A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 74

"I believe I told you before," Fairfax said, his voice dangerously calm. "If you don't like her, then don't interact with her. Just pretend you don't have a daughter-in-law."

And if that wasn't enough, he thought, she could just as easily pretend she didn't have a son. At this point, he was past caring.

Darleen felt a fresh wave of fury. "I don't want to pretend. I want her gone! Do you have any idea what she's done now? She burned down Harriet’s mansion and had two other villas trashed! What is wrong with her? How did our family end up with a creature like that?" she raged. "The Yelchins and the Seabrooks have been allies for years! Did you marry that… that lunatic just to destroy our family?"

Fairfax took a slow drag from his cigarette. "Is the Yelchin family made of paper? To be destroyed by a single woman?"

"We may not be made of paper, but we can't withstand the chaos that witch brings!" Darleen shot back, her voice rising. The damage to the family's reputation over the last few days was unforgivable. She wanted Starla's head. "She's a wild girl who doesn't even know who her parents are. Of course she has no breeding. Looking at her, even if she had parents, they wouldn't have taught her any better."

Darleen was so incensed she was ready to curse Starla's entire lineage.

"That's enough," Fairfax said, his voice dropping to a low growl.

"Enough? Am I wrong? There's something fundamentally flawed in her genes!"

Upstairs, Starla heard every venomous word. Without a sound, she slipped back into her room, went into the bathroom, and filled a large basin with water.

Darleen nearly fainted from rage. Xenia, who had been standing behind her, caught her just in time.

Seeing her mother treated this way, Xenia flew into a rage of her own. "You bitch! You've gone too far!"

Thwack!

Something flew through the air and struck Xenia squarely on the mouth before she could utter another word. She cried out, instinctively covering her face, and when she pulled her hand away, it was covered in blood.