Regretting The Wife He Threw Away

If it was about the children, Briony needed to know the details. "What is it?"

"Xenia Cooper has an eight-year-old son."

Briony froze for a moment.

An eight-year-old son...

Her brows drew together. "So you're just stepping in as someone's ready-made stepfather?"

Stewart cleared his throat. "That's how it will look to outsiders."

Briony pressed her lips into a thin line.

Her mind went straight to Irwin Wentworth.

That boy had once been the fatal crack in her and Stewart's marriage.

Even though Irwin was eventually sent away, the arguments and misunderstandings he'd brought with him still lingered vividly in Briony's memory.

"Stewart, do what you like for appearances' sake, but when it comes to the children, I expect you not to disappoint them."

"Don't worry, I won't." Stewart's expression softened, as if he, too, recalled the turmoil Irwin had caused them, and he dared not conceal anything from her.

Cooper once had a fiancé she loved deeply. Eight years ago, there was a car accident. The eldest Cooper son

Briony's breath caught.

is her late

didn't know what to

of a vicious power struggle. Xenia fled abroad to have the child in secret. She raised him overseas all these years and

"So she wants to claim the boy as yours and hers

at

was

"Stewart, do you have any idea what

guilt shadowing his face. "Bryn, I'll explain everything to the kids

done arguing. "This is between you and our children. If they don't

breath, fixing Stewart with a cold, distant gaze. "From today onward, if we meet again, you'll be Mrs. Cooper's husband. I'll address you as M Wentworth, and I'd appreciate it if you'd use my surname

Stewart was stunned.

another glance. She turned away and walked into the house, not once looking

wouldn't

figure looked achingly lonely in

...

bedroom and shut

pressed to the wood,

face with her hands, tears soaking through