Regretting the Wife He Threw Away

Chapter 538

"In Westenmar, Stewart told you to take little Mario and go ahead while he stayed behind to negotiate with Garry Ferguson." Lorna paused for a moment, then continued, "Garry has always blamed Stewart for Randolph Driscoll's death. He made Stewart cut off his own finger as penance. Stewart didn't hesitate he just took the knife and sliced off his pinkie. Then Garry, right in front of him, tossed the severed finger to his mastiff."

Briony's brow furrowed slightly.

No wonder there was a time he always wore black gloves.

Lorna went on, "When the wound healed, he had a prosthetic finger made. He wears it every time he goes out; if you don't look closely, you'd never notice. I'm telling you all this because I want you to understand Stewart really loves those two kids."

"I can see that." Briony didn't deny Stewart's devotion. "There aren't many fathers in the world who'd leave their children so much."

Lorna groaned. "Seriously, woman, can you stop being so heartless? I'm talking about feelings and you're calculating dollar signs!"

Briony glanced at the clock and sighed, exasperated. "Can you just get to the point?"

letting out a long breath. "You always seem so mild, as if you couldn't hurt a fly, but when you

her lips together and

longer felt the need to explain

if she laid everything out, Briony was unlikely to

she had to at

forces. But that mission... what he went through wasn't just the usual horrors of war. Those lunatics-they tortured and killed Randolph right in front of him. Stewart suffered a massive psychological blow. He developed severe PTSD and couldn't return to the battlefield. Before coming back home, he spent six months in trauma therapy with Dr. Riley. Even now, he still has to see Dr. Riley regularly. The medication he's on is specialized—harsher than most, with worse side effects. It

Here, Lorna hesitated.

Stewart's health took a turn for the worse after

spleen was removed, and his immune system never fully recovered.

she'd

told, he'd haunt her to the

Riley's got a new treatment that's shown

asked, "What are the