Chapter 422 Moonlit Standoff
Chapter 422 Moonlit Standoff
+20 Free Coins
Quinn leaned toward him, the movement slow and deliberate. Before either of them could breathe, the tip of her nose grazed the sharp edge of Julius‘ jaw.
The man’s entire body instantly went rigid, as though that feather–light touch had fired an electric current straight through his spine.
“What makes you so certain that guilt is the only reason I’m trying to make things right between us?“, she whispered, her lips so close he could taste the heat of her words.
“If it isn’t guilt, then what is it?” Julius‘ voice came out raw, scratched thin by sleepless nights. “Do you honestly think I’ll believe you’ve fallen back in love with me–that love, of all things, is why you’re here now?”
“Why can’t the answer simply be that I love you?”
“Back then, when you still loved me, you didn’t seem to have a problem ending our rtionship. I begged–God, how I begged–and yet, you still walked away. Now, after one fire, you expect me to believe you’ve rekindled your love for me?” Julius asked before letting out a hollowugh. “Or is it because you heard that I’m donating stem cells to Lena, and the noble gesture moved you? Is that why you decided I was worth loving again?”
She hade all the way to Celosia, and just days ago, Gavin had returned home.
With that information, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together. The doctor must have told Quinn about the donation.
“I’m grateful that you’re donating your stem cells to Lena,” Quinn exined, her tone steady and crystal clear. “But gratitude alone has never made me fall for someone. I’m not choosing <i>to </i>love you again, Julius… I’ve never stopped loving you.”
His shoulders jerked as if struck. He stared at her, thunderstruck, every feature carved in disbelief.
“Yes. I’ve always loved you,” she affirmed, her voice ringing like ss in the dim room. “I thought ending things would free me. I told myself I could let us go. I acted brave, but the truth is I’ve neverid this love down.”
As Quinn spoke, her fingertips skimmed along the hard ne of Julius‘ cheek, a touch that spoke of both apology and promise. “I know I can be stubborn and difficult at times. But that fire–standing at death’s door–made me realize something. If I’m not even afraid of dying and insist on taking you with me, then why not try to rebuild the trust that was destroyed?”
<b>18:04 </b><b>Mon</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b><b>22 </b>
Chapter 422 Moonlit Standoff
Still, Julius said nothing, staring as thoughnguage itself had deserted him.
+20 Free Coins
“Julius Whitethorn, I love you. You told me I owed you nothing, and you’re right. I saved your life when we were kids, and when we grew up, I saved you once again. So whatever debts there might have been, they’re even now. I love you, and it has nothing to do with guilt!”
Julius‘ eyes widened. “H–How did you know?”
“Know what? That the little girl who saved you all those years ago was me?” Quinn replied, chuckling softly. “When Dr. Huxley visited, he noticed the ruby ne. That was when everything began falling into ce.”
“Yes. I can’t believe we met far earlier than either of us realized,” he muttered, awed by the puzzle finally solved, and the fact that Quinn had been his savior all along.
“If only I’d asked for your contact information,” Quinn said, voice tinged with regret. “That way, maybe when I returned home, I would have written, called, and even searched for you. We might have grown up side by side like childhood sweethearts and fallen in love with each other much, much earlier…”
The images she painted drifted through Julius‘ mind like a fleeting dream–brief, exquisite, dangerously sweet.
Yet the most perfect dreams, he knew, often shattered at dawn.
She inched closer, her lips hovering over his, breath a sugared cloud. “Julius, will you give us another chance?”
Her breath fanned across his skin, and her intoxicating scent made his head spin.
Did she realize what she was doing? Those words were a siren song, irresistible, deadly beautiful–yet…
“And what if I say no?”
The ragged question broke the charged silence, his husky voice vibrating through the thick, electric air.
Quinn froze mid–movement. Their mouths now hovered only a breath apart–one tiny shift, and she could im the kiss that had burned in her imagination night after sleepless night.
“You don’t want to?” she whispered, the question quivering like a bird cupped in trembling hands.
Her heart cinched tight, wrapped in something so cold it felt almost metallic.
18:04 Mon<b>, </b>Sep 22
Chapter 422 Moonlit Standoff
<b>36 </b>
+20 Free Coins
She had imagined a thousand excuses for his constant avoidance, yet every one returned to the same brutal conclusion–he simply did not wish to be with her anymore.
But hearing the admission aloud still sliced through her chest with the clean cruelty of a surgeon’s de.
“Yes,” Julius answered, his voice t as winter stone. “I don’t.”
“Have you stopped loving me, then?” she asked, barely daring to breathe.
Julius pressed his parched lips together. “Yes, I don’t—”
Before the lie could finish forming, Quinn’s hand rose and covered his mouth.
“You know what I’m like,” she murmured. “I can stomach silence, but I cannot endure a lie. Say nothing if you must, just don’t lie to me.”
Julius fell into a heavy silence, offering no further protest.
“If you still love me, why won’t you let us try again?” Quinn asked, searching his shadowed
eyes. 2
He fixed his gaze on hers, then slowly removed her palm from his lips. His thin mouth shaped the words, “Because I don’t want to be abandoned again.”
<i>If </i><i>I </i><i>am fated </i><i>to </i><i>be </i><i>cast </i><i>aside</i><i>, </i><i>then </i>it’s <i>kinder </i><i>never </i><i>to </i><i>hope </i><i>at </i><i>all</i>.
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and
continue reading tomorrow, everyone!