A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 943

Tanya let out a heavy sigh. "Talk about terrible luck."

Was Starla just cursed to never meet a decent man? Fairfax had shattered her heart in the past, and Tanya had honestly thought Herbert was one of the good ones.

And now this.

"Is it true that Fairfax is dead?" Tanya asked carefully. She had heard the news from Darian. When Darian first told her, she had been completely blindsided. In her mind, a menace like Fairfax Yelchin was destined to live for a century just to spite the world. But Darian had been certain.

The rumors had been tearing through Marina City for weeks, yet Tanya still couldn't fully wrap her head around it.

"Yes," Starla replied quietly. "It's true."

"How does a man like him just... die?"

Starla fell silent.

*Does it matter how? Dead is dead.* Since arriving in Sylvan Vale, Starla had actively avoided thinking about her history with Fairfax. She didn't want to dwell on his true cause of death. She refused to waste her energy mourning a man who had already killed off whatever love she once had for him.

But even so, whenever the memory surfaced, a sharp, suffocating ache would seize her chest.

"How did it happen?" Tanya pressed.

"It's a long story, but... it was partially because of me."

"Wait, what? Because of you?"

Tanya's mind reeled. If that were true, the guilt would eat Starla alive. She couldn't help but feel a spike of anger toward Fairfax. He hadn't cherished Starla when he was alive, and now he had to go and die in a way that would leave her haunted?

"I don't even know what to say anymore. Herbert... and Fairfax... it's completely upside down!"

Tanya had always believed that Herbert was the one who would stand by Starla's side through thick and thin. Instead, it was Fairfax who had eliminated her greatest enemy, paying for it with his own life.

Back in Marina City, Tanya had been convinced that Fairfax didn't love Starla. If he loved her, how could he have hurt her so deeply? But now, she realized that a man's love wasn't always something you could measure logically.

Sometimes, the ones who performed the grand gestures of devotion—like Herbert—turned out to be the emptiest of them all.

"Are you saying that Herbert and your brother are actually planning to hand you over to General Licht just to get what they want? The man who literally wants you as a prize?"

"Yes," Starla said.

"The only reason they're tearing the world apart looking for me is so they can use me as a bargaining chip at his table. They need me physically under their control so their little plan doesn't fall apart."