Chapter 217 Unexpected Encounter
Chapter 217 Unexpected Encounter
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Outside the hospital, Julius wore a somber expression. He said, “Why didn’t you ever tell me you had this lingering problem?”
Quinn replied, “It’s nothing, really. Soldiers all come away with one ailment or another. Why? Does it bother you?”
“It does!” Julius gripped her hand, his fingers tense with worry. “I want you perfectly healthy. From now on I’m taking charge of your meals and nursing that stomach back to shape.”
She caught the earnest fear in his eyes and smiled.
Years ago, while she was building a start–up for Trent, her gastritis had flared again and again; on the worst nights she slipped into the ER at two in the morning, and Trent cared only about whether the contract was signed or the proposal finished. He had sworn every sacrifice was for their future–but now, Quinn realized, the difference between someone who loved her and someone who merely said he did was a world
apart.
Meanwhile, Laura accompanied Harlan to a neighborhood bar. The kid looked like a thundercloud, and she couldn’t leave him brooding over whiskey alone, so she kept him company.
Before long, he was unmistakably drunk. Laura said, “Up you get. I’ll order a driver and send you home.”
She herself had downed a few glasses and was in no condition to drive.
“Home, right… need to go home,” Harlan mumbled. He fumbled out his phone, dialed, and slurred, “I’m smashed. I’m at the bar next to your office. Come get me.”
The moment the call ended he tipped back another shot.
“Stop,” Laura scolded. “Any more and you’ll be the one headed to the ER.”
“Relax, I-” Harlan doubled over and vomited.
Laura leapt aside just in time. None landed on her–good–but the couch was ruined, and his jacket was splattered too. He let his head loll and passed out cold.
Laura stared at him. Seriously? Out like a light?
The mess on his clothes couldn’t stay. She dragged him to the other end of the sofa, unfastened his jacket, and peeled the soiled garment away. Noticing the collar tight against his throat, she thought loosening a couple of buttons might help him breathe.
She had slipped the second button/free when the door flew open and a voice sliced through the room. “What now, Laura? Got your eye on Harlan and plan to strip him the way you once stripped me?”
Laura jolted. No way… that voice…
Harlan must have called Weston–her ex–boyfriend.
She turned, and there he was: tall, lean, a tailored black suit molding every sharp line, his handsome face. the very image that fueled half the daydreams in Jexburgh society.
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Chapter 217 Unexpected Encounter
+5 Free Coins
Weston Windore.
Perfect. Just perfect.
She forced a brittle smile. “What a coincidence.”
“Indeed. Quite the coincidence.” He stepped inside, towering over her.
She pursed her dry lips. Weston’s features were sculpted, and his long, dark eyes carried an almost suffocating pressure whenever they fixed on someone. The man radiated disciplined restraint.
His gaze slid past her to the unconscious Harlan. “If I hadn’t walked in, were you planning to strip my nephew bare? You did the same to me back then, didn’t you?”
Laura’s cheeks flamed. That is not the same thing!
Back then, she’d peeled his clothes off because she was shamelessly lusting after him; tonight she was performing a public service.
“I didn’t strip him. He threw up and got it on his jacket. I’m doing the decent thing and removing the dirty coat.”
“Then why undo his shirt buttons?” Weston’s eyes were sharp as scalpels.
“To let him breathe,” she answered, meeting his stare with what she hoped was pure sincerity. A top attorney’s stare could make even a saint feel guilty.
Seeing his skepticism, she hurried on. “I have zero designs on him. Harlan is not my type. Even if he danced naked in front of me, I’d feel nothing.”
Weston raised an eyebrow but let the matter drop. He bent and hauled Harlan upright. “How much did he drink?”
“Not quite three bottles,” she said.
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