Regretting The Wife He Threw Away

Stewart swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "So, you never once thought about bringing our daughter home, did you?"

"Of course not," Briony replied, her voice cold. "Every time I look at you, all I can see is my son. Stewart, you've never understood-my son is dead. I hate Rosita and Irwin, but the person I hate most... is you."

Stewart's pupils constricted, shock flickering across his face.

"After he died, every single time I saw you, I wanted nothing more than to drive a knife straight through your heart."

He stared at her, frozen.

"I hate you for always enabling Rosita, for forcing me to stay because of Irwin. But what I hate most is how, when you found out it was Rosita who killed our son, you did nothing. The thing I hate most... the thing I can never forgive..."

Briony's chest heaved, her voice trembling. "You wouldn't even let me see him one last time."

"That was my child," she choked out, "my flesh and blood. Even when I'd lost all hope in you, he was still my family. But because of you, because of all of you, I lost him. Forever! Stewart, how dare you even dream that we could ever go back to the way things were?"

That last sentence tore from her in a raw, anguished shout.

A sharp, unfamiliar pain twisted in Stewart's chest.

For the first time, he felt Briony's emotions with brutal clarity-the weight of her hatred, the depth of her resentment. Her eyes were rimmed with red, brimming with nothing but blame and fury.

In that moment, it was as if another voice echoed inside his mind: You can't go back. She's never coming back.

A surge of panic rose up in him, an emotion so foreign it nearly overwhelmed him. His rationality, his certainty-everything he clung to-splintered in an instant.

"I... I can change..."

forward, but Briony instantly

dead, helpless,

wary, angry eyes, her

his feet were rooted to the

already given him the answer, he

pleaded, desperate now. "For

hostage! Briony's patience snapped, her voice rising. "What is a child to you, Stewart? Honestly-do you even

eyes flickered, that pain in his chest intensifying with every word she hurled at

that you'll actually care for Little Nina. To you, she's just

Stewart's voice was hoarse, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "I love

Briony let out a bitter laugh. "Do you even know

means? Take Irwin, for

you always said you loved him. Sure, you

novelone

the Wentworth family. But

Stewart's

You don't know how to love anyone. All you ever do is weigh your options, calculate