Regretting The Wife He Threw Away

Julia frowned and shot her daughter a playful glare. "Come on, I'm just your mother—what secrets could I possibly keep from you?"

But Briony still looked uneasy. "Mom, if there's ever anything you want to tell me, promise you won't just keep it to yourself, okay?"

Julia reached over and squeezed her hand. "Sweetheart, I'm fine. And if there ever was something important, you'd be the very first to know, I promise."

She smiled, her eyes softening. "Honestly, Bryn, the thing I'm most proud of in this life is having you as my daughter. I know I wasn't able to give you everything you deserved, sending you to the countryside to live with your grandfather when you were just a little girl. But your grandpa raised you well, and you've grown up into someone wonderful."

"Mom, please don't say that." Briony's brow creased with concern. "You didn't have a choice. Even though you had to send me away, you still came to visit me every month, sneaking around behind the Kensingtons' backs. I know you always cared about me."

Julia reached up to gently smooth Briony's hair. "All I want is for you to be happy, Bryn. No matter what you decide to do, I'll always be here, supporting you."

Briony glanced at her mother, an unshakable sense of unease lingering in her chest.

clasping Julia's hand tightly in hers as her mother stroked her

studio's doing better and better. I'm going to make a lot of money-after New Year's, I'm thinking about buying a house on the river. The yard is huge there, and you love gardening, right? You could fill the whole place with flowers, and we could build

to her daughter's words, and she could almost see that

she just nodded, smiling warmly.

simply watched her mother. The uneasy feeling still

she leaned in and wrapped her arms around her mother, resting her cheek on Julia's

a second, then hugged her back, her tone gently teasing. "What's gotten

when I'm eighty!" Briony replied, her voice suddenly playful. "You have to live to

their reflection-mother and daughter,

squeezed Briony tighter. "Alright, for you, I'll do my best to make

heart started to ebb away. She closed her eyes in contentment. "It's so good to have

of your own, you'll understand. It might seem like children depend on their mothers, but really, it's a mother who draws endless strength from her child. The love a child gives is the most healing, comforting thing in