Regretting The Wife He Threw Away

Briony stared at Carney and Gwendolyn White, her nose stinging as emotion welled up inside her.

Carney and Gwendolyn approached, their faces grave with concern.

"You really do treat your teachers like outsiders," Carney said, his tone tinged with gentle reproach. "Bryn, you've truly let me down."

Briony pressed her lips together, fighting back the tears threatening to spill. "I'm sorry, sir, I-"

Before she could finish, Gwendolyn White stepped forward and pulled her into a warm embrace. "Oh, sweetheart, don't mind your teacher. He's just trying to scare you, that's all. For the last five years, he's talked about you every single day. You're his brightest student. Seeing you struggle like this-it breaks his heart. He didn't mean what he said."

Wrapped in Gwendolyn's motherly arms, Briony suddenly felt every bottled-up emotion from the past days come crashing down.

"Mrs. Winslow, my mom... she's gone..."

Gwendolyn gently stroked her back, her own eyes growing red. "Don't be afraid, dear. You still have us. We never had children of our own, and if you're willing, we'd love nothing more than to be your family."

Briony buried her face in Gwendolyn's shoulder and wept, letting the grief finally pour out.

Carney and James stood nearby, watching the scene in silence, their brows furrowed with worry.

by her side, the funeral suddenly felt a little less lonely, a little less

Briony still needed to go to Brightspring

her that Brightspring Hill

before the altar, hands clasped together

truth, they all understood: these rituals were never really for

recited the prayers, a white butterfly drifted in from outside

presence, Briony

her fingertips for a few seconds. As her tears trickled down, it fluttered its wings and took

the city was still blanketed in snow. No one knew where the butterfly had come from. It

that moment, her mother's words echoed

cry. Don't be sad. And don't stubbornly try to find

the

tears from

the priest closed the

farewell, at last, had come

duties to return to