A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 80

The taunt was an undeniable confession. Starla’s eyes blazed with a cold, murderous fury, but she remained silent.

Harriet was unfazed by the look that would have made a lesser person quail. "Tell me," she purred, leaning forward, "if the ambulance can't get to you in time, do you think you might just die right here? Or better yet, do you think Fairfax will even remember to come and save you?" Each word was a soft, venomous barb, mocking Starla for being abandoned by her husband for another woman—his own sister-in-law.

Molly, sweating with panic, pleaded, "Harriet, please don't do this. She needs to get to a hospital immediately!"

"Shut up!" Harriet snapped, her voice cracking like a whip. She shot Molly a withering glare before turning her attention back to Starla. "A hospital? Why? If she dies here today, it will be no different than a dog dying in the street. Brinley was right. She should have just run you over and killed you two years ago. Leaving a pest like you alive has caused far too much trouble."

Harriet was still seething over the destruction of her Vista Bay estate. She intended to sit right there and watch Starla squirm and suffer like the insect she was.

"Do you really think Fairfax will marry your daughter after I'm dead?" Starla asked, her voice weak but steady.

"Without your little drama, they would have been together already. The whole of Marina City approved of them," Harriet retorted viciously.

Quietly, Molly kept trying to call Fairfax, but it was useless. He was convinced Starla was just manipulating him, and his patience had run out. He ignored every call, every text.

...

She was at her wit's end, wishing nothing more than for Starla to disappear forever.

Fairfax's phone vibrated again. Another call from Molly. He silenced it with a frustrated sigh. This woman's theatrics were getting old. He rejected the call and then switched his phone off entirely.

"I was trying to be patient," Darleen continued to wail, "but how can anyone endure this? Every move she makes is calculated to drive Brinley to her death!"

Fairfax slipped the silent phone into his pocket. An inexplicable wave of anxiety washed over him, a knot of dread tightening in his gut. He pushed the feeling down, determined to ignore it.