A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 101

Fairfax looked at Starla, hesitating. It seemed that every request she made put him in a difficult position.

Starla remained silent, letting the tension hang in the air. Finally, Fairfax couldn't hold back any longer. "What about Brinley?"

"Brinley's mother nearly got me killed today," Starla stated flatly.

Fairfax froze. Hearing that, the words he was about to say—'don't make things so difficult for Brinley'—died on his lips. But as a last resort, he managed to say, "She's not her mother."

He was hoping Starla wouldn't lump them together.

Starla gave him an icy stare. At this point, words were wasted on Fairfax.

"One day," she said.

"What?" Fairfax asked, confused.

"If you can get back everything they took from me by sunrise tomorrow, I'll leave her alone for now. How does that sound?"

One day?

Fairfax’s face tightened. "Getting my grandmother's share back won't be that fast."

"Then there's nothing I can do," Starla replied coolly.

Fairfax felt his breath catch in his throat. "Do you have to be like this?"

He could see it clearly now. Starla had no real intention of letting Brinley off the hook. She knew exactly what kind of person his grandmother was; once something fell into Annika's hands, getting her to give it back was nearly impossible.

"You're in no position to negotiate with me," Starla said, her voice sharp.

Fairfax felt the air leave his lungs again. His breathing grew unsteady. 'You're in no position to negotiate.' He used to say that to other people. Now, his wife was turning his own tactics against him.

And it was true. He was powerless against her right now.

Sighing, Fairfax reached out to gently stroke her hair, a gesture of appeasement, but Starla flinched away from his touch. Her rejection was absolute, a clear refusal to make peace.

He felt a wave of helplessness. "Fine. I'll get it all back for you."

"Remember," she added, twisting the knife, "by sunrise tomorrow."

Fairfax clenched his jaw.

"A man of your means shouldn't be bothered by trivial things like business hours, right, Fairfax?" she said, preemptively shutting down any excuse he might have.

"Fairfax's grandmother is the worst of them all," Starla explained. "She'll cause an even bigger scene than Darleen."

Garret finally understood. Starla wasn't trying to get her property back. She was lighting a fuse, fully intending for the entire Yelchin family to erupt in flames. She wanted to turn their lives into a living hell.

After a moment, Garret asked, "And what about Brinley?"

He had assumed that this new scheme was a way for Fairfax to distract Starla from her vendetta against Brinley.

At the mention of her name, Starla let out a cold laugh. "Tomorrow, the plan goes ahead as scheduled."

She was betting that Fairfax would fail to return her things. And even if he did, so what? She had no intention of backing down when it came to Brinley.

"I understand," Garret said with a nod.

"Just wait and see," Starla said, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "The show is just beginning."

She was looking forward to watching both Brinley and Harriet lose their minds, and to the glorious chaos that would soon engulf the Yelchin family.

…

Meanwhile, in another hospital room.