A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 506

The one thing that baffled Fairfax was the complete silence from the Farley family elders amidst the swirling scandal.

Gabriel moved the car. Herbert's window was already up, and the car sped past Fairfax, disappearing into the night.

Fairfax watched the taillights fade, taking a long drag from the cigarette between his fingers.

Gabriel glanced at him. "Shall I wait for you here at eight tomorrow morning, sir?"

Fairfax didn't answer. He turned and started the long walk back to the house. That damned woman certainly knew how to make people suffer. It wasn't just Darleen and Xenia who found it unbearable; even he was getting tired of this daily trek. His legs were starting to ache from the constant walking, and the cold wind biting at his face only made it worse.

...

Inside the Yelchin estate, Starla had just settled onto the living room sofa when a maid immediately draped a blanket over her legs.

"Thank you," Starla said. Although she had been in the car, the brief walk from the door had been chilly. The house, however, was kept at a constant, comfortable temperature.

Garret approached her. "You're back, miss."

Starla nodded.

"The heating has been cut off in their rooms," Garret reported. 'They' referred to Darleen, Xenia, and Brinley. With snow piling up a foot deep outside most nights, a room without heat would be unbearable.

Starla simply grunted in acknowledgment.

"Brinley is still at the pet enclosures, bathing the animals," Garret added.

"She's that slow?" Starla asked. It had been hours. Surely she should have been done by now.

"There are dozens of animals, and a few of the cats are quite vicious. They've scratched her up pretty badly," Garret explained.

Xenia genuinely loved Herbert. It pained her to see him entangled with Starla in this ambiguous way. If she could, she would kill Starla without a second thought.

"If you're serious about Herbert, then divorce Fairfax!" Xenia pleaded. "Don't humiliate my brother and play games with Herbert at the same time!"

In Xenia's heart, both Herbert and Fairfax were incredibly important. She couldn't stand seeing Starla stringing them both along. Her current behavior with Herbert was a public humiliation for Fairfax. If she divorced him, things would be different.

Starla let out a derisive snort. "If I divorce him, I lose my justification for living at the Yelchin estate. Do you really think I'd do that?"

"You—"

"However," Starla continued, a dangerous glint in her eye, "if the Yelchin estate belonged to me, that would be a different story. Then I could divorce him."

Yelchin Group, the Yelchin estate—give them all to her, and she would grant the divorce. Of course, for her, that would be the end of it. But for Darleen and Xenia, it would be a whole new beginning of misery.