Chapter 337 The Test Results
Heart pounding, she peeled the envelope open millimeter by millimeter. The stiff report <i>sheet </i>slid free, its sterile weight somehow heavier than stone.
Bold text near the top read: Findings support full–sibling rtionship<i>. </i>Probability of a <i>brother</i>–sister rtion <i>more </i>than <i>or </i><i>equal </i>to <i>ny</i><i>–</i><i>percent</i>.
She had told herself again and again that Leander could very well be Rowan, yet the finality of printed proof sent fresh waves of nerves crashing through <i>her</i>. Then everything inside her broke wide open, nerves dissolving into a flood of indescribable joy.
Tears burst free, warm and relentless, blurring ink, lights, and walls into a single shining haze.
She clutched the report to her chest and sobbed withughter. “It’s him. It really is him! I’ve found my brother–Rowan is alive!”
<i>Mom</i>, <i>Dad</i>, <i>can </i><i>you </i><i>see </i><i>this</i><i>? </i><i>I </i>did <i>it</i><i>. </i><i>Rowan </i><i>is </i><i>home</i>.
Han lifted a gentle hand and brushed salty tracks from her cheeks. “Quinnie, don’t cry.”
“I’m just… so happy,” she choked out, voice cracking around the words. “After all these years, I’ve finally found him.”
Rowan was herst thread to the life her parents once held together. To lose him would have meant losing the world. Now that thread glowed bright and unbreakable.
Across the lobby, Julius stood in stillness, watching. The woman he loved tilted her tear–streaked face toward a man wiping those tears away.
Julius‘ lips thinned into a de, the muscles along his jaw turning to granite as a re of jealousy burned behind his pale eyes. It should have been him standing beside her–that truth hammered at his ribs with every slow heartbeat.
Beside him, Fabian dipped his head and asked in a cautious whisper, “Mr. Whitethorn, aren’t you going over?”
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Chapter 337 The Test Results
Only moments earlier, back at the hotel. Julius had watched Quinn step into a taxi with Han, Unable to resist, he had climbed into his own car and tailed them throughte–morning traffic, anticipation pulsing with every passing streetlight,
Today was the day the DNA report would be ready–he had etched that date into his memory long ago. Yet the sight that greeted him upon arrival left him sick with surprise and longing.
Julius pivoted on his heel, gravel crunching beneath polished shoes. “No,” he muttered, voice low and tightly leashed. “I’m not going.”
<i>If </i>I <i>walk </i>over there <i>now</i>, <i>jealousy </i><i>will </i><i>spill </i><i>from </i><i>me </i><i>like </i><i>poison</i>. She would only recoil–and every <i>backward </i><i>step </i><i>she </i><i>takes </i>will <i>push </i><i>her </i><i>farther </i><i>from </i><i>my </i><i>reach</i><i>. </i>
He drew a steadying breath and turned to Fabian. “Where is Leander Fane right now?” The expression on Quinn’s face moments earlier had told him enough- Leander had to be her long–lost brother.
After leaving the diagnostics center, Quinn and Han headed straight for the Eyre Hotel where Leander had been staying.
Every mile of asphalt stretched her impatience thinner; she ached to burst through a door and say the words she had rehearsed a thousand nights: You’re my brother.
He could deny it all he liked–the DNA report in her bag carried an authority no argument could overturn.
If trouble shadowed him, he only had to name it. She would tear down walls or bargain with devils to set him free. There was so much she had never told him.
for up years, now rattling inside her like coins in a shaken purse. stories bottled
Halfway there, Han’s phone erupted with its harsh ring. He answered on speaker. The color drained from his face, and without warning, he wrenched the wheel, sending the sedan veering onto a side road.
Quinn’s fingers dug into the seat. “What is it?” she asked.
Han kept his gaze locked on the road. “Intel just came in–Serena Fane’s been kidnapped. Leander is on his way, alone, carrying ransom money to the drop site.”
Shock stung the back of Quinn’s throat. “Do you know where they told him to go?”
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Chapter 387 The Test Results
“I do,” Han said. Even in Doria, he had his ownwork of favors and spies and he had stationed one of them in Leander’s shadow.
He floored the elerator. The engine howled, and the city blurred into streaks of color as they rocketed toward the coordinates.
Quinn’s face tightened, every muscle braced against dread. She had only just found her brother; fate had no right to threaten him again.
“Stay calm,” Han said, eyes flicking between the mirror and the road. “Leander called the police. He’s meeting the kidnappers alone, yes, but undercover officers are tailing him.”
The reassurance floated for a moment, fragile as ss. Quinn knew better than to trust ss. Doria was no stranger to guns, nor to the gangs that thrived on abductions and midnight ransoms. <i>I </i><i>almost </i><i>lost </i><i>him </i><i>once</i>. <i>I </i><i>won’t </i><i>let </i>the world steal him a <i>second </i><i>time</i><i>. </i>
They reached an alley a block from the rendezvous point. Quinn popped the glovepartment and pulled out apact handgun, its matte steel cold against her
skin.
Sincending in Doria, she and Han had armed themselves–just in case the worst announced itself, exactly like it was doing now.
She had never imagined the emergency tactic she kept hidden up her sleeve would be forced into y on a wind–gnawed roadside like this.
“Stay in the car,” Quinn said, voice t yet unarguable. “I’m heading down to ger a read on the situation.”
“I’m getting out with you.” Han’s arm shot across her path, firm as a steel bar yet quietly protective.
“You stay,” Quinn answered, eyes hard. “I’m only stepping in because my brother’s involved. You don’t need to add your name to the risk ledger.”
“If your brother is the one you feel bound to protect, then you are the one I’m sworn to guard,” Han insisted. “Besides, we work best as a pair–two guns are safer than one.”
A sudden gunshot split the air. Then another, and another.