He finally spoke, each sybl

    Chapter 381 No Turning Back

    +10 Free Coins

    He finally spoke, each syble dragged from the pit of his chest. “I… have someone I must save. Serena Fane is the only one who can do it.”

    Quinn froze, her breath snagging mid–inhale.

    During her private investigation months earlier, Quinn had traced a hazy trail back to Rowan’s lost years in Doria. There, a lone woman had reached for him when no one else would, then pleaded with Margaret–on a charity tour in Doria–to pay for Rowan’s treatment.

    Rowan was soonbeled the Fane family’s hidden son, and the woman left with him for Celosia, her body already too frail to escape a hospital ward. The file had noted her battle with leukemia, a fight that kept her permanently tethered to IV lines.

    iCould /iishe /iibe /iithe /iilife /iiRowan /iimeant /iito /iisave/ii? /iThe name crept back from memory: Lena Durand.

    “Tell me straight–this person you can’t abandon, is it Lena Durand?” Quinn asked.

    Leander offered a bitter smile. “Yes. I have to save her.”

    He was not surprised she knew. If Quinn had stolen his DNA for a test, she would have peeled back everyyer of his past, including the people knotted tight around it.

    “But why do you think Serena can help? She’s no surgeon, no oncologist,” Quinn said, the pieces rearranging themselves behind her eyes. “Wait–Serena’s stem cells match Lena’s, don’t they?”

    “Yes.” Leander’s tone was t. “If anything happens to Serena, Lena dies.”

    Quinn fell silent, a heavy pause settling between them like fog.

    “That’s everything you wanted to know. It’ste–get some rest.” Leander turned away.

    They left the car and took adjoining rooms in a roadside motel, the night swallowing whatever remained unsaid.

    At dawn, Quinn stepped outside, ready to drive to Hero’s Memorial Garden, and found Leander waiting by the hood, cradling two bundles of flowers.

    Her brows lifted, surprise flickering across her eyes.

    “We can’t visit them empty–handed,” he murmured.

    b17:31 /bbWed/bb, /bbSep /b10

    b40 /b

    Chapter 381 No Turning Back

    +10 Free Coins

    He possessed no memories of his parents, only stretches of darkness. Yet when Quinn spoke of themst night, a sharp, inexplicable ache pierced his chest, as though muscle remembered what the mind had lost.

    Learning they had died abroad three years earlier–and that Quinn alone had weed their returning ashes–sent a tide of guilt crashing through him. The body, it seemed, kept its own cruel ledger.

    Without another word, Quinn drove. The car hummed toward the memorial garden while the rising sun burned off the morning mist.

    Inside the hush of the garden, theyid the flowers before the twin headstones of Montague and Arlene, then stood side by side, hands sped before them.

    “Dad, Mom, I’ve brought Rowan to see you,” Quinn whispered, the petals rustling in the breeze. “He’s alive. He’s lost his memories, but I believe one day everything will return to him. Rest easy, both of you.”

    Leander Fane stared at the ck–and–white photograph fixed to the granite headstone.

    The frozen smiles belonged to his parents–war heroes who hadid down their lives for Azania.

    For so many years he had believed he was an unwanted child, a castaway with no roof to call home and no blood to im him.

    Yet the truth stood here in marble and morning light: he had always had a family, and his parents were people any son could hold his head high for. And he still had a sister.

    Leander cast a quick nce at Quinn, who stood quietly beside him the entire time.

    He understood that his guarded heart had yielded to her the moment she stepped in front of a bullet meant for him.

    But reason whispered its warnings–he could not walk away from the Fane family now, and under no circumstance could he allow anything to happen to Serena.

    “Mom, Dad,” Leander murmured, his voice scraping like gravel against the dawn–cold air. “I’m finally home… and I’m sorry.”

    “What are you apologizing to them for?” Quinn asked, studying his profile.

    “I’m sorry I couldn’t return sooner–sorry I wasn’t beside you when Quinn brought our parents‘ ashes home,” Leander said,ying the small bouquet of flowers against the stone. He then dropped to his knees, spine straight, and bowed three times until his forehead cracked

    Chapter 381 No Turning Back

    against the frost–damp earth.

    iThud/ii! /iThudi! /iiThud/ii! /i

    :

    40

    +10 Free Coins

    Each dull report rang through Hero’s Memorial Garden, unnervingly crisp in the morning hush.

    “And I’m sorry for this, too. Someone has been ndering Mom and Dad, yet I… I still have to shield her. If you want to call me a monster, go ahead.” Leander turned to look at Quinn.

    “Lena saved your life. You’re simply repaying a debt–I understand. I can reach an agreement with Serena at the police station, but when ites to Julius, there is nothing I can say. He and I have broken up; he won’t listen to me now.”

    “Wait. You actually had a rtionship with Julius Whitethorn?” Leander asked, astonishment ring in his

    eyes.

    “After my divorce, we dated briefly,” Quinn admitted

    without evasion.

    “If Julius bes an obstacle, I’ll find another path,” Leander promised.

