Chapter 285 Fractured Hearts.
Chapter 285 Fractured Hearts
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Quinn kept silent while Fabian’s voice rose at the other end. “Ms. Bridger, if Mr. Whitethorn will not go to the hospital now, his fingers may set wrong. Even if they heal, he could lose his hand.”
After a long pause, she asked, “Where is he?”
“Still in the apartment you once shared,” Fabian answered. Without another word, Quinn ended the call.
Her car swallowed the distance to the apartment while regret rode beside her. She had snapped those fingers herself. She had only meant to get away, never to cripple him, yet every flashing streetlight accused her of cruelty.
Fabian waited at the doorway and rushed forward when she arrived. “Mr. Whitethorn is inside. Ms. Bridger, I have never seen him like this. Please, whatever happened, forgive him.”
“Fabian.” Her voice cut through his plea. “What stands between Julius and me is none of your business.”
Fabian understood he had overstepped and fell silent.
Quinn opened the door and slipped inside alone.
Empty bottles littered the coffee table. Julius lay stretched across the couch, as if passed out, wearing the same clothes from the night before. His right hand hung over the armrest, three fingers twisted at grotesque angles, the same fingers she had broken.
Pain speared through her chest. She had ended the relationship with her own lips, but love did not vanish simply because a sentence had been spoken.
She stepped closer. Even in drunken sleep, his brow remained knotted, the face so familiar to her etched with silent torment.
On his right wrist, she spotted the bracelet, the birthday gift she had meant to fasten around him herself. Her eyes stung. Two days ago, she had been planning his birthday, and now everything lay in ruins.
She bent over him and called softly, “Julius.”
“Julius!” His eyelids did not even flutter.
Quinn sighed. She would have to get him to the hospital, and if he would not wake, she would carry him. there herself. She reached for his left arm but froze. The hand clutched a single card, pressed tight against his heart.
Quinn froze at the sight of the card–the same one where she had scribbled her well–wishes. A lump rose in her throat, surprise and sorrow mixing so quickly she almost forgot to breathe.
She reached out to tug the card from his hand, but his fingers clamped down as if startled awake. Though his eyes stayed shut, he pleaded in ragged whispers, “Don’t… Don’t go, Quinnie, please don’t leave.”
His tall frame curled inward, arms locking around the card like a child refusing to be pried from what he loves most.
Quinn stared at the man, reminding herself that she had come today for one purpose only–to drag him
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17:19 Tue, 5 Aug
Chapter 285 Fractured Hearts
to the hospital.
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With a sharp breath, she hauled him upright. Because his left hand clutched the card in a death grip, she had to grasp his right arm, taking the full weight of his broad, drunken body. Julius was tall even sober; in his current state, he felt leaden. Any ordinary woman would never have managed to budge him at all.
When she finally staggered out of the penthouse lobby with Julius slung over her shoulder, Fabian hurried forward, adding his own strength beneath their swaying employer.
Julius kept murmuring, “Quinnie… Quinnie…” each repetition drawing him closer, his heavy frame pressing insistently against her. Even drunk, his body sought the familiar scent it trusted.
As they walked, his lips skimmed the soft skin of her neck, a fleeting touch that, paired with his broken whispers, made her want to cry even more.
Inside the car, Quinn settled Julius in the back seat. She leaned over to fasten his belt, and when she lifted her head, she met a pair of crimson, intoxicated eyes staring straight at her.
Is he awake? The question flashed through her, leaving her momentarily speechless.
Julius did not blink. When Quinn tried to retreat, his injured right hand shot out, three fingers broken yet still managing to clamp around her wrist. She stiffened, eyes drifting to the mangled hand. She could easily yank herself free, but the motion might worsen the damage.
“Julius, loosen your grip. I don’t want you hurting that hand again,” Quinn said.
“Is… Is this a dream?” Julius whispered.
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