Chapter 283 Fragile Trust
Chapter 283 Fragile Trust
She froze, staring at him in stunned disbelief.
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“You did promise,” Julius repeated, clinging to the words like a drowning man to driftwood, “Quinnie, you can’t go back on that.”
Quinn let out a sharp, mirthless laugh, tears glazing her eyes. “No wonder people say Mr. Whitethorn plots three steps ahead. I never imagined you calculated even this. You made me pledge forgiveness as insurance, didn’t you?”
“I…” He pressed his dry lips together. He knew how despicable that sounded.
Yet he still could not bear to let her go.
“Please stay,” he pleaded.
“Let go,” she said, glancing at the fingers clamped around her wrist.
His voice cracked. “What if I refuse?”
Without a word, she began prying his fingers away, one after another.
But his grip only tightened, unwilling to yield.
Her eyes darkened. Crack!
His forefinger jutted at a grotesque angle, freshly snapped by her.
Julius whispered, his face pale, “Quinnie, if breaking my fingers helps, take all tén.”
Quinn frowned. “Julius, do you honestly find this entertaining?”
He shook his head, still holding on. “No, but I can’t let you go.”
Quinn drew a sharp breath. “I’ll say it once more–loosen your grip,”
He kept silent, his hand clamped around her wrist.
Crack. The sound split the air, and pain speared her chest as though her bones had snapped. His middle finger folded, then the ring finger, and with the third sickening snap, she finally tore herself free.
Julius looked at her, oblivious to the broken fingers. “Please don’t leave. Hurt me all you want, just stay.”
Quinn studied the mangled fingers. “Hurt you all I want? Can that resurrect Rowan or erase the lies you fed me?”
She had never imagined she would one day hurt him like this.
Quinn said, “If you don’t want this to get uglier, stop blocking my way.”
Frozen in place, he could only watch as she packed every last belonging into her suitcase. When she rolled it past him and out of the bedroom without a backward glance, he found his voice at last.
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Chapter 283 Fragile Trust
Julius pleaded, “Quinnie, I was wrong, I know I was wrong, just please don’t abandon me.”
Quinn began, “Julius, you and I are already-
A dull thud cut her off. She spun around to see Julius collapse to his knees on the hardwood floor.
“You” Quinn stared, stunned that he had gone to his knees.
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He choked out, “You once said you wanted me–want me to the end, remember? Don’t walk away. I inade one mistake. Does one mistake leave me no chance at all?”
Quinn stared at the man before her, knuckles whitening on the suitcase handle. “Some mistakes leave no room for mercy,” she said quietly. “I once promised to forgive anything short of a crime, but this… This I cannot forgive.”
She turned her back and walked out without another word.
The door slammed behind her, and Julius felt the entire world sink into darkness.
Even one mistake was unforgivable. It had been only once.
He had replayed that day a thousand times, cursing himself for failing to save Rowan. If only he had met Quinn sooner. If five years ago, he had seen a single photograph of her brother–everything would have been different.
If only he had crossed paths with Rowan that day, he could have pulled him to safety, and he and Quinn would be living the life they dreamed of.
He stayed on his knees even after Quinn left.
“Daylight drained from the windows before he finally staggered upright.
His right hand hung at his side, three broken fingers twisted grotesquely, yet he seemed oblivious. He swept the apartment with a desperate glance, then, as though possessed, began tearing through every room in search of her belongings.”
When she first moved in, she had carried little more than a single suitcase. Tonight, she had taken everything with her, as though she meant never to return.
Julius stopped beside the nightstand. After a long pause, he opened the drawer and found a small box. She had once told him it was meant for his birthday. She had taken every other possession yet left this one behind.
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