Chapter 346 She Vanished
Chapter 346 She Vanished
Her voice trembled with worry. “What is Julius really after?”
Weston answered with practiced calm. “We’ll know tomorrow. He said she would call.”
Still, the knot between Laura’s brows refused to loosen.
Weston’s tone softened. “It’ste. Let me drive you home.”
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ぬ
They stepped into the cool night outside the station, sirens ghosting through city haze. Weston extended his palm. “Key to your car.”
She asked, “You drove here yourself?”
He nodded once. “I did.”
“What about your car, then?”
“I’ll have my family driver collect itter.”
Laura shrugged, remembering btedly that old–line families like the Windores traveled with conveniences that nouveau riches like her still found extravagant.
She flipped the keys into his waiting hand with practiced ease.
Together they climbed into the sedan, the night swallowing the metallic click of the doors.
Laura tilted her head,shes flicking upward like shutters snapping open. “How well do you and Julius really get along?”
Weston reclined <i>a </i>fraction, straightening the cuff of his tailored jacket as if considering the exact measure of truth he wished to release. “We have some history, nothing I would call deep,” he answered, each word clipped yet unfailingly courteous.
“If Julius truly hurts Quinn and Han decides to cross him, where will your loyaltiesnd?” she pressed.
Weston flicked her a sideways look so brief it felt like the glint of a de. “You already know the answer,” he said, voice cool as morning steel.
“Seriously? Han is your own blood. You would leave him hanging?” Her disbelief cracked through the
air<i>. </i>
“Choosing not to help Han does not mean I would aid Julius,” Weston replied, folding his hands like a judge about to render a ruling. “The Whitethorn legacy is vast. If the Windore family confronts it head–on, we would be devoured.”
Yet Weston already knew where the final line was drawn. Should Han ever find himself in open war with Julius, the Windore banners would unfurl at his side, no matter the cost.
Laura curled her lower lip, amused in that way people are when a stereotype proves true. “Typicalwyer. Every oue is calcted to thest decimal.”
18:21 Tue, 26 Aug
Chapter 346 She Vanished
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If Weston could cold–shoulder his own nephew, she thought, begging for his help would only earn her
humiliation.
Weston broke the silence, his tone sliding in like a knife between ribs. “If Julius truly harms Quinn, do you want my hand in the matter?”
“You and I both know you won’t,” Laura answered, steady as stone. “So I won’t waste time asking. After all these years, I learned the hard way that leaning on others is riskier than leaning on my own backbone.”
“Laura, you never even asked,” Weston said, sounding almost casual.
The words jolted her. <i>What </i><i>does </i><i>he </i>mean?
“You mean to tell me that if I open my mouth, you’ll square off against Julius for Quinn’s sake?” A bitterugh slid out. “Come on. Even I’m not that na?ve.”
“Not for Quinn,” Weston said softly. “But perhaps for you.”
“Ha!” The sound was more wounded than amused. “Spare me. You would pit the Windore family against the Whitethorn family for me?”
“No. I cannot speak for the Windore family,” he replied. “But I do speak for myself.”
Though his tone stayednguid, the statementnded like a vow etched in stone.
Laura froze, breath stalling mid–chest.
Could it <i>be </i>possible<i>? </i>
“Weston Windore, are you saying you’d stand against the Whitethorns for me?” she whispered after a long, jagged pause.
“Because you are my girlfriend,” he said, as if reciting a simple fact.
A surge of emotion <i>rose </i>in Laura, too tangled and swift to name,
Had they never shared a past, those words might have spun her into a giddy daydream, the sort of romantic delirium teenage girls scribble into diaries.
But they had dated once, and memory was merciless,
Back then, while she wore the title of his girlfriend, he had looked her in the eye and murmured that she was merely a distraction from boredom.
To him, she had been a useful tool, nothing more.
“Weston, just what does the word girlfriend mean to you?” The question slipped out before she could stop <ol><li>it. </li></ol>
His brows drew together. “What’s wrong? Did I say something I shouldn’t?”
He felt the sudden shift in her mood, saw her turn her face from him, eyes breaking contact like shutters mming closed.
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18:21 Tue, 26 Aug
Chapter 346 She Vanished
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“You said nothing wrong,” Laura said, her smile soft yet distant. “But I always meant to be your girlfriend for a single borrowed year. To make you oppose the Whitethorn family for someone so temporary–it’s a burden I can’t carry.”
She and Julius had never been meant to cross paths.
Two encounters were more than enough.
The prince who once starred in her teenage dreams had turned into the dragon that scorched those dreams to ash.
That was the bitter end of it.
Quinn drifted back to consciousness beneath a ceiling she did not recognize, dim light etching unfamiliar patterns across the ster.
<i>Where </i><i>am </i><i>I</i><i>? </i>
In the next breath she froze, every muscle locking tight. An unfamiliar arm cinched her.waist, and a solid chest pressed against her back, radiating a stranger’s steady, possessive heat.
Instinct took over. She twisted, pivoted, and in a heartbeat had rolled atop the intruder, pinning him beneath her with the practiced grace of a soldier springing a trap.
Her left shoulder still burned, but the right answered the call, swift and sure enough toplete the
takedown.
Then her forearm pressed into the captive throat, and the man’s face slid into focus–unmistakable, disarming, and painfully familiar.
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