Regretting The Wife He Threw Away

Stewart's brow was furrowed tight.

There was something deeply unsettling about the way Xenia Cooper spoke—a glimpse into a mind teetering on the edge.

“Xenia, you need to see a psychiatrist," he said quietly.

“Oh, but I have!” Xenia replied with a twisted smile. She stood, sauntered over to him, and reached for his collar as if to straighten it, but Stewart recoiled, his expression full of disgust.

He backed away as if she were venomous. The look in his eyes was the way you'd look at someone completely unhinged.

Xenia arched an eyebrow, tilting her head with a mocking little smirk. "All your chastity for Briony has come to nothing, you know. She and Maynard just made their relationship official. With the way Maynard's family operates, it won't be long before they pressure Briony into marriage. For the sake of the baby, for the family's reputation—she'll have no choice but to give in.”

"Bryn won't,” Stewart said, his voice firm, full of conviction.

She laughed, her lips a slash of crimson. "Oh yeah? Want to make a bet?"

Stewart had no intention of humoring her. There was nothing to be gained from arguing with a woman this unstable.

He turned to leave.

"Stewart.” Her voice stopped him in his tracks.

He hesitated, shoulders tense.

at his back. “Really—let's make a bet. Don't you want

to face him, meeting his

her smile sharp. "You still can't let her go, but it seems like she's already

sit right with you? You signed that agreement with me for her sake. And now, she's about to marry another man for someone else's child.

radiated a chilling,

but it wasn't about hatred for any one person. She

hated everyone. She hated the

memory flashed-Vernon's voice in the hospital: “My

really was

of Vernon, Stewart felt

was smart-painfully mature for his age. But Xenia never stopped pushing him, training him,

old memories surfacing—the ache of his

save the boy he once was, but now, with his own son and daughter healing him, he

out a weary sigh. “Xenia, you're sick.

punchline to a cosmic joke. "Me sick? I was perfectly healthy when I donated bone marrow to Briony-all the tests said so. The doctors said I could live to a hundred! I'll be there to see Vernon grow

like this, you'll be