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.

James by her side, the funeral suddenly felt a little

at the cemetery, Briony still needed to go to Brightspring Hill to

her that Brightspring Hill was a sacred

her up the hill, watching as she knelt before

for

white butterfly drifted in from outside the chapel,

its presence, Briony

trickled down, it fluttered its wings and took flight, dancing

where the

and in that moment, her mother's words echoed in her

sad. And don't stubbornly

watching as the butterfly slowly

wiped the tears from her

the priest

at last, had come to an

and Gwendolyn White had official duties to return to