Regretting the Wife He Threw Away

Chapter 20

By the time Briony finally made it back to the studio, dawn was already breaking. Utterly exhausted, she changed into pajamas and collapsed into bed, falling

asleep almost instantly.

She had no idea how long she'd been out when a frantic knocking at the door jolted her awake.

Her eyes flew open and she stared at the familiar ceiling, breath coming quick and shallow. It took her a moment to gather her wits.

She'd been dreaming.

In the dream, she was standing above a river of blood, so vivid it made her shudder. Somewhere in the distance, an infant's cries echoed in her ears...

From outside the room, Hannah's voice rang out. "Briony? Are you awake?"

Her lashes fluttered. Briony pushed herself up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

The room spun as she stood, her body heavy and unsteady.

"Briony? Briony..." Hannah's voice grew more anxious.

"I'm coming," Briony croaked, forcing herself upright and shuffling to the door.

soon as the door swung open, Hannah let

you scared me half to death. It's ten o'clock and you still

thought something had

was nothing if not a creature of habit;

she

rasped,

frowned, giving her a once-over. "You

lifted a hand to her forehead. It

few days of rest and I'll

won't do," Hannah insisted, placing a hand on Briony's forehead. "You've got a fever! You need to

just take

don't want to go

I just need some more

stand, Briony retreated to her bed and lay back

in, clearly unconvinced. "There's a nasty flu going around. You really should get checked

Briony assured her. Then, shifting topics, she said, "We're shutting the studio down for the year. Have finance pay everyone's salary in advance— cover twelve months-and give each person a year-end bonus of,

shock. "That's a huge

done well this year, but with those numbers,