Chapter 387 An Unspoken Ultimatum

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    Chapter 387 An Unspoken Ultimatum

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    He stared at her without blinking, a storm gathered behind those obsidian eyes. “For your brother,” he asked, voice gravel–soft yet unyielding, “would you truly sacrifice everything?”

    Quinn met that storm straight on, chin lifted, the city’s neon rippling like water in her eyes, but her posture rooted as an oak. “For Rowan, yes, I’d do almost anything. But if it endangers my own life or tramples basic decency, then no. Conscience matters–and if Rowan ever learned I’d crossed that line, it would shatter him. I’ll find another way to sway the Fane family, or persuade Serena Fane to give those stem cells.”

    Julius‘ jaw flexed, a minute twitch betraying turbulence he never voiced. The silence between them stretched, taut as wire, before he found breath enough to speak again. “And if what I ask is thise back to me–would you consent?”

    Quinn blinked, lips parting, the answer hovering on her tongue. Before a single word escaped, Julius cut across the air like a de. “Quinn, don’t! Not a sound. If you speak, every bargain dies right here.”

    Themand cracked through the room, and the calm mask he wore splintered. A flush- almost feral–surged behind his eyes.

    Quinn felt, rather than saw, the warning: if she insisted on answering, he might simply unravel.

    He stepped forward, slow as a stalking cat, fingers lifting to brush her lips–so gentle it hurt.

    iIf /iishe /iisaid /iiyes/ii, /iijealousy /iiwould /iidevour /iime /iiwhole/i.

    Memoryshed him: all the pleas she’d once refused, the empty spaces where she should have been. Yet for her brother, she would bend.

    iThen /iwhat iam /iiI /iito /iiher/i? iDo /iiI /iimean /iinothing/ii? /i

    “Julius…” Quinn’s voice came small, her gaze tilting toward the floor as she tried to slip from his touch.

    His hand shot up, iming her jaw, thumb tracing back and forth over the startled curve of her mouth, possessive, trembling.

    His breath grazed her cheek, voice dropping to a near growl. “Come with me.”

    Surprise flickered across her face. “To where exactly?”

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    He released her jaw. “You’ll see when we arrive. Afterward, I’ll speak to the Fane family about your request.”

    Quinn exhaled, fingers circling his wrist as she gently lowered his hand. “All right, I will.”

    Julius nodded once, decisive. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll pick you up.”

    “Okay.” Quinn turned, intent on leaving, but his fingers curled around her elbow, halting her.

    She looked back, confusion knitting her brow. “Is there anything else?”

    A humorless smile tugged at his mouth. “You’re not even curious where I’m taking you? Not afraid I might try something? Or is your devotion to Rowan so deep you’d offer even your body?”

    His tone iced over, yet his eyes brimmed with something closer to sorrow than threat, and Quinn’s chest tightened at the mismatch.

    She drew a steady breath. “If you wanted my body you’d say so outright. Roundabout games aren’t your style–and I trust that.”

    He barked a shortugh. “You think you know me? Tell me–what sort of man do you believe I am?”

    She pinned him with that clear gaze. “So you do intend to take advantage of me?”

    Under the candor of her hazel eyes, Julius felt a rarity–embarrassment–lick up the back of his neck.

    “You honestly believe I’d keep loving the woman who walked out on me? Women are plentiful; I don’t need you.” Yet even while saying so, he tugged her toward the couch, grip tight but careful.

    “Sit. There are pastries–eat before you go.”

    Quinn hesitated. On the ss coffee table rested a porcin tter of delicate pastries, a coffee pot steaming beside it.

    “My assistant sent them in mistake. I’ve never had a taste for such things.” He strode to the desk, eyes dropping to the files that waited for his signature.

    iIs /iiit /iireally /iiby /iimistake/i? The question fluttered through Quinn’s mind, yet she said nothing more, finished the delicate pastries in silence, and finally rose to leave.

    Only after the soft click of the door signaled Quinn’s departure did Julius let his finger descend

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    Chapter 387 An Unspoken Ultimatum

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    Momentster, Fabian slipped in and offered a respectful incline. “Mr. Whitethorn, any instructions?”

    “Rowan once had a benefactor who is now in Celosia being treated for leukemia. Check whether Serena Fane’s stem cells arepatible, and whether any other suitable donors exist,” Julius said.

    “Understood,” Fabian replied.

    Julius lowered his gaze to his left wrist, as though the answer to every torment were etched in skin and veins.

    There, snug against his pulse,y the sandalwood bracelet Quinn had left him on that final morning.

    He had repeated the samemand in the dark of countless nights–stop loving her, reel the feeling back before it devoured them both.

    Yet he couldn’t bring himself to take the bracelet off.

    He feared that once the bracelet left his skin, whatever fragile thread still tied them would snap into nothingness.

    “Quinn, you forgave Serena for Rowan’s sake–why can’t you forgive me? Is trusting me again truly impossible?”

    One mistake, and the bill was his happiness for the rest of his life. Still, he did not dare to beg.

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