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    Chapter 373 Midnight Interrogation

    Laura cleared her throat. “Howe you’re out here?”

    “That man who just left–was it Weston Windore?”

    Surprise shed across Laura’s face. “You knew?”

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    “I saw you leading him out of your bedroom,” Quinn said, her tone steady but probing.

    A few minutes earlier, while knocking on her friend’s door, Quinn had sensed something was off. She had slipped back into the hallway and watched until Laura escorted Weston outside.

    “He… just stopped by to look around,” Laura answered, the words stumbling over one another.

    Quinn arched an eyebrow, her gaze sharpening. “You and him-

    “”

    “Nothing’s going on. We’re simply signing on to be boyfriend and girlfriend for one year, nothing more. All I have to do is stand between him and every lovesick stray that tries totch on, then, when twelve months are up, we split.”

    Quinn asked, “Does he see it the same way?”

    Laura answered before the question had even settled in the air. “Absolutely.”

    “And if, when the year is over, he refuses to let go?”

    Laura scoffed,ughter snapping like a spark. “Impossible! We’re talking about Weston Windore. Do you honestly think he’d ever love me so much he couldn’t bear to walk away?”

    Quinn only shrugged, a ripple of nonchnce rolling across her shoulders. The future, after all, was anyone’s guess.

    She had never expected to fall for Julius Whitethorn, and she certainly hadn’t foreseen the brutal way their story would end. D

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    The next morning, Quinn and Laura arrived at the office together, the autumn sun still struggling to clear the rooftops.

    Quinn had been gone for weeks. Stacks of proposals and unanswered e–mails waited like restless dogs, and the moment she stepped inside, the day exploded into motion.

    Laura reminded, “Your shoulder’s not fully healed. Don’t drown yourself in work.”

    Quinn offered a confident, almost mischievous smile. “Rx. I know

    my limits.”

    On top of restarting thepany’s stalled projects, she needed to uncover why her brother Rowan insisted on staying with the Fane family in far–off Celosia. Han had promised to keep digging, but Quinn refused to sit back and rely on someone else’s answers.

    While she was sorting out documents, she paused in surprise.

    “There’s an invitation to bid from Whitethorn Group tomorrow?”

    Laura nodded. “Yeah. Three–party priceparison. Kevin and I will handle it. You don’t have to get involved.”

    Quinn shook her head. “It concerns the droneponents project, and if we win, I’ll be in charge. I’m going with you tomorrow.”

    Laura hesitated, worry stitching across her brow. “But you and Julius…”

    Quinn waved the concern away. “Rx. This is business. Julius isn’t the type to mix personal issues and business. Besides, I’m going to be in Jexburgh for the foreseeable future. I can’t avoid him like a fugitive every time I spot him.”

    Laura let the matter drop since Quinn had already said so.

    She managed a small smile. “All right, we’ll go together tomorrow.”

    The following morning, the two women drove toward Whitethorn Group’s building, city traffic hemming them in like slow–moving steel walls.

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    Just outside the lobby, Quinn unexpectedly spotted Leander and Serena. Then she remembered the Fane family hade to Jexburgh at the Whitethorns‘

    invitation. Seeing them here should not have surprised her.

    Leander and Serena noticed her at the exact same moment.

    Serena’s lip curled in open disdain. “Quinn, you’ve got some nerve. Still chasing my brother? Didn’t he make himself clear at the restaurant?”

    Quinn’s gaze turned cial. “You and I both know whose brother he really is.”

    A family as powerful as the Fanes would never ept a rtive without a DNA test. If no test had been done, it could only mean they already knew there was no blood tie at all.

    Laura’s eyes went wide when she finally saw Leander up close. She had met Rowan before, yet hearing Quinn insist Leander was Rowan and now seeing the uncanny resemnce shook her to the core.

    Laura’s voice wobbled, barely above a whisper as she edged closer, hope zing in her eyes. “Rowan!”

    Leander’s jaw tightened, yet his reply was crisp. “My name is Leander Fane.”

    Laura stammered, the words tumbling over themselves. “But Quinn already had the DNA test run–you’re unmistakably-”

    Leander cut her off, voice sharp enough to slice the air. “I know nothing about any DNA analysis, and I have never authorized such a test.”

    Silence mped over Laura. She looked helplessly toward Quinn, the plea in her eyes saying what her tongue could not.

    She knew better than anyone how many years Quinn had spent scouring the world for Rowan–risking border crossings, chasing digital shadows, grasping at rumors that dissolved like smoke.

    Quinn drew a deep breath, then stepped forward until only inches separated her from Leander.

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    “Mr. Fane, you once told me that because I saved your life, you owed me a single favor within your power. Well, I’m here to collect that.”

    Leander blinked, surprised by her directness. “All right. Name it.”

    “I want you toe with me to honor our parents at their graves. I don’t know what binds you so tightly to the name Leander Fane, and I won’t force you to acknowledge me. But our parents deserve that much. You can deny me, yet you must not turn your back on them.”

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