A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 34

Back at her temporary residence, Starla felt a wave of drowsiness after lunch. She had just lain down on the bed when her phone buzzed with a notification.

She opened it to see a message from the bank: "Card cancellation successful."

Canceled? She looked closely at the card number and recognized it as the one Fairfax had Gabriel set up for her. It was linked to Fairfax's identity but used her phone number. If this primary card was canceled, it was almost certain that the two supplementary cards he'd given her were frozen as well.

A cold smile spread across her face. So, he was cutting off her funds. Did he really think she was the one paying for the media storm surrounding Brinley? Well, he could watch and see if the scandal died down now that her cards were useless.

Her phone buzzed again. This time it was a text message: [Starla, you bitch, are you trying to kill me?]

[What? You can't hold on to Fairfax, so you resort to these cheap tricks? You just wait. I'm not going to let you get away with this!]

Even through the screen, Starla could feel Brinley's seething rage. She didn't bother to reply, simply blocking the unfamiliar number.

Opening WhatsApp, she saw several new contact requests: Fairfax, Brinley, Gabriel… all people she had already blocked. There was one more from an unexpected source: Darleen. Her proud mother-in-law had always considered it beneath her to even have Starla's contact information.

Darleen's request message was typically imperious: [Starla, do you think you can just turn everything upside down? What exactly are you trying to do?]

Starla rejected them all, one by one, without a word. While the world outside was in an uproar, she remained silent, a tactic that was surely driving Brinley, Darleen, and the others mad.

Fairfax, in particular, was losing his patience. He sent another request, his message terse: [Where are you? I'll come get you.]

Starla saw the message and her expression remained unchanged. They were all desperate to find her now, but she had no intention of giving them the chance to speak to her ever again.

…

On the other end, Fairfax waited. He expected a reply, a rejection, anything—but there was nothing.

"Have you found out which hotel she's in?" he asked through gritted teeth. Even though he'd frozen her cards, it would take until tomorrow at the earliest to force her home. But he couldn't wait. He needed to find her now.

Gabriel had just received an update. He shook his head grimly. "We've checked, sir. Your wife isn't registered at any hotel."

The air in the room grew still.

“Is he connected to Tanya? Or to her?”

“That’s unclear, sir,” Gabriel admitted. “But after the discharge was complete, Ms. Mercer went straight home. Your wife, however, disappeared.”

She hadn’t gone to Petal Villa, back to Maple Heights, or to Tanya’s. The logical conclusion was that the man from Yoran Country was most likely connected to Starla.

Fairfax’s breathing quickened. “A man from Yoran Country,” he repeated, the words tasting like acid. They had been together for six years, including the three he’d spent pursuing her. How could he not know she was acquainted with someone from Yoran Country? Had she met him in the last six months? Or perhaps…

Suddenly, Herbert’s words echoed in his mind: “I support you getting a divorce.”

Herbert’s company was known for recruiting top talent from all over the world.