The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 310

Chapter 310 Rumors And Shadows

The man snatched the money and shrugged. “It happened five years ago. Who cares about some difier?‘ Most wanderers around here break out of those private compounds nearby. If he didn’t die then, he was probably dragged back in later. Five years on–dead either way, I’d bet.”

Quinn’s stomach dropped. She knew too well what those compounds were for.

They were dens for every crime the law had no reach to touch, places where an ordinary person would be tortured until body and spirit frayed.

Could Rowan have escaped from one of thos

e hellholes? Was his weakness because of the torment he endured?

They questioned more locals; the answers differed little, each one another stone sinking in Quinn’s chest. On the ride back, Quinn said, “I’m going to find a way inside the nearest compound and see for myself.”

“That’s far too dangerous,” Harlan shot back. “We’re not in Glusia–those grounds are a lawless frontier.

Quinn thought a beat. “Then we try the Regal Ace Casino. It’s controlled by the same syndicates. Staff might know something.”

“Fine,” Harlan said. “We’ll go together tomorrow.”

Quinn hesitated, worry flickering behind her eyes.

Harlan tilted his head. “Something else tomorrow?”

“Part of my funds are still tied up back home. They might not clear in Doria by morning,” she admitted.

Harlan waved the concern away. “Forget the money. I’ve got it covered. Get some rest tonight- tomorrow’s casino run will drain us enough.”

Quinn gave a small, rueful smile. “Feels like the debts I owe you keep piling up.”

Harlan chuckled softly. “Debts? Back in the unit, I owed you more. If you hadn’t carried me to the hospital through that blizzard, my fever would’ve cooked my brain.”

From that frozen night onward, the walls around his heart had begun to thaw, brick by brick, until he finally understood what he felt for her.

He prayed–silently, stubbornly–that this time he wouldn’t let her slip through his fingers again.

The car door closed with a muffled thud, sealing Quinn and Harlan inside a cocoon of dim leather and faint cologne. Outside, Riverpoint’s nightscape slid by–fluorescent shop signs, wet asphalt, and sodium lamps painting restless streaks across the windows. Minutes later, they strolled beneath the gilt canopy of the hotel. Dinner was quiet–clinking cutlery, low jazz, their voices kept deliberately soft. When the last dish had been cleared, they rode the elevator up, the hush between them thick as velvet, until the doors parted on their floor.

“Harlan, come by my room for a moment. There’s something we need to discuss.” She murmured the invitation while opening her room door, warm lamplight spilling over the hallway carpet like melted gold.

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Chapter 310 Rumors And Shadows

“All right,” Harlan said, his tone casual yet attentive. He followed Quinn across the threshold, the son cit of the door closing behind them sounding almost ceremonial.

Julius lounged in the surveillance suite several floors below, a leather chair framing him like a throne Rows of monitors washed his sharp features in an icy glow, each screen capturing some anonymous slice of corridor life.

When he saw Quinn and Harlan disappear into the same room, the fingers resting on his knees curled inward as though trying to crush something invisible.

“Mr. Whitethorn, Mr. Ingram and Ms. Bridger booked separate rooms. They’re probably just talking business–he’ll be out any minute,” Fabian offered, words tumbling over themselves in haste. He kept his gaze on Julius‘ storm–dark profile, praying the explanation would land.

“Is that so?” Julius’s eyes never left the feed, his voice as thin and sharp as a razor edge.

Will he truly emerge in just a moment? And if he doesn’t–if Harlan chooses to stay the night? If she gives herself to him tonight…

Thinking of that possibility, he stared at the screen, his blood turning to ice.

The seconds crawled by, each digital blink of the timestamp sounding like a hammer blow inside Julius skull.

The air pressure inside the monitoring room sank to something almost suffocating, as though the walls themselves feared to breathe.

Fabian sat rigid, watching his boss‘ face darken by degrees, silently begging the elevