Chapter 457 The Storm
Chapter 457 The Storm
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“Small family?” Julius‘ voice was cool enough to frost ss. “The Bridger n of Yarburn, Azania, is a house of standing. Tell me–do you Celosians look down on Azania now?”
The branch cousin who had spoken reddened. “A pretty boy like you has no right to speak here!”
Rowan stepped forward calmly. “This pretty boy is Mr. Julius Whitethorn, head of Whitethorn Group. Does that sound like a mere pretty face to you?”
A collective gasp rippled through the hall; even Jacqueline’s expression copsed into stunned disbelief.
“Whitethorn Group?” The name hung in the air like a struck bell.
Only weeks ago, the patriarch himself had flown to Azania, cap in hand, hoping to secure a partnership with that very conglomerate.
And yet the handsome, cial man standing before them was Julius Whitethorn in the flesh.
“Impossible.” Jacqueline’s voice cracked on the word, her eyes wide enough to mirror the chandelier’s mes.
Quinn moved to Julius‘ side, her dress whispering across the marble. “Mr. Whitethorn is my boyfriend,” she stated, clear and steady. “He came today to celebrate my acknowledgment, though it seems certain people have misunderstood.”
<i>Boyfriend</i><i>? </i>
Faces froze, jaws ck–a tableau of sheer bewilderment.
They hadbeled Quinn an unremarkable woman, divorced, of modest origin. Now they discovered she was dating the Whitethorn Group leader. The revtion upended every quiet. calction made before dessert.
All eyes swung to Julius, hungry for a reaction, as though the verdict of the night rested on his next breath.
Even Quinn was nervous.
The past few days had felt like old times, easy banter and lingering nces, yet she still had no idea whether they were truly together again.
20:36 Mon, Oct 6 <b>N </b>
Chapter 457 The Storm
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If he <i>denies </i>it <i>here</i><i>, </i><i>I’m </i><i>finished</i>. <i>I’ll </i><i>shut </i><i>him </i><i>up </i><i>the </i><i>only </i><i>way </i><i>I </i><i>can</i><i>–</i><i>by </i><i>kissing </i><i>him </i><i>right </i><i>in </i><i>front </i><i>of </i><i>them </i><i>all</i>.
Julius turned his head with deliberate slowness and let his gaze settle on Quinn, who stood so close he could feel the brush of her breath against his check. Her eyes–midnight–dark, long-shed, shaped like a phoenix’s wing–seemed as calm as ss over deep water, yet he could not tell whether storms thrashed beneath the surface. In that suspended beat, Quinn realized she could not begin to guess what thoughts prowled behind hisposed fa?ade.
“Have you truly made up your mind, Quinn? Is this–our future–what you want?” Julius murmured, his voice no louder than the clink of crystal. “If the answer is yes, understand there will be no turning back.”
<i>Because </i><i>I </i><i>will </i><i>never </i><i>again </i><i>allow you </i><i>to </i>slip <i>from </i><i>my </i><i>grasp</i>. <i>Leave </i><i>once </i><i>more</i><i>, </i><i>and </i><i>no </i><i>corner </i><i>of </i><i>the </i><i>world </i>will <i>hide </i><i>you </i><i>from </i><i>me</i><i>. </i>
“I decided long ago, and you know it,” Quinn shot back, chin tilted. “I don’t do regrets, so I need no escape use–unless you…
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Her words dissolved as his mouth imed hers, a fierce, possessive kiss that swallowed the rest of the sentence and every startled gasp around them. “Since you feel no regret, there is no unless.”
The brazen kiss, delivered beneath chandeliers and a hundred widening eyes, proimed their bond more clearly than any official announcement.
Everett and Rowan exchanged identical frowns–the resigned look of men who had just watched their beloved sister and cousin taken by another man.
Yes, the man in question was obscenely wealthy, wlessly sculpted, and obedient to Quinn, yet the spectacle still grated on their nerves. Worse, he seemed perfectly happy to feast in full view of polite society.
All around the hall, shock melted into swift calction. It dawned on the guests that Quinn was not only the Fane family’s cherished princess; she was the inevitable future matriarch of the Whitethorn dynasty.
When the moment came to choose allegiances, the correct direction had just shed in zing neon. <fneb99> Checktest chapters at find?novel</fneb99>
Jacqueline trembled so violently that her diamond bracelet rattled. If Julius was truly responsible for her earlier disgrace–the public humiliation and that vicious kick–then every bruise amounted to nothing but wasted pain.
“You knew all along, didn’t you?” Jacqueline hissed, whipping toward Jade with eyes sharp
20:36 Mon, Oct 6 <b>N </b>
Chapter 457 The Storm
enough to slice crystal.
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After all, Jade had once sneered at Quinn. How else could her sudden reverence be exined?
“Yeah. I found out a few days before you,” Jade admitted through a tight grimace. Her cheekbones and ribs still throbbed from the punches she had collected earlier; each pulse of pain was a vivid reminder.
“So you decided to sit back and enjoy the show?” Jacqueline snapped.
“You dragged me into this circus,” Jade shot back. “If you hadn’t clutched my arm, I’d have left by now.”
If it weren’t for Jacqueline, she wouldn’t have been caught up in this mess.
“Quinn is my niece,” Everett announced, clearing his throat until the microphone squealed, “and whether she bears the name Bridger or Fane, she remains the eldest heiress of our house. Anyone who dares disrespect her deres war on the Fane family. If any coteral rtive feels she is unworthy of that title, pack up and leave our home tonight.”
His words struck the banquet hall like a gavel, leaving no room for misunderstanding.
The faces of the coteral Fane n nched in unison. The message was simple: gossip again, and exile would follow.