A Widow's Poison, A Wife's Rebellion novel Chapter 564

High and mighty? Perhaps she had been *too* high and mighty before, and now Starla was making her pay for it.

“You have no idea what my life is like here,” Darleen said, her voice trembling with pain and bitterness.

“What could possibly be so bad in your own home?” Harley scoffed. “Who’s giving you a hard time?”

Darleen fell silent. If that’s how he was going to be, there was nothing left to say.

“Just come back, Harley. Please,” she finally whispered.

“I told you, I can’t! I can’t buy a ticket! My money is useless!”

If Harley had said that in the past, she would have never believed him. But now, she did.

Darleen ended the call and stood in the snow, tears streaming down her face.

Xenia appeared behind her. “Mom, are you almost done? Let’s go back inside.”

Even the damp, unheated basement was better than standing out here in the freezing wind.

“Starla’s gone after your father and grandmother,” Darleen choked out. “She’s truly ruthless.”

Their lives at the estate were a nightmare, and now, it seemed, so were the lives of those outside it.

“It’s not just them,” Xenia said quietly. “She’s gone after Harriet, too.”

“What did she do now?” Darleen asked, though she wasn’t surprised. It was only a matter of time before Starla turned her attention to Harriet, who had schemed endlessly to get Brinley and Fairfax together.

“Crazy?” Darleen’s voice was dripping with scorn. “Good! She loved pretending to be crazy before, didn’t she? Let’s see how she likes it for real.”

Brinley hadn’t had any of her supposed episodes in a while, and both Darleen and Xenia had come to realize that her previous breakdowns had all been an act.

She was a damn good actress.

They had all been run ragged by her charade, only to find out it was all fake. The memory filled Darleen with a fresh wave of resentment.

“All that drama was just because she had people willing to coddle her,” Xenia sneered. “Who’s going to watch her little performance now?”

Yes, drama. In Xenia’s eyes, Brinley’s so-called depression had been nothing more than a pathetic cry for attention.

“Exactly,” Darleen agreed, her tone laced with contempt. Hearing that Harriet was now turning on Brinley brought a smug sense of satisfaction. It was no less than Brinley deserved.