Annika's fury reached a boiling point.
"I..." Darleen stammered.
Did she know? Of course she didn't! Back when Starla and Fairfax were dating, the only thing she had ever been told was that Starla grew up in the foster system.
Seeing Darleen entirely speechless, Annika practically spat with rage. "And you kept telling us she came from an orphanage!"
"What kind of nobody from an orphanage wields this kind of power? Did you see the caliber of men waiting on her hand and foot?"
Every time Annika thought about Darleen's initial background check on Starla, she wanted to scream. Because of that report, Annika had treated the girl like absolute trash from the moment she married into the family. Even after Starla and Fairfax had moved out of the main estate, Annika hadn't given her a moment's peace, constantly scheming to drive her out of their lives.
And now...
It wasn't just Darleen who was paralyzed by despair; Annika was drowning in regret. If she had just shown the girl a fraction of kindness, maybe the family wouldn't have been utterly obliterated.
An absolute catastrophe. That was the only way to describe it.
Seeing Starla's intimacy with Yardley Hoggart made one thing crystal clear: they would never recover.
"This is the brilliant daughter-in-law you approved of!" Annika shrieked, pivoting her wrath toward Harley. "You swore she was harmless, and I told you a girl like that would drag us down!"
She was furious at Darleen, but her rage toward her son was just as vicious.
Harley shot Darleen a cold, dead-eyed glare.
Tears poured down Darleen's face. "I didn't know... I had no idea."
Yesterday, Brinley had faced total despair. Today, it was Darleen's turn. And her terror was infinitely worse.
"You didn't know? She was married to your son for years! Did you ever bother to actually pay attention to her?" Annika roared.

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