A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 793

She really missed her father. It was one thing when she was halfway across the world in Marina City, but now she was finally home, and seeing him still felt impossible.

"I need to talk to you," Yardley said smoothly. "Come to the study."

"Perfect. I need to talk to you, too."

Yardley gave her a deep, calculating look before nodding. He turned on his heel and strode down the hall. Starla followed closely behind.

She knew a bit about the Hoggart family's business from her time away, but she had never planned on getting deeply involved. She had her own life, her own career, and things she loved doing. But now that she was back in Yoran Country, it seemed the family had other plans for her. Her freedom wasn't entirely her own anymore.

As soon as she sat down in the study, Yardley asked, "How have the past two days been?"

Starla's chest tightened. Honestly, the past two days had been completely brutal. She had been shadowed constantly by Reba, and the training schedule was relentless. Yesterday had been firearms training. Today was aviation and close-quarters combat. Anyone watching would think she had been drafted into a military black-ops boot camp.

Seeing her hesitate, a gentle smile played on Yardley's lips. "Not used to it?"

"It's not that."

It was a lie, of course. She was incredibly unaccustomed to it. Her current life was worlds apart from the one she had lived before, and she certainly hadn't expected Yardley to throw her into the deep end the second she stepped off the plane.

"Do I really have to learn all of this?" Starla asked. It was just so much. And starting this late in life made it infinitely harder than if she had been training since childhood.

"You absolutely have to," Yardley said.

He nodded, his demeanor still soft and gentle, but those four words landed like an ironclad command. There was zero room for negotiation.

"I understand."

"So before that happens, you need to learn every possible way to stay alive."

Starla swallowed hard. *Stay alive.*

Things here were definitely far more volatile than they appeared. She nodded slowly. "I get it."

For the past two days, she had been stumbling blindly through Reba's lessons, overwhelmed and confused. But thinking about it now, being born into a family with this much power and this many enemies, learning how to kill and survive wasn't just optional—it was a necessity.

"When our mother..." Yardley started, suddenly shifting the conversation.