Regretting The Wife He Threw Away

Briony kept her head bowed, afraid he might notice something was wrong.

She nodded quietly and lifted another spoonful of soup to her lips.

Stewart stood nearby, watching her. It wasn't until her third bite that he finally noticed something was off.

He quickly crouched down beside her, just in time to see a tear slip from her eye.

The tear landed in the pale soup.

A sharp ache pulsed in Stewart's chest. "Bryn?"

Briony reached up to wipe her eyes. "I'm fine, really..."

Stewart gently took the bowl from her hands and set it on the table.

"Bryn, I'm sorry. I know I put you through so much." He knelt on one knee in front of her, a heavy sorrow settling over him.

He knew exactly why she was crying.

A simple bowl of soup had opened the floodgates of memory.

For five years, she had started from nothing, learning as she went, raising a newborn with patience and devotion. She gave everything without complaint, only to have it all repaid with his betrayal, and the resentment and blame of that child she'd loved as her own...

Then, after four years apart, even when fate brought them together again, he'd only managed to hurt her all over.

Each wound had etched itself into her heart, leaving scars that never quite faded.

go, that she just didn't want to keep clinging to the past. Maybe she was simply too tired to

happened-how could anyone ever pretend they

of soup, and she

complete fool

consumed with regret ashamed of all the pain

wanting to wipe away her tears, but Briony turned away before

alone," she said softly, still refusing to meet his eyes, determined not

hung awkwardly in the

moment, he swallowed

his feet and left

instant the door closed, Briony buried her face in her hands and

of soup sat untouched, cooling as

truly happened. When familiar faces or objects returned, the memories came with

genuinely tell her past self that it

was impossible to hide Briony's

and trustworthy-except for

heard, Carney Winslow and Gwendolyn White rushed

calm and composed, ended up comforting her instead-even though she was the one

to stay in Northborough for the time being. With Briony's health so fragile, they

and round-the-clock care, so Gwendolyn and Carney realized there wasn't much more they could do. They returned to Skybreeze Retreat to look after the

of Ferdinand's sensitive background, even now, only Briony and Stewart knew

Ellsworth, Ferdinand's uncle, had retired to the countryside years ago and knew little about what his nephew had been

unaware, thriving under Kendal's gentle

week, Gina recorded snippets of Julia's life and sent them to