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.

always said she'd let go, that she just didn't want to keep clinging to the past. Maybe she was

truly happened-how could anyone ever pretend

bowl of soup, and

a complete fool back

regret ashamed of all the

reached out, wanting to wipe away her tears, but

softly, still refusing to meet his eyes, determined not

hung awkwardly in

he swallowed hard and replied,

got to his feet and left

the door closed, Briony buried her face

untouched, cooling as the minutes

familiar faces or objects returned, the memories came with them, resurfacing with a vengeance, taking

least for now, she couldn't genuinely tell her past self that it was all

impossible to hide Briony's illness for

everyone close and trustworthy-except for

Winslow and Gwendolyn White rushed from Silveridge without

and composed, ended up comforting her instead-even

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

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

even now, only Briony and

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

remained blissfully unaware, thriving under Kendal's gentle

recorded snippets of Julia's

home alone

was sitting in a rocking chair in the little courtyard, watching one of