A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 601

Tanya Mercer sent Starla a text message.

[I kicked Fairfax out of the car. Don't worry, he won't escape a single ounce of the torment you have planned for him.]

Starla read the message just as she finished a phone call with Yardley Hoggart, an irrepressible smile playing on her lips.

Suddenly, Brinley burst into the room.

"Don't touch me!"

Just as the staff were about to grab her and throw her out, she dropped to her knees with a heavy thud.

Starla raised a hand, signaling the staff to stand down.

They immediately stepped back in perfect obedience.

Seeing how everyone deferred to Starla, Brinley felt a surge of maddening jealousy. There was a time when she had been the one looking down from a pedestal. How had everything flipped so completely? Though she had spent weeks living in denial, she had to admit—Starla had entirely crushed her.

"What will it take for you to let my mother go?" Brinley choked out from the floor.

Just moments ago, Harriet Seabrook had called her from Yoran Country. Her life there had become unlivable. All of her accounts had been frozen, leaving her entirely cut off from her funds. Over the phone, Harriet had screamed at her. Now, everyone was backing Brinley into a corner. Felix Fowler was demanding she protect her unborn child at all costs. And her own mother was forcing her to resolve this blood feud with Starla.

Taking a deep breath, Brinley said bitterly, "You think I want to be doing this? We've been backed into a corner with no other choice."

In her mind, if she could have just avoided the conflict the way Starla used to, she wouldn't be on her knees.

Catching the implication, Starla let out a dry laugh. "Weren't you the ones backing me into a corner before?"

As if their past persecution had been a walk in the park. Their methods had always been utterly ruthless.

Starla leaned forward. "You systematically tried to destroy my marriage. The second Fairfax wasn't around, you were devising new ways to ruin me."