A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 368

Darleen and Xenia stared at her, stunned. The rules? The rules of the Yelchin estate?

Darleen felt a choking sensation, as if something was lodged in her throat. Before she could retort, the blonde maid and the other staff members turned and went back inside. The heavy front door slammed shut behind them with a definitive thud.

"Did you hear that?" Darleen shrieked at Xenia, her voice trembling with rage.

"I heard it," Xenia replied, her own face pale with fury.

"She dares to talk to me about rules in my own home?" Darleen seethed. "That usurper! Talking to me about rules!"

She spun around and began hammering on the door. It swung open after a few seconds, revealing the blonde maid, whose eyes now held a dangerous glint. "Perhaps you'd prefer to clear your head outside the main gates?"

The threat hung in the air. This was no longer just about the front door of the mansion. Being thrown outside the estate gates, in their nightclothes, would be a public spectacle. The entire high society of Marina City would know about their humiliation by noon.

"You… you…" Darleen stammered.

"Say one more word, and you'll be out on the street," the woman interrupted, her voice low and menacing.

The threat worked. All the fight drained out of Darleen, her rage collapsing into a cold, hard knot of fear. Even the proudest lioness will back down before a true predator.

"I… I've cooled down now," she mumbled, the words tasting like ash in her mouth. The humiliation was absolute. “Just wait,” she thought. “Wait until the police find the proof that she killed the baby. Then we'll see who suffers.”

"But I'm freezing! I think I'm going to die out here…" Xenia’s nightgown was a thin slip dress, offering no protection against the biting wind. Darleen at least had long sleeves. Xenia was practically naked, her arms and legs exposed to the elements. She shivered uncontrollably.

"Mom, you have to call Fairfax!"

"I don't have my phone!" Darleen shot back. If she had her phone, did Xenia really think she'd still be standing out here?

Xenia wanted to scream Fairfax's name, to pound on the walls until he woke up, but the threat of being dragged to the main gates paralyzed her. If they did that, no one inside would hear them no matter how loud they yelled.

"I can't take this anymore!" Xenia shrieked, stomping her bare feet on the cold stone. This was a nightmare. Her things had been thrown out of her room, and now she'd been thrown out of her own house.