A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 299

Yardley could tell that something terrible had happened.

"What is going on?"

"Letting them die would be too easy," Starla continued, her voice trembling with a terrifying calm. "Why should they get off so lightly? They need to suffer…"

She stopped, but the menace in her silence was more potent than any words.

"…a fate worse than death."

She knew Yardley, upon learning the truth about their mother, would want to eliminate them swiftly. But no, that was too merciful. Darleen didn't deserve a quick end. She deserved to be tortured, to have every ounce of her superiority as Mrs. Yelchin stripped away until she was nothing. Then, she could die in agony. The entire Yelchin family would be dragged into a living hell.

"Starla, you don't have to get tangled up with them," Yardley said, hearing the raw emotion in her voice. "Whatever you want done, I'll do it for you."

It was the most comforting thing Starla could have heard, but this time, she couldn't accept his help. This time, she wouldn't listen to her brother.

She closed her eyes. "I was wrong, bro."

Yardley waited.

"They all wanted to drive me out of the Yelchin family. My absence would be their greatest comfort. How could I give them that comfort? How could I grant them their wish? I will make them understand what true terror is."

All they ever wanted was for her to divorce Fairfax and disappear. She couldn't give them that satisfaction. She would give them pain, fear, and a suffocating darkness.

"Of course I will."

They spoke for a little while longer before hanging up.

Yardley had heard the unhinged edge in her voice. She wanted to destroy the Yelchin family herself, and no one could stop her. She wouldn't be able to breathe until she had vented the poison from her heart.

Garret had been waiting outside the door, deeply worried. Just as he was trying to figure out what Dolores had said to her, Starla emerged from the room. One look at her face told him everything. He saw a chilling combination of brokenness and pure, unadulterated madness.

"Miss," he said, his voice laced with concern.

Starla looked at him. "Have some things prepared for me. In two weeks, I'm going back to the Yelchin estate."