Regretting The Wife He Threw Away

In truth, Lorna understood the situation better than anyone.

"I'll handle the rest with the police," she said, looking gravely at Briony.

Briony nodded.

Cedric Clarke's eyes were rimmed red as he glanced at her. "What about the kids? How are you going to tell them?"

Briony hesitated a moment, then spoke softly. "Let's keep it from them for now. Today, Stewart just told them he had to go abroad for a while and they're already upset. Let them settle down a bit. I'll wait for the right moment to tell them the truth."

Cedric struggled to keep his composure, but his voice still caught. "Stewart always said he didn't want a funeral. He just asked me to scatter his ashes at Pearbrook. But now..."

There was nothing left of Stewart to bury-his life had ended in a violent crash, with not even a trace of him remaining.

Not even his last wish could be fulfilled.

The abandoned pier was far, far from Pearbrook-so far it might as well have been another world.

But could they really let Stewart drift with the tide into the endless sea?

still couldn't accept that the stubborn, headstrong man he'd known

Cedric continued, voice trembling, "but you still have two children together. They're still little. For their sake—help us figure out how to handle the

"Let's give him a cenotaph, at the

be a headstone. That way, when the kids are older, they'll have somewhere to

disowned. He can't be buried in the Wentworth family plot anymore," someone

fell like a stone, and the room lapsed

his sleeve, voice shaking. "Fred is heartless! Doing this is like erasing Mr. Wentworth's whole existence. I grandmother always said that when a person

continue, burying his face in his hands. The tall man, usually so composed, was

for years; every bit of his success was owed

Carl, Stewart was more than a boss-he was the rarest of mentors, a

accept that a man like Stewart-proud, aloof,

anguish made the loss all the more real for

the room was palpable. Eyes brimmed with tears-even

listened quietly as Carl spoke, lost

a moment,

on the past. The Wentworths were never really