Chapter 287 Clinging Desperation
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“Now that my finger’s treated, you think your responsibility ends there, don’t you?” Julius murmured, his face buried in the curve of her neck, voice scraped raw.
“If you want me to pay the medical costs, I can-”
“You know I’m not talking about money. You claimed me, Quinn. Shouldn’t you see it through?”
She was the one who had lured him out of endless night, coaxing him, inch by inch, toward the promise of daylight. And now she meant to shove him back into the dark. He held her so tightly she could hardly breathe, yet the harder he clung, the clearer the video flashed in her mind–Rowan dragged across the ground and tossed aside like trash. The image would not fade.
She didn’t even know who to blame. Do I fault him for leaving Rowan to suffer? I have always known he lacked empathy. Or do I blame myself for loving him? Had I never loved him, I would not be in such pain now.
“Julius, I took from you, but I gave as much in return. Neither of us owes the other.” With that, she ripped herself free and walked away.
Julius stood frozen, watching Quinn’s silhouette shrink until the corridor swallowed her. Moments earlier, her embrace had felt as if he held the entire world. Now, with her absence, the world slipped through his fingers, Cold seeped into his bones, and with the chill came a steady, needling pain that refused to stop.
The pain felt endless, stretching on without mercy.
Guards marched Marley through the iron gates of Whitethorn Manor.
“Let me go! I am the eldest daughter of the Bridger family. If something happens to me, they will never let this rest.” She fought against their hold.
Moments ago, her arrogance had been unshakable. Now, terror drowned every spark of defiance. When Julius stepped into view, that fear spiked until it hollowed her out.
Yesterday, she had recklessly spilled the secret. Once she calmed down, she finally understood what she had done, and dread took root.
“Julius, please, spare me. I swear I will never appear in front of you or Quinn again!” Marley cried.
“Spare you?” Julius answered, his tone flat, a frozen aura rolling off him.
In the past, Julius had seemed detached, a man observing life from a distant shore. Now he looked like a blade forged for slaughter, glinting with a killing chill.
“Yes, spare me! I gave up an eye for you, remember. Please-” Her plea snapped off.
A gun barrel dug into her temple, the metal biting like ice. Marley shook so violently her knees knocked together as she stared at Julius in naked horror. He is going to kill me.
“Spare you? Then who will spare me?” His voice rasped, fevered with rage. “Marley Bridger, you are the first person I have ever truly hated. I never imagined I would be brought low by a rat like you. You think the Bridger family will avenge you? Let’s test that. If I pull the trigger right here, will they still dare to come for me?”
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Ty Tue, 5 Aug
Chapter 287 Clinging Desperation
His final word barely faded before the weapon clicked, a fresh round sliding into the chamber.
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“No–you cannot kill me! I am still a Bridger. If Quinn finds out you murdered me, do you think she will ever stay with you?” Marley screamed.
In an instant, Julius‘ eyes flared, red as fresh wounds.
Quinnie… She is a righteous person. If my hands carry blood, then in her eyes, that is a crime. She broke up with me, said we had no future, yet I still dare to dream that we do. I see us growing old together, just like the promise on the birthday card she gave me. But she has already cast me aside, so completely that when she left the hospital today, she did not look back even once.
“Marley Bridger, do you have any idea how much you deserve death?” Julius snarled, and the gun roared.
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