Briony tossed the card straight into the trash.
"If anyone sends flowers again, just have them returned on the spot."
"But if the order''s already epted, the delivery guy can''t just take them back, can he?"
"Then tell them if they try again, I''ll file aint. Make it clear."
Hannah nodded briskly. "Got it!"
Briony turned and headed toward her office.
She hadn''t even reached the door when a woman''s furious voice erupted outside
"Briony, get out here right now!"
Briony froze mid-step and turned back.
Fiona, ignoring Hannah''s attempts to hold her back, stormed in, shouting and shoving Hannah aside as she made a beeline for Briony.
"Ma''am, please, calm down..." Hannah tried to catch up and restrain Fiona.
Briony didn''t want to engage. She pivoted toward her office again.
But before she could get away, Fiona shoved past Hannah and grabbed Briony''s arm in a vice-like grip.
Jerked around, Briony barely had time to react before Fiona''s palm struck her hard across the face.
The p echoed through the hall, sharp and humiliating.
Hannah stood rooted to the spot, stunned.
"Briony!"
Briony snapped out of it, yanking her arm free with a fierce motion.
Fiona stumbled backward, barely catching her bnce.
A wave of ringing filled Briony''s ears, and her cheek burned with a fiery sting.
She stared down Fiona, her expression dark and foreboding. "Fiona, you''d better have a good exnation for this."
Fiona eyed Briony up and down.
Four years had passed, and if anything, Briony looked even more striking than before. Clearly, time hadn''t worn her down.
With a sneer, Fiona spat, "Seems like losing your son didn''t affect you much at all, did it?"
Briony felt a jolt of pain deep in her chest, but her face grew cold and impassive. She warned, "Fiona, watch your mouth."
"Who do you think you are?" Fiona jabbed a finger at Briony''s face, her voice shri with rage. "You have the nerve to tell me how to talk? Let me make this clear, Briony-I''m here today as Mrs. Wentworth, as drwin''s grandmother, and I want some answers from you!"
Irwin.
Realization dawned on Briony.
She took in Fiona''s furious, bitter expression, lips pressed in a thin line, one hand slipping discreetly into her handbag.
Then she spoke, her tone icy. "So what is it you want to say?"
"What do I want to say?" Fiona snapped. "Did you tell Stewart to kick Irwin out?"
"So that''s what this is about?"
Briony gave a cold, humorlessugh. "I gave Stewart two choices. One: divorce me, and I''ll leave the Wentworths with my daughter and never took back. Or two: send Irwin away, because as long as I stay with my daughter, there''s no ce for Irwin in this family."
"You''re out of your mind!"
Fiona nted her hands on her hips, her eyes glinting with rage. "Briony, if you had a son, maybe I could understand you fighting for your ce. But you only have a daughter, and you dare make demands of Stewart?"
"You''re nothing but a curse! You took our family''s grandson and you still have the nerve to stir up trouble for Irwin? You homewrecker! You wicked woman!"
Briony listened to Fiona''s tirade, her face as calm as still water.
A faint, mocking smile yed at her lips.
If Fiona cared so much about Irwin, how would she react if she ever found out
Irwin wasn''t Stewart''s biological child at all?
That would be a show worth watching.
Briony''s smile turned cold. "Why get so angry, Fiona? I gave Stewart a choice-
he''s free to divorce me and keep Irwin."
"You really think Stewart can''t live without you?"
"I''d be thrilled if Stewart finally signed the divorce papers."
Fiona frowned, scrutinizing Briony. "Do you honestly want a divorce?"
"I''ve been living apart from Stewart
for four years, waiting for him to sign. You
to him I''m the one clinging
to him? The truth is, he''s tried every trick to avoid divorcing me-he wants me to y stepmother to Irwin, but I refuse. Do you know why?"