A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 780

With the Yelchin family eradicated and the Farley family still standing, the truth was glaringly obvious. It wasn't some hidden mastermind pulling the strings in the dark.

It was Herbert. Why was it Herbert?

Why was he helping Brinley?

Starla's hands curled into fists, her entire body trembling slightly. She stared at his back, her vision blurring as a visceral, tearing sensation ripped through her mind. The image of the man she thought she knew violently clashed with the reality of what she had just heard.

She had no idea how she managed to walk back inside the house. Her face was entirely drained of color.

The butler noticed her pallor and stepped forward, concerned. "Miss, are you feeling unwell? Should I call for the doctor?"

"No, I'm fine," Starla muttered, shaking her head.

She drifted into the dining room like a ghost and sank into her chair. Her mind was a chaotic loop of his words by the fountain, intertwined with the secretive phone call she had overheard at the airport.

How could he be the one helping Brinley? Why would he do it?

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't even notice when Herbert walked into the room and took the seat directly across from her.

"Starla?"

She didn't react.

"Starla?" he called again, his brow furrowing.

She flinched, finally snapping back to reality, and looked at him with a dazed expression. "What?"

"Where did you go just now? I called your name twice."

What was she thinking about? She was thinking about the phone call he had just made. She was thinking about why he was the one keeping Brinley alive.

Starla shook her head, forcing a neutral expression. "Nothing."

She kept the revelation buried, but the fortress of suspicion she had built against him suddenly fortified itself into an impenetrable wall.

Noticing her pale complexion, Herbert's eyes darkened with concern. "Are you sick? Should I have the family doctor come take a look at you?"

"Yeah, well, I have my own things to sort out, too."

She had so much baggage from Marina City to deal with, and now Yardley was monopolizing her time with survival training. All her personal affairs had been completely sidelined.

Starla picked at her breakfast, eating without tasting a single bite. Herbert ate quietly across from her.

Suddenly, Starla looked up. "Darleen and Xenia are officially behind bars now," she murmured, keeping her tone casual. "Makes me wonder how Brinley is holding up. Wandering the streets for two days... she'll probably freeze to death out there."

The moment the words left her mouth, the atmosphere in the dining room flatlined.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye, praying for a reaction that would prove her wrong. She desperately wanted to convince herself that she had hallucinated the entire conversation by the fountain.

But the man sitting across from her shattered that final, fragile hope.

As Herbert's knuckles turned white and his grip on his silverware tightened imperceptibly, Starla knew the truth.

It wasn't a misunderstanding. He was the one protecting Brinley.