A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 822

The moment his mother showed up, she should have just cut her losses!

And now, it had escalated to this...

"I hope everything goes smoothly for you," Starla said, her tone softening with a hint of relief at Tanya's pragmatic approach. She had been genuinely terrified that Tanya would end up as miserable and trapped as she had been with Fairfax.

"Why do you sound so exhausted?" Tanya asked, picking up on her friend's tone. "Can't you just drop the whole thing with Herbert?"

Exactly—just drop it!

That was Tanya's philosophy. Whenever something threatened to hurt her, her first instinct was to bail. Starla had already been deeply wounded once; she should know better than anyone what needed to be done.

But hearing the profound sadness in Starla's voice made Tanya realize it wasn't that simple.

Of course it wasn't...

The fact that Herbert had stepped in to help Brinley proved that the currents running beneath all of this were dangerously deep.

"It's not just Herbert," Starla murmured. "It's my brother, too. Tanya, I really feel like I shouldn't have come back to Yoran Country."

Home was supposed to be a safe harbor, a place that would protect her. But the reality she was facing...

"Your brother? What's wrong with Yardley?" Tanya asked, bewildered. Yardley Hoggart was her flesh and blood—what could possibly be stressing her out about him?

"He's with Susanna!"

Susanna?!

"Who is that?" Tanya asked, the name feeling vaguely familiar but not immediately registering.

A second later, it clicked.

She gasped, sucking in a sharp breath. "Wait, do you mean the Susanna I'm thinking of?"

Susanna Yelchin. Fairfax's sister.

Was this some kind of sick joke? Yardley Hoggart was involved with her? Involved how?

Why shouldn't she?

It wasn't officially confirmed, but the people working for her wouldn't dare spread baseless rumors. More importantly, who in their right mind would dare gossip about Yardley Hoggart unless there was truth to it?

When Starla didn't answer, Tanya's skepticism began to waver, replaced by a creeping sense of dread. "Seriously?"

"It's highly likely."

"Well, that's a total disaster!" Tanya gasped again.

Disaster was putting it mildly.

"This just got infinitely more complicated."

Starla had practically burned the entire Yelchin family to the ground, and now it turns out her own brother was dating one of them? What kind of twisted dynamic was this?

Besides, the mere concept of him in love sounded utterly absurd! But because it was him, the fact that anyone was even whispering about it meant it had to be real.