A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 795

She didn't understand why he did it, and she desperately needed to know.

Yardley had just confirmed that the Hoggart family was heading into a massive, multi-front war. He trusted Herbert implicitly. But Starla was terrified that Herbert's inexplicable actions might bring catastrophic ruin to her family.

Yardley frowned. "Brinley?"

"Fairfax's sister-in-law," Starla clarified.

Yardley only vaguely knew that Starla had been dealing with some vicious drama involving the Yelchin family, primarily centered around a sister-in-law. Hearing the name sparked his memory.

His face cooled. "You're saying Herbert helped her?"

Starla nodded. "If everything had gone normally, Brinley would either be rotting in a nightclub or dead in a ditch by now."

That was the fate she had earned.

"But the second we left Marina City, Herbert swooped in and bailed her out. Yardley, I don't know why you trust him so completely, and I have no idea what his motives are regarding Brinley. But I think his involvement with her—"

"She's just a woman," Yardley cut in dismissively.

Starla froze, staring at him.

"He just helped a woman," Yardley repeated calmly. "Don't overthink it."

"What?"

Starla couldn't believe her ears. Was her brother impossibly naive, or was there something fundamentally broken in his logic?

"You just want to know his reasoning," Yardley said smoothly. "My advice? Ask him yourself. Don't sit around torturing yourself with guesses."

"I'm worried he might be actively working against the Hoggart family."

"Now you're definitely overthinking," Yardley said with absolute certainty. "He won't."

Starla was speechless. His blind faith in Herbert was deeply unsettling. It was as if no matter what Herbert did, Yardley firmly believed he was incapable of betrayal.

"Starla, his feelings for you are genuine. Sometimes, you just have to learn to trust him, okay?" Yardley's voice was deep and soothing, hammering the point home.

But Starla couldn't shake the creeping dread. *Fairfax's feelings used to be genuine, too.*