of despair. The guilt tore at her insides.

"I heard," Xenia said, her voice laced with sadness before turning bitter. "Grandma used to brag about Brinley to her socialite friends all the time. How is it suddenly all your fault? If we're talking about misjudging character, you weren't the only one, were you?"

It was true. Annika used to adore Brinley. Her blatant favoritism was even worse than Darleen's. Sometimes, when Darleen was just minding her own business at home, the older woman would insist she go 'check on' Petal Villa. And by 'check on,' she meant deliberately making life miserable for Starla. Annika had always resented that Fairfax didn't marry a girl from her own prestigious social circle, so she took every opportunity to make Starla's life hell. Even if she didn't get her own hands dirty, she was constantly manipulating Darleen to do the dirty work.

Because of all that manipulation, Darleen ended up playing the role of the ultimate villain in Starla's life.

And now, with the devastating truth of the mother's death added to the mix, she was drowning. Darleen felt so furious she could pass out.

"Exactly! Was I the only one who got it wrong? For her to pin this entirely on me is just incredibly unfair!"