Regretting the Wife He Threw Away

Chapter 38

Briony returned to her own hospital room first, changing out of the standard-issue gown and back into her own clothes. After collecting herself, she made her way to see Julia.

Outside Julia's room, Gina was waiting. The moment she saw Briony, she hurried over, blocking her path.

"Ms. Kensington, please, don't go in just yet."

Briony frowned in confusion. "What's happened?"

Gina glanced around, then pulled Briony aside, lowering her voice. "I'll be honest with you-your mother's awake, but she's... well, she's seen the news online. She thinks you broke up someone else's relationship, and the shock is what caused her to faint."

Briony froze.

News online?

She hesitated, her mind racing. Suddenly, the realization hit her. She spun around to look at Stella.

"Star, give me my phone."

Stella, knowing there was no use hiding it anymore, handed the phone over.

Briony unlocked it and opened Facebook.

Her inbox was flooded with messages. Even under her attempted post clarifying the rumors, the comments were a barrage of vitriol:

"Homewrecker."

"Manipulator."

"Attention seeker."

to your own

he was married and still

of a

"Murderess deserves to rot!"

always gets

insults made Briony's eyes sting

hospital room door creaked open

Briony stepped inside.

sat on the bed, dazed. Hearing someone enter, she slowly turned her

exhausted face

called me,

gently touching her mother's cheek.

trembling. "Bryn, can you swear on my life that

bore into her, catching every subtle flicker of Briony's

you..." Julia's voice broke, her eyes red-rimmed as she clenched her fists. "My entire life was ruined

to say the words "the other woman" to her own daughter. She squeezed her eyes shut, tears streaming down her face as she choked out, "You're stabbing me right in the heart, Bryn! If the price of avoiding a death sentence is my daughter destroying someone else's marriage, then I'd

widened in

tears streaming down her