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.

want to keep clinging to the past. Maybe she was simply too

that truly happened-how could anyone ever pretend they never

bowl of soup, and she was

a complete

consumed with regret ashamed of all the pain

away her tears,

moment alone," she said softly, still refusing to meet

hung awkwardly

a moment, he swallowed hard and

his feet and left

buried her face in her hands

untouched, cooling

familiar faces or objects

couldn't genuinely tell her past self

impossible to hide Briony's illness

close and trustworthy-except for Julia Hudson-found

Carney Winslow and Gwendolyn White rushed

while Briony, calm and composed, ended up comforting her

for the time being. With Briony's health so fragile, they couldn't rest easy going back

and round-the-clock care, so Gwendolyn and Carney realized there wasn't much more

only Briony

Ferdinand's uncle, had retired to the countryside years ago

thriving under Kendal's gentle

recorded snippets of Julia's life and sent them to