Chapter 213 Perfume Of Nightmares 

Quinn’s eyes blazed. Though Julius had regained a hint of lucidity, his lids stayed shut, sweat beading on his brow while the veins at his temples throbbed with agony. 

She had been apart from him for barely an hour, and he was already reduced to this. 

Just as Marley struggled to rise, Quinn lifted a foot and stamped between her shoulder blades, driving her face–first onto the floor. 

“Marley, I’ll ask one more time. What exactly did you do to Julius, and what is that fragrance on you?” 

Marley writhed, but Quinn’s foot felt as heavy as lead; she simply could not get up. 

She snapped at the servants around them, “What are you idiots waiting for? Pull Quinn off me!” 

But none of them dared move. 

Everyone knew Marley had fallen from favor, while Quinn was the old patriarch’s cherished granddaughter. Word of the fifth branch’s sacrifice had spread among the staff, and many already felt protective toward Quinn. 

Seeing no one respond, Marley flushed with humiliation and rage. “You all want to be fired? Quinn, if you humiliate me again, I swear I’ll make you pay!” 

“Marley.” Quinn’s tone was icy as she looked down at her. “If you don’t tell me what you did and something happens to Julius, I’ll make sure you never know another peaceful day.” 

Her foot pressed even harder as she spoke. 

Marley felt as though her spine might snap, and Quinn’s expression was pure frost and loathing. 

It was impossible to doubt that, if she kept silent, Quinn really would break her back. 

“I–I only sprayed some perfume… I didn’t do anything!” Marley cried. 

“If it’s only perfume, why is Julius in this state?” Quinn demanded. 

Marley’s complexion alternated between red and white; in Quinn, she suddenly saw the same terror she had felt moments ago when Julius’s hands closed around her throat. 

“It’s just… the same perfume his mother wore when she died. I–I don’t know why he reacted like this!” 

Quinn stiffened. The perfume from the day his mother died? 

She knew that tragedy had left the deepest scar in his heart. 

And now Marley had deliberately doused herself in that scent–what was she after? 

But she had no time to unravel motives. Supporting Julius, she hurried out of the Bridger residence. 

The parlor was left in utter disarray. 

Marley staggered to her feet, shooting the servants a vicious glare. 

Years ago, she and Julius had watched his mother take her own life. The perfume bottle shattered on the 

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floor, flooding the air with that cloying scent. 

She knew that smell had become Julius’s living nightmare; he had even bought the perfume company just to destroy the formula. 

Recently, she’d learned someone had recreated the discontinued fragrance as a hobby. Marley spent a hefty sum to buy a bottle. 

She remembered how, in the months after the suicide, Julius would grow panicked and incoherent whenever he caught the scent, clinging desperately to anyone nearby. 

“So after he rebuffed her and left the parlor, she had sprayed herself with the perfume and stationed a maid at the door. 

Her plan was simple–wait until the scent muddled his senses, strip off her clothes, and either truly sleep with him or at least create the perfect illusion in front of witnesses.” 

What thrilled her most was the certainty that this would ruin Julius and Quinn’s relationship. 

But she had never imagined that, instead of panic, Julius would become a savage whirl of violence, intent on murder. 

The memory of his fingers closing around her throat sent a chill racing down her spine. 

“What are you staring at?” Marley snapped at the servants. 

The maids dropped their gazes. One of them bent to gather several photos that had skittered across the floor. 

“Wait–what’s that?” Marley called. 

“They… they fell from Miss Quinn’s pocket just now,” the maid stammered. 

Marley snatched the photographs from the maid’s hand. She could hardly believe Quinn had been carrying them around; well, she would find out whose face was captured in these prints! Let’s see whose picture Quinn is hiding! 

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