A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 176

Herbert's gaze grew colder.

"What do our marital problems have to do with you?" Fairfax’s voice rose to a shout. "Why are you encouraging her to divorce me?"

"Do you want her to give up on the divorce, or do you want her to become the Yelchin family's slave?" Herbert retorted, his voice dangerously low.

"Slave? What are you talking about? Don't be ridiculous," Fairfax shot back. He had never thought of Starla that way.

Herbert scoffed. "The moment you woke up yesterday and Gabriel did nothing to get her out, you proved that your relationship was never one of equals." If there had been any semblance of equality, neither the Yelchins nor Fairfax himself would have resorted to such tactics to control her.

"Whether it's equal or not is our business. What does it have to do with you? Where is she?" Fairfax was done talking. Starla's disappearance, once again linked to Herbert, was more than he could tolerate.

Sensing Fairfax's fury had reached its peak, Herbert turned to leave. "Show him out," he instructed Rudolf coolly.

"Show me out? I'm not leaving until I know where Starla is!" Fairfax roared, his composure completely shattered.

Herbert ignored him and walked away. Enraged, Fairfax moved to follow him, but just then, Herbert's phone rang. He glanced at the screen, then shot a look back at the approaching Fairfax before answering. "Hello?"

"Are you on your way?" Starla's soft, gentle voice drifted from the phone, loud enough for Fairfax to hear. He froze mid-stride, his legs suddenly feeling as if they were filled with lead. Was this how she spoke to Herbert? So tenderly?

He had completely lost control. He no longer cared who was right or wrong about yesterday's events. The realization that his plan had backfired, that his world with Starla was crumbling, was all-consuming. All he wanted was to see her, right now.

"Give me the phone!" he yelled at Herbert.

"She already hung up," Herbert said calmly, holding up the dark screen for Fairfax to see.

Fairfax felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. "She invited you to lunch?" he asked, his voice shaking with a mixture of anger and pain. She was asking Herbert what he liked to eat. That level of care was something he had never experienced in all their years of marriage, and now she was giving it freely to Herbert.

His worst fears crystallized into a single, agonizing thought: Herbert was the real reason she wanted a divorce.