Chapter 201 Subtle Schemes And Unspoken Confessions
The instant Quinn’s silhouette shed across Julius’s sharp, amber eyes, all colors drained from his face.
<i>Did </i><i>she </i><i>hear </i><i>everything </i><i>Han </i><i>just </i><i>said</i><i>? </i><i>Then </i>what is <i>she </i><i>thinking </i><i>now</i>? <i>Does </i><i>she </i>see <i>me </i><i>as </i><i>utterly </i><i>despicable</i>?
Even if every other soul on earth branded him despicable, it would not shake him in the least–yet the thought of seeing disappointment in her gaze terrified him.
At this moment Quinn’s features remained perfectlyposed, revealing no discernible shift in emotion.
She stepped forward and said to Han, “Let go of him first.”
Han’s thin lips moved. “I always listen to you, Quinnie!”
With that, he cheerfully released the fist that had been gripping Julius’s cor.
Quinn asked, “How are things going at yourw firm?”
Julius’s body gave a faint shudder; he understood then that she truly had overheard their earlier exchange.
“Everything’s been handled–nothing serious,” Han replied, then added, “But Quinnie, some people are experts atying traps. You’d better keep your guard up.”
Quinn offered a mild smile and, changing the subject, said, “The umbre you lent mest time–I’m returning it to its rightful owner.”
She extended the umbre toward Han.
Han stared at it in silence; back when he left Yarburn, he had lent it to her, telling her to bring it back to him in Jexburgh.
He knew this gesture meant farewell.
That farewell had felt like missing a once–in–a–lifetime chance.
If he had known then that it was Julius’s calction–had known what he was destined to lose–he would never have left Yarburn, no matter the cost.
He would have stayed by Quinnie’s side, confessed first, and left Julius, not even a sliver of opportunity to
covet her.
Sadly, it was only after he saw the news confirming Quinn was dating Julius that understanding finally dawned.
So heunched a thorough investigation into why hisw firm had, so “coincidentally,” run into trouble and why he alone had been summoned back to Jexburgh to resolve it.
Every clue pointed straight at the Whitethorn family.
Thus he realized it had been Julius’s deliberate ploy, executed solely to drive him out of Yarburn.
“Why aren’t you taking it?” Quinn urged.
Only then did Han give a wry smile, ept the umbre, and say, “All right, I’ll head back to the hotel for now. I’lle see you again tomorrow, Quinnie!”
Chapter 201 Subtle Schemes And Unspoken Confessions
“Okay, travel safely,” Quinn replied.
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After Han had left, Quinn turned to Julius and asked, “Was it you who deliberately meddled with thew firm on Han’s mother’s side of the family?”
Julius’s eyshes trembled; he slowly lowered his gaze, unable, for that moment, to meet her eyes.
“You once told me that whenever I asked, you would never hide anything from me,” she reminded him.
His body went rigid. Yes, he had said that–he had given her his word.
Julius pressed his slender lips together, the hands hanging at his sides bunching into tight knots of tension, and admitted in a voice that almost trembled, “…it was me.”
Quinn asked softly, “Why would you do something like that?”
“I was afraid that as long as Han was around, he would stand in the way of my pursuing you,” he answered in a low, muffled tone. “To you he’s different–he’s therade you could entrust with your life when things turn deadly, someone you can rely on without hesitation.”
“And so?” she prompted.
“And so I…” He looked up, and at that exact moment, his gaze collided with hers.
Her eyes were clear, upright, bright as the noonday sun;pared with that shimmering candor, he felt himself sunk in shadow, shabby and base.
“So–sopared to me, you’re bound to prefer Han,” he forced out painfully.
Quinn held his gaze without flinching and said, “Yes, I do like Han, but only the way you like a younger brother, the way a soldier respects therade who has had your back. If I truly felt that sort of romantic attraction toward him, then it wouldn’t matter whether he was still in Yarburn or had already returned to the capital–location would make no difference! Do you really think that if I were truly interested in him, his leaving Yarburn would somehow give me permission to turn around and like–much less love- someone else?”
“Julius, do you honestly imagine my feelings are that casual, that easily reced? If one day you and I were separated for a while, would you assume I’d just look around and pick another man the moment your back was turned?”
Her words were scarcely out when Julius’s expression changed abruptly. “No–Quinnie! Don’t go loving anyone else!”
Quinn pressed her reddened lips together. “Julius, I like you. I chose you. That won’t change easily. But I can’t ept the way you drag the people around me into your schemes.”
“I’m sorry.” The man who always stood atop the world, who never apologized for anything, forced the words out.
Yet in front of her, he resembled a child who had done wrong and feared abandonment, blurting out an apology simply because she asked for it.
Quinn looked at the man before her–head lowered, loneliness written across every line of his face–and her heart gave an involuntary, aching throb.
<i>He’s </i><i>the </i>one <i>in </i>the wrong<i>, </i><i>and </i><i>still</i><i>, </i><i>seeing </i>him like <i>this </i><i>makes </i><i>me </i><i>ache </i>for him<i>–</i><i>how </i>contradictory <i>can </i>feelings <i>get</i><i>? </i>
She sighed, lifted her hand, and brushed his cheek with gentle fingers. “Don’t do it again. Not to Han, not to any of my friends. I don’t want you using tricks like that on people I care about. If you do, I really will…”
Long, elegant fingers pressed softly against her lips, stopping the words from spilling out.
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