A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 324

Xenia felt as if the bones in her hand were about to shatter. She trembled in agony, her eyes fixed on her mother’s increasingly pale face. The arrogance and defiance that had defined her entire life began to crumble. The hatred in her eyes, directed at Starla, slowly receded, replaced by a raw, desperate fear. Her pride finally broke.

Looking at Starla’s calm silhouette, she swallowed the fury in her voice. “Please, make her let go. My mother can’t breathe.”

Xenia was close enough to see that Darleen was on the verge of passing out.

Starla slowly lowered her glass of juice and turned her head, fixing Xenia with a cool, appraising gaze. “Are you begging me?”

Xenia’s jaw tightened. Beg her? Beg this worthless woman? How could she? Starla was only acting this way because she had Herbert’s power behind her.

But as she watched the last bit of fight leave Darleen’s body, the last faint gasps for air, Xenia’s resolve shattered. A wave of nausea washed over her.

Meeting Starla’s faintly smiling eyes, she finally nodded. “Yes. I’m begging you.”

“That’s better,” Starla said conversationally. “It was your fault, you know. This is my home, too. It’s rather rude to try and keep me out.”

Xenia and the gasping Darleen burned with silent rage at her words. Her home? She called this a home? She wasn't returning to a home; she was conquering it, stepping on their lives to get inside.

Darleen had said it from the day Fairfax married her: the woman was only after the Yelchin family’s money.

What was this now? After all the talk of divorce, was she refusing to leave? Was this her shameless way of forcing herself back into their lives?

“So, I can live here at the Yelchin estate?”

Xenia felt a fresh wave of humiliation. As if they had any say in the matter now. But Starla had asked, and she had to answer. She forced the words out through clenched teeth.

“You and Fairfax aren't divorced. The Yelchin estate is your home.”

“There, you see?” Starla said with a sigh. “This is my home. I should be able to come and go as I please. What was all that screaming and cursing for?”

Xenia and Darleen could only listen, seething in their defeat. This was her home now. She was the new master of the Yelchin estate.