Regretting the Wife He Threw Away

Chapter 658

Briony kept her head bowed, afraid he might notice something was wrong.

She nodded quietly and lifted another spoonful of soup to her lips.

Stewart stood nearby, watching her. It wasn't until her third bite that he finally noticed something was off.

He quickly crouched down beside her, just in time to see a tear slip from her eye.

The tear landed in the pale soup.

A sharp ache pulsed in Stewart's chest. "Bryn?"

Briony reached up to wipe her eyes. "I'm fine, really..."

Stewart gently took the bowl from her hands and set it on the table.

"Bryn, I'm sorry. I know I put you through so much." He knelt on one knee in front

of her, a heavy sorrow settling over him.

He knew exactly why she was crying.

A simple bowl of soup had opened the floodgates of memory.

For five years, she had started from nothing, learning as she went, raising a newborn with patience and devotion. She gave everything without complaint, only to have it all repaid with his betrayal, and the resentment and blame of that child she'd loved as her own...

Then, after four years apart, even when fate brought them together again, he'd only managed to hurt her all over.

Each wound had etched itself into her heart, leaving scars that never quite faded.

clinging to the past. Maybe

happened-how could anyone ever pretend they

one bowl of soup, and she was in

a complete

consumed with regret ashamed of all the pain

wanting to wipe away her tears, but Briony turned away

moment alone," she said softly, still refusing to meet his eyes,

hung awkwardly in the

swallowed hard

his feet and

buried her face in her hands and

soup sat untouched,

pain, but it couldn't erase what had truly happened. When familiar faces or objects returned, the memories came with them, resurfacing with a vengeance,

for now, she couldn't genuinely tell her past

to hide Briony's illness for

close and trustworthy-except for Julia Hudson-found

soon as they heard, Carney Winslow and Gwendolyn White rushed from

hospital. Gwendolyn broke down in tears, while Briony, calm and composed, ended up comforting her instead-even

Carney decided to stay in Northborough for the time being. With

the hospital, along with private nurses and round-the-clock care, so Gwendolyn and Carney realized

of Ferdinand's sensitive background, even now, only Briony and

Ellsworth, Ferdinand's uncle, had retired to the countryside years ago and knew little about

remained blissfully unaware, thriving under Kendal's gentle

week, Gina recorded snippets of Julia's life and

found an excuse to leave home alone and slipped

arrived, Briony was sitting in a rocking chair in the little courtyard, watching one of Gina's