Regretting the Wife He Threw Away

Chapter 526

Stella froze for a moment.

"The first time I met Mario, he was so small and frail. His face was delicate, almost ethereal, but he looked pale and sickly, his dark eyes staring at me with a kind of blankness. I saw myself reflected in those eyes. Even though I had no idea then that he was my child, seeing him like that-well, it broke my heart. That image is burned into my memory, even now."

Stella listened, feeling her own heart twist with pain.

"From the very beginning, Mario was instinctively drawn to me and Little Nina," Briony continued, pausing for a breath. "At first, he wasn't close to Stewart at all. But later, when James and I went to Westenmar to bring him home, something had changed-Mario trusted Stewart completely, even more than me,

sometimes."

"Maybe that's just the power of blood ties," Stella murmured, glancing down at Aster cradled in her arms. "This little guy was such a handful during my recovery. No one could soothe him except Cedric Clarke. The moment someone else tried to hold him, he'd start crying. That whole month, Cedric barely got any sleep-he had to hold Aster every night to keep him calm.”

Aster blinked up at his mother, gurgling as if agreeing with her.

Watching Aster's sweet face, Briony felt a heavier weight of guilt settle in her chest.

She'd missed all of Mario's baby years.

That regret had haunted her, turning into an obsession, making her doubt Stewart's affection for Mario from the start.

back, Briony couldn't help but feel a pang of

came back to Northborough, he stuck

up, I saw little changes in him,

be calling out

"So you're worried that if

pressed her lips together and

you can do," Stella sighed. "Cedric Clarke is devastated too. Sometimes, people

said, "Stewart didn't have a great family growing up either. In

thinking he shouldn't be gone

think he would have been an even better parent

too,"

"Bryn, your childhood was rough, but you

when things were at their worst. That alone makes you the best,

gave a gentle smile. "Star, you're the only one

then, had suspected Briony of

up. Only Stella

with

I'm your

a wink.