Chapter 5
This child had always been frail–born with asthma, no less–and the one thing he couldn’t handle was getting worked up from crying.
After all, she’d raised him single–handedly since he was a baby. No matter what, Briony just couldn’t bring herself to abandon him.
“Irwin, sweetheart, I’m not leaving you, okay? Please, don’t cry.”
All Briony wanted was to calm Irwin down first.
But Fiona, standing nearby, heard this and twisted it to her own ends.
“Briony, do you have any shame? Irwin isn’t even your own child! How dare you say something like that?”
Fiona, who always carried herself with the air of a high–society matriarch, didn’t bother to hide her contempt for Briony. Her voice was sharp, dripping with venom.
“No wonder Irwin’s never warmed up to me all these years. He’s devoted to you, calls you ‘Mom, and now I see why. You’ve been brainwashing him behind my back, haven’t you?”
The accusation was outrageous. Briony’s expression hardened, despite her concern for the child.
“Mrs. Wentworth, when Stewart and I married, I didn’t ask for your blessing. If you don’t accept me as your daughter–in–law, fine–I won’t force it. But do you really think, in front of a five–year–old, you’re being a good example? So tell me: am I the disrespectful one, or are you just abusing your age and status?”
“You!” Fiona was stunned by Briony’s open defiance, her face flushing with anger. “Are you trying to provoke me right now?”
“There’s no need for that,” Briony replied, meeting Fiona’s glare, calm and unyielding. “Whether Stewart and I divorce is between us. Irwin can stay here with you if you like. I won’t fight you for custody.”
“No, no!” At t
thought of being left behind, Irwin clung to Briony even harder, sobbing louder. “Mom, don’t leave me! I don’t like Grandma’s house! And I hate that bad woman! I just want to go home with you–please,
take me home!”
His voice was already hoarse from crying.
Briony had looked after Irwin for five years and had never seen him cry like this before.
She sighed, turning to Fiona. “He’s too upset to listen to reason right now. Let me take him home. When he’s calm, I’ll explain everything properly.”
With that, Briony took Irwin’s hand and started for the door.
Irwin hurried to keep up, his tiny feet moving as fast as they could, terrified she’d leave him behind if he slowed down.
“Irwin!” A voice called after them–Rosita, rushing out in a panic.
In the front yard, Rosita caught Irwin by the arm.
“Irwin, don’t go! Mommy was wrong, but I had my reasons back then. I love you, I really do!”
“I don’t want you! Let me go, you’re a bad lady!” Irwin tried to wrench his arm free, but Rosita just gripped him tighter, her nails digging in.
His little arm hurt from the force.
“Mom! Mommy, help me! She’s trying to take me away!”
Briony looked at Rosita, who wouldn’t let go, her feelings tangled and conflicted.
When Rosita realized she couldn’t pull Irwin away, she shifted her desperate gaze to Briony.
15.10
Chapter 5
Tears streamed down Rosita’s beautiful face, making her look heartbreakingly fragile.
“Ms. Kensington, please, I’m begging you–Irwin is my son, the child I carried for nine months and nearly died giving birth to. I know you’ve raised him these past five years, and I’m grateful. But he’s not a pawn for you to tie Stewart down. Please, don’t use him like this.”
Briony stared at Rosita in disbelief.
She had no idea what she’d done to make both Fiona and Rosita accuse her of using Irwin as leverage.
Just then, Fiona stormed out as well. Seeing Briony still holding Irwin’s hand, she called the housekeeper and ordered her to push Briony away.
Briony staggered backward, nearly falling, her hand flying to her belly as a sharp pain twisted inside her. She frowned in distress as she watched the housekeepers drag Irwin back to Rosita and Fiona.
Irwin was screaming, his cries raw and heartbreaking. “Let me go! I want to go home with my mom! Mom…” Watching the scene, Briony suddenly felt utterly powerless.
There was Irwin’s biological grandmother, and his birth mother. Compared to them, she really was nothing but an outsider a woman soon to be divorced from Stewart.
Just then, a black Bentley pulled into the drive.
Hearing the car, Briony turned.
The rear door swung open, and Stewart stepped out.
