Chapter 210 A Plea For Forgiveness
Chapter 210 A Plea For Forgiveness
The whispered words carried a desperate entreaty.
“If you already know it’s wrong, then simply don’t do it,” Quinn said.
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“But what if… I’ve already done it? Maybe I didn’t realize at the time it was wrong.” He shifted uneasily. “Quinn, before I met you I wasn’t a good man. I cared about nothing, not even whether people lived or died, but…”
He paused. “From now on I’ll be good. So–no matter what I did before, will you forgive me?”
Quinn studied him; unease, anxiety, and a rare urgency crowded his features.
It felt as though her answer meant everything to him.
Yet why did he care so fiercely about her forgiving his past?
Pressing her lips together, Quinn said, “As long as your past didn’t betray our country or violate basic human decency, I’ll forgive you–even if you made mistakes.”
She understood that a man like him must carry a complicated history.
There were shadows she had never yet stepped into.
To Julius, her reply sounded like music from the heavens.
He tightened his embrace. “Thank you, Quinn. Thank you for being willing to forgive me.”
If he could help her find Rowan, then even when she learned the whole truth, surely, she would still forgive him.
If only he had known the woman he would love would be someone like her, he would have chosen from the very beginning to be a principled man–one capable of compassion and mercy.
Over the next few days, Quinn moved everything she’d cleared from the Bridger residence into her city apartment.
When she stepped out afterward, she glanced back at the door, hoping the next time she returned it would be with Rowan beside her.
She then took Harlan sightseeing around Yarburn’s famous landmarks–and Julius insisted on tagging along.
“What, the mighty head of the Whitethorn family has this much free time? No company matters to handle, so you tail other people all day?” Harlan mocked from the back seat.
Julius shot back, “That’s still better than a certain Mr. Ingram who abandons his law firm just to play tourist in Yarburn.”
“Oh, cut it out! All the chaos at the firm started with you, didn’t it?” Harlan glared at him.
“If you can’t sort out a trifle like that, maybe the firm should close its doors,” Julius retorted.
The two grown men bickered heatedly in the rear while, up front, Quinn drove toward the next attraction.
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Initially, both men had insisted on driving so she could ride shotgun. For the sake of peace and quiet, she banished them to the back and took the wheel herself.
The car rolled to a stop in front of Yarburn’s famous old city wall.
Quinn stepped out first, with Julius and Harlan right behind her.
She said, “There’s a wishing tree here. People love to stand beneath it and pray–word is, the wishes often come true.”
At her words, both men stiffened a little, as though some private thought had flashed across their minds.
“Come on,” Quinn urged, striding toward the old city wall that glowed gold in the afternoon sun.
Julius and Harlan exchanged a silent look, then followed.
When they had finished wandering along the battlements, the three of them stopped beneath the sprawling oak that served as the wishing tree. Quinn laced her fingers together, closed her eyes, and began to pray.
If wishes are real, please let me find Rowan soon.
Harlan tipped his head back, studying the towering trunk. Do wishes really work? If I ask to be with Quinn one day–truly with her–will it ever happen?
A laugh slipped from him. What am I thinking? I’ve never believed in this stuff.
His gaze drifted to Quinn’s serene face. Why can she fall for Julius yet look at me as nothing more than a younger brother? Exactly where am I lacking compared with him?
From the corner of his eye, Harlan glanced at Julius beside her.
To his surprise, Julius also stood with fingers interlocked, the picture of devotion.
Harlan froze. Julius believes in this, too? That’s… unexpected.
Moments later, Quinn opened her eyes, turned, and met Julius’s steady gaze.
“You made a wish as well?” she asked, genuinely curious; a man like him could seemingly obtain anything he wanted without divine help.
Julius’s eyes warmed. “I wished that we would grow old together.”
Quinn blinked. Harlan frowned. “You two have barely been dating–how can you already talk about spending a lifetime together with Quinnie?”
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