Chapter 319 Longing In The Night
The next morning, Quinn handed the document Julius gave her to Harlan.
Harlan tapped the page and said, “An illegitimate son recognized only three years back; the documente from that period are nearly opaque, which means Rowan might fit the description”
“So I’m planning to attend tonight’s gala and meet him myself,” Quinn said.
Face–to–face, some knots could finally be untangled.
“You want to meet Leander?” Harlan blurted.
“Yes. Julius says Leander will be at a banquet tonight, so I’m going with him,” she explained.
“Then I’m going too!” Harlan declared at once.
“But the event is invitation–only, you-” she began.
“An invitation is the least of my problems” Harlan said, utterly sure of himself. “Quinnie, you don’t have to cling to Julius just to walk through a ballroom–I can escort you.”
Before Quinn could answer, Julius‘ voice sliced through the air. “What’s wrong, Mr. Ingram–hoping she’ll burn the bridge right after crossing it?”
Quinn turned. Julius strode over and dropped into the chair beside her as though it belonged to him.
Harlan shrugged. “She arrived with me–so why shouldn’t she leave with me?”
Seeing tension coil between the two men, Quinn lifted both hands. “All right, enough. The three of us can go together–or I can just go alone, if that’s simpler!”
The two men exchanged a look, something like reluctant respect flickering between them, and after a beat they answered in near perfect unison, “Fine–three of us it is.”
Only then did Quinn allow herself a quiet breath of relief.
That afternoon, Harlan left to procure the coveted invitations while Quinn followed Julius to a fashionable styling salon downtown.
She did not bring a single evening gown with her.
As they stepped through the salon’s glass doors, Quinn glanced sideways and asked, “By the way, did you sleep at all last night?”
A faint bruise of exhaustion lay beneath his eyes.
“Are you worrying about me?” Julius asked, clearly taken aback.
Quinn pressed her lips together, a small, almost imperceptible tension flashing across her face. “No,” she said, voice calm but guarded, “I was only making conversation. If you’d rather not answer, that’s perfectly fine.”
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Chapter 319 Longing In The Night
“Then what if I tell you the truth that I barely sleep at all?” Julius‘ tone hovered between teasing and confession. “Quinn, since the night we separated, insomnia has stalked me like a shadow. Would you plis me enough to come back, get back together with me, and let me fall asleep again?”
Quinn halted mid–step, turning to face him with steady, practical eyes. “If your insomnia is real, Julius you should see a doctor.”
“And if every doctor fails,” he asked softly, “and only you can cure me?”
“I’m not a doctor,” she replied, keeping her distance. “Healing isn’t what I do
He exhaled, the faintest sigh, and let the subject drop. “You’re right,” he murmured, gesturing toward the row of evening gowns. “Pick whichever dress you like first.”
A salon attendant guided Quinn through rows of silk and satin, the soft rustle of fabric filling the quiet
space.
Julius sank into a leather couch, gaze fixed on her as though she were the only light in the room.
His sleeplessness was rooted deep in his mind, beyond the reach of pills or therapy.
He had once believed the fracture in his mind had finally knitted shut..
Years earlier, the unthinkable had unfolded before his eyes–his mother stepping into eternity by her own hand–and the aftershocks had sent him spiraling through sleepless nights, panic–soaked dawns, and therapy sessions that seemed to stretch into infinity.
Inch by inch, over several grinding years, he had clawed his way back to something resembling ordinary, until finally he could put his head on a pillow and drift without fear.
Even when a nightmare tore him upright, sweat–slick and shaking, sheer willpower usually steadied his breathing, coaxing him back beneath the blankets.
But after they separated, sleep became an enemy with sharpened teeth, and every dusk felt like a verdict passed on his sanity..
The doctors now spoke in hushed warnings, their charts filling with red flags that multiplied faster than he could pretend otherwise. If the downward slide continued, they said, the fragile scaffolding of his mind might splinter for good.
“Quinn, if I truly lose my mind, will you still want me?” he whispered, so low the question dissolved into the empty air.
Later, Quinn chose a simple beige gown. A string of white pearls at her throat and matching earrings elevated her presence from understated to regal. A quiet resolve in her brows softened nothing; if anything, it lent her an edge of unyielding strength.
“Breathtaking,” Julius breathed, stepping closer as though drawn by gravity.
“Hardly,” she said, brushing off the compliment. “There will be plenty of women far prettier at the gala.”
answered, fingertips/grazing her cheek before he could stop himself. “To me, no one could ever
“No,” he outshine you.”
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In his eyes she was pure radiance, the axis around which every color turned. That brilliance held him captive, making surrender impossible.
If he let go, the dark would swallow him whole. Even imagining it made his pulse jolt with fear.
“Don’t,” Quinn said, turning aside and stepping back. “Julius, my only focus now is finding Rowan. Everything else I refuse to consider.”
“I understand,” he said, lashes trembling. The words were soft, but they cost him more than she could know.
For her, nothing outweighed her brother. That truth had never changed–and likely never would.
Julius bent close, the hallway sconces setting a pale rim of light along his shoulders. “Quinn. believe this- no one longs more than I do to see you reunited with Rowan, and the sooner it happens, the better.”
