A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 90

A heavy silence descended upon the room. Starla turned her head and simply stared at Fairfax, her expression unreadable. Her quiet, unwavering gaze made him even more agitated.

He felt a tightness in his chest and tried to backtrack, but only dug himself a deeper hole. “Even a heavy period can be triggered by overly rich foods,” he reasoned aloud.

Starla remained silent, her disgust growing. So, even now, he refused to believe she had been pregnant. He was convinced this was just a menstrual issue he'd inadvertently worsened.

A menstrual issue… he knew her cycle better than she did. The irony was suffocating.

Sensing her rising anger, he quickly changed his tune. “Fine, fine, you were pregnant. I’m a bastard. I shouldn’t have doubted you.” He reached for her hand again. “I understand how much you want a child, but we have check-ups every month, so…”

So what? He didn’t finish, but his meaning was clear. If she had really been pregnant, the monthly exams would have detected it. He was confident that if she ever conceived, he would never let anything happen to her.

His words were a hollow admission, immediately undermined by his own logic. Starla had heard enough. She pulled her hand away again.

The repeated rejection felt like a physical blow, leaving Fairfax's heart feeling emptier each time.

“Let’s just get a divorce,” Starla said, her voice flat. “There’s nothing left to say.”

At the word ‘divorce,’ Fairfax’s expression darkened. He knew he had no right to be calm after what had happened, but he was struggling to contain the storm of emotions inside him.

He stood and walked to the door. Without turning back, his hand trembling on the knob, he asked, “Do you remember our wedding vows?”

He had no answer.

“Do you remember what you said two hours ago, when Molly called you?”

His breath hitched.

“You said, ‘Did Starla tell you to call and say that?’” Starla scoffed, her voice laced with bitter irony. “You want to talk about wedding vows, Fairfax? Don’t you find that ridiculous? I almost died in Petal Villa today…”

Her words hung in the air, a final, damning accusation.