Regretting the Wife He Threw Away

Chapter 22

Briony froze, stunned.

She stared at Stewart, her eyes trembling with disbelief.

"Stewart, what did I do wrong?" she asked quietly.

He met her gaze, cold and unyielding. "You're upset with me, that's fine. But Rosita is innocent." His words were sharp and judgmental. "You had no right to mislead your friend into attacking her."

Briony's hand clenched the pharmacy bag so tightly it shook.

She fixed her eyes on Stewart-this man she had poured her heart into, loved without regret for five long years.

"Your precious Rosita is innocent?" Briony let out a brittle laugh, tears brimming but refusing to fall. She struggled to hold herself together, her pale lips trembling as the dam finally broke. "And what about me? For five years I've been the fool, raising your child as my own, giving everything I had―am I not innocent too?!"

Stewart faltered, caught off-guard.

Stella's eyes widened in shock. "Wait, what do you mean, 'raising their child for five years'? You mean... Irwin is Stewart and Rosita's?"

Briony's chest heaved. She ignored Stella, her gaze locked on Stewart. "Stewart, I want just one answer-why did you lie to me in the first place?"

Stewart's brow furrowed, irritation flickering across his face. "We agreed from the start this was a partnership. Who Irwin's biological mother is doesn't change our arrangement."

Briony felt the air leave her lungs.

thought bitterly. What

shaky laugh escaped her lips, dizziness washing over her.

just in time, eyes

Stella asked anxiously,

as if

quickly caught her as she

scooped Rosita up and hurried toward the

faking! God, the nerve! Bryn, I'm all for you divorcing him. Five years as a stepmom, only to be humiliated

kept ranting, but Briony couldn't hear

faded to

deeply, the kind of sleep that comes after

she woke, it

hospital room door just as Briony was struggling to sit up in

awake," Stella said with a

sound of

door and sat beside her, giving a sarcastic snort.

as the memory of the pharmacy came crashing back. The pain was still fresh. She knew Stewart didn't care about her feelings, yet she'd still begged

pressed her hand to her forehead,

her gaze dropping to Briony's stomach. "With Stewart treating you

a single mom isn't easy," Stella said softly, taking her hand. "Your mom gets