    “I’ll try. Lena saved you-she’s our family’s benefactor, and I want her alive as much as e dragged from the pit of his chest. “I… have someone I must save. Serena Fane is the only one who can do it.”

    Quinn froze, her breath snagging mid–inhale.

    During her private investigation months earlier, Quinn had traced a hazy trail back to Rowan’s lost years in Doria. There, a lone woman had reached for him when no one else would, then pleaded with Margaret–on a charity tour in Doria–to pay for Rowan’s treatment.

    Rowan was soonbeled the Fane family’s hidden son, and the woman left with him for Celosia, her body already too frail to escape a hospital ward. The file had noted her battle with leukemia, a fight that kept her permanently tethered to IV lines.

    iCould /iishe /iibe /iithe /iilife /iiRowan /iimeant /iito /iisave/ii? /iThe name crept back from memory: Lena Durand.

    “Tell me straight–this person you can’t abandon, is it Lena Durand?” Quinn asked.

    Leander offered a bitter smile. “Yes. I have to save her.”

    He was not surprised she knew. If Quinn had stolen his DNA for a test, she would have peeled back everyyer of his past, including the people knotted tight around it.

    “But why do you think Serena can help? She’s no surgeon, no oncologist,” Quinn said, the pieces rearranging themselves behind her eyes. “Wait–Serena’s stem cells match Lena’s, don’t they?”

    “Yes.” Leander’s tone was t. “If anything happens to Serena, Lena dies.”

    Quinn fell silent, a heavy pause settling between them like fog.

    “That’s everything you wanted to know. It’ste–get some rest.” Leander turned away.

    They left the car and took adjoining rooms in a roadside motel, the night swallowing whatever remained unsaid.

    At dawn, Quinn stepped outside, ready to drive to Hero’s Memorial Garden, and found Leander waiting by the hood, cradling two bundles of flowers.

    Her brows lifted, surprise flickering across her eyes.

    “We can’t visit them empty–handed,” he murmured.

    b17:31 /bbWed/bb, /bbSep /b10

    b40 /b

    Chapter 381 No Turning Back

    +10 Free Coins

    He possessed no memories of his parents, only stretches of darkness. Yet when Quinn spoke of themst night, a sharp, inexplicable ache pierced his chest, as though muscle remembered what the mind had lost.

    Learning they had died abroad three years earlier–and that Quinn alone had weed their returning ashes–sent a tide of guilt crashing through him. The body, it seemed, kept its own cruel ledger.

    Without another word, Quinn drove. The car hummed toward the memorial garden while the rising sun burned off the morning mist.

    Inside the hush of the garden, theyid the flowers before the twin headstones of Montague and Arlene, then stood side by side, hands sped before them.

    “Dad, Mom, I’ve brought Rowan to see you,” Quinn whispered, the petals rustling in the breeze. “He’s alive. He’s lost his memories, but I believe one day everything will return to him. Rest easy, both of you.”

    Leander Fane stared at the ck–and–white photograph fixed to the granite headstone.

    The frozen smiles belonged to his parents–war heroes who hadid down their lives for Azania.

    For so many years he had believed he was an unwanted child, a castaway with no roof to call home and no blood to im him.

    Yet the truth stood here in marble and morning light: he had always had a family, and his parents were people any son could hold his head high for. And he still had a sister.

    Leander cast a quick nce at Quinn, who stood quietly beside him the entire time.

    He understood that his guarded heart had yielded to her the moment she stepped in front of a bullet meant for him.

    But reason whispered its warnings–he could not walk away from the Fane family now, and under no circumstance could he allow anything to happen to Serena.

    “Mom, Dad,” Leander murmured, his voice scraping like gravel against the dawn–cold air. “I’m finally home… and I’m sorry.”

    “What are you apologizing to them for?” Quinn asked, studying his profile.

    “I’m sorry I couldn’t return sooner–sorry I wasn’t beside you when Quinn brought our parents‘ ashes home,” Leander said,ying the small bouquet of flowers against the stone. He then dropped to his knees, spine straight, and bowed three times until his forehead cracked

    Chapter 381 No Turning Back

    against the frost–damp earth.

    iThud/ii! /iThudi! /iiThud/ii! /i

    :

    40

    +10 Free Coins

    Each dull report rang through Hero’s Memorial Garden, unnervingly crisp in the morning hush.

    “And I’m sorry for this, too. Someone has been ndering Mom and Dad, yet I… I still have to shield her. If you want to call me a monster, go ahead.” Leander turned to look at Quinn.

    “Lena saved your life. You’re simply repaying a debt–I understand. I can reach an agreement with Serena at the police station, but when ites to Julius, there is nothing I can say. He and I have broken up; he won’t listen to me now.”

    “Wait. You actually had a rtionship with Julius Whitethorn?” Leander asked, astonishment ring in his

    eyes.

    “After my divorce, we dated briefly,” Quinn admitted

    without evasion.

    “If Julius bes an obstacle, I’ll find another path,” Leander promised.

    “I’ll try. Lena saved you–she’s our family’s benefactor, and I want her alive as much as you do