Chapter 364 Never Love Again

    Another crack rang out, as crisp and merciless as ice shattering in the dead of winter.

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    “So that’s your n–follow in your father’s footprints and force a child to grow up bearing your scars?” Quinn’s voice was arctic, every word a de.

    Julius froze, spine locking straight as a post. All color drained from his face in a single brutal heartbeat.

    He had sworn, with every breath, that he was nothing like the man who sired him, and yet moments ago, he almost did the same thing his father would.

    “But you… you’re not my mother. You would never choose death the way she did, right?” Julius’s lips trembled as he whispered the plea.

    “You’re right–I’m not your mother, and I won’t end my life for anyone. Push me, Julius, and I will either terminate the child or vanish with it, so deep into the world that you will never, ever find us,” she said coldly.

    A tremor rippled through him; breath snagged in his throat as though invisible fingers were choking the very air away.

    Yes–Quinn was not his mother; she would not drift into death’s arms. Instead, she would carve a new path, one that erased himpletely. iAm /iiI /iidoomed /iito /iichase /iiher /iiforever/ii, /iiwanting /iwhat iI /iicould /iinever /iihold/ii? /i

    “Do you really hate the thought of being with me again that much?” The despair drowning his eyes was almost painful to witness.

    “I despise being forced. Whether I carry a child is my decision–never yours. Julius, I am not your mother, and you must stop trying to be your father.”

    He lowered hisshes and let darkness close over his eyes.

    “Ha… Hahaha…” Theughter that spilled from his lips was a ragged, defeated thing, as though he wereughing at the funeral of his own hopes.

    He was a child again, back in that suffocating mansion, eachsh of his father’s belt branding the same verdict: useless, worthless, incapable even of keeping his mother alive. He had sworn he would never be that man. And yet, here he was, bing the man he hated most.

    “Julius?” Quinn watched him, the sight of his broken smile stirring an ache she could not

    name.

    Chapter 364 Never Love Again

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    She knew his wounds; she had traced their scars with her eyes. Yet understanding did not equal forgiveness, and it never would if he tried to cage her. No amount of pity for a boy mistreated could excuse the man he chose to be.

    Atst, after what felt like whole seasons passing, Julius opened his eyes.

    The despair was gone; in its cey a barren, colorless stillness.

    It was the same emptiness she had seen the very first time their paths crossed.

    “Very well, Quinn. I won’ty a hand on you, and I won’t force you. If you choose not to stay by my side, I will stop chasing after you. Like you said before, we walk apart from here.”

    Thest word had barely left Julius‘ mouth when he rose from the edge of the mattress. He never looked back at Quinn. Silent and rigid, he walked straight out of the bedroom.

    In the hush that followed, the room felt cavernous, its stillness pressing down until Quinn seemed the only soul on earth.

    t on her back, Quinn let a long, tremoring breath leak from her chest.

    iYou /iishould /iifeel /iirelieved/ii, /ishe told herself. iIf /iiJulius /iihad /iipushed /iiany /iifurther/ii, /iiwith /iimy /iiinjured /iishoulder/ii, /iireal /iidanger /iimight /iihave /iie /iifor /iime/i.

    iSo /iwhy ican’t /iiI /iishake /iithe /iiimage /iiof /iithose /iilifeless /iieyes /iihe /iishowed /iime /iiat /iithe /iidoor/ii? /i

    Across the house, Julius strode into his study and mmed a clenched fist against the ss cab. Shards burst outward, glittering as they fell, and scarlet streaked across his knuckles.

    Bright drops spattered the hardwood, a dark trail marking each heartbeat.

    “I will never–never–be my father,” Julius hissed, a brokenugh scraping across his throat.

    He knew too well that loving someone, begging for love, could twist a man into the monster he despised.

    iMaybe /iiif /iiI /iistop /iiloving /iialtogether/ii, /iinone /iiof /iithat /iiwill /iihappen/i, iright/ii? /i

    If he could cut loose every strand of yearning, every restless memory, he might never repeat his father’s tragedy.

    iIf /iionly /iiI /iicould /iireturn /iito /iithe /iiway /iithings /iiwere/i.

    iBack /iito /iithe /iidays /iibefore /iiI /iiever /iimet /iiher/ii… /i

    18:00 Thub, /bbSep /bb4 /b

    Chapter 364 Never Love Again

    :

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    The next morning, Quinn woke to an empty bed–and an emptier house. Julius was nowhere in sight.

    Downstairs, the dining table held a neatly arranged breakfast, steam curling from a pitcher of fresh coffee.

    iDid /iiJulius /iimake /iithis/i?

    She scanned every doorway, yet the man himself remained conspicuously absent.

    iIs /iihe /iiavoiding /iime /ion ipurpose/ii? /i

    Quinn had just sat down when the corner of her eye caught a sh of silver outside the floor- to–ceiling windows. A helicopter rested on thewn, and she froze mid–breath.

    A ihelicopter/ii? /iiWhy /iiwould /iione /iiset /iidown /ihere of all cesi? /iCould iJoaquin /iiWhitethorn /iihave /iishown /iiup /iagaini? /i

    Heart leaping, she dashed outside, eyes fixed on the whirring machine.

    Yet thewn was free of Joaquin or any other familiar figure.

    Footsteps crunched on the gravel behind her.

    Quinn spun and found a face she had not expected.

    “Fabian?b” /b

    “It’s me, Ms. Bridger,” Fabian said as he stepped closer.

    “Why are you here? And what’s with the helicopter?”