Chapter 208 An Unexpected Encounter
While they waited for their table, Quinn stepped into thedies‘ room–and unexpectedly came face–to- face with Marley.
Marley looked equally startled; clearly, she had not expected to see Quinn here.
But the surprise in her eyes quickly curdled into resentment.
All because of Quinn, Marley had fallen overnight from the Bridger family’s pampered little princess to their favorite target of ridicule.
Although, for now, only insiders knew the Whitethorn family had cut off her allowance, Marley’s standing within the conglomerate had already begun its very public slide.
At strategic meetings, her chair was simply gone, and the cousins and uncles who once scrambled to tter her now greeted her with ice–cold faces.
In the past, the moment she needed a favor, they practically tripped over themselves to volunteer.
Now, whenever she asked for help, people dodged with excuse after excuse; one man even barked, “Marley, do you really think you’re the Bridger princess? You only had Julius backing you. Without Julius, what have you got left?”
Suddenly, it felt as though everyone could step on her.
<i>Even </i><i>without </i><i>Julius</i>, <i>I’ve </i><i>still </i><i>got </i><i>my </i>own <i>connections</i>!
So, these days, she clung to her trust–fund circle, eager to leverage theirworks and bundle resources for
a new venture.
<i>I’ll </i><i>prove </i><i>to </i><i>them </i><i>all </i><i>that</i><i>, </i><b><i>Julius </i></b><i>or </i><i>not</i><i>, </i><i>I’m </i><i>still </i><i>the </i><i>most </i><i>capable </i><i>of </i><i>my </i><i>generation</i><i>. </i>
She hadn’t expected to bump into Quinn at today’s lunch with those same friends.
Marley remembered the first time Quinn arrived in Yarburn: they’d met in a restaurant too, but back then, Marley had the entire Whitethorn n and Julius behind her, while Quinn had nothing at all.
Now, however, their positions had flipped as though fate had spun them around.
“““Quinn, don’t think <i>you </i>can do whatever you please just because Julius is standing behind you,” Marley sneered.
““Do you really believe you deserve him? So you can fly a ne, know a fewbat moves, so you used to be in the military–big deal. The Whitethorns have plenty of pilots and bodyguards already!““”
Quinn’s eyes turned to ice. “So you’re treating Julius’s attempts to make amends as your permission slip to push people around? I’m my own person. I need no one to hold me up, and I have never asked whether I ‘deserve‘ someone. If you have to weigh love on that scale, it’s beyond sad.”
That frosty stare made Marley flush with a mix of humiliation and fury,
“You’re just lying to yourself. One day you’ll end up exactly like me–thrown away by Julius!”
Before Quinn could answer, Julius’s voice sliced through the corridor. “That day will nevere, Marley. Speak to Quinn like this again, and I’ll see to it you have no foothold left in Yarburn.”
Marley whirled; Julius had appeared out of nowhere, Han sauntering a step behind him. All the color drained from her face, a flicker of fear darting through her eyes.
But almost at once, fear morphed into jealousy.
<i>Why </i>is Julius protecting Quinn? She <i>hasn’t </i><i>sacrificed </i>a <i>thing </i><i>for </i><i>him</i><i>! </i>
Marley lunged in front of him. “Julius, what’s so great about a divorced woman like Quinn? What can she possibly do for you? Would she give up an eye, or anything else? No–she’d never sacrifice the way I did!”
Julius let out a coldugh. “I don’t need her to sacrifice anything. And as for her divorce? I’m grateful for it -it gave me a chance. As for you…”
He paused, eyes filled with contempt. “You and I both know that eye of yours was never lost ‘for me. You simply didn’t have the guts or ability to run.”
Flustered, Marley stammered, “T–That’s not true. Even if I could’ve escaped, I’d never have left you behind…”
“Really? Back then, I begged you to stay, remember? Yet you still crawled away as fast as you could.”
Marley fell mute, pain twisting her features. “I was too young; I didn’t understand. But my feelings for you. were real, Julius–I love you!”
At that moment, Marley no longer cared that Quinn was standing there; all she wanted was to w back whatever she could with Julius.
“Love, huh?” Julius snorted.
“Yes, love! From the day I first saw you as a child, I adored you. I’ve loved you for years. How can Quinnpare?” she cried.
His eyes remained indifferent. “Even if you do love me, the moment troublees you still abandon me. Quinn is nothing like that, and you can’t hold a candle to her.”
With that, Julius’s gaze softened as it settled on Quinn–a warmth entirely absent when he looked at Marley a moment earlier.
“Let’s get back to the private room; the dishes we ordered will be cold,” he said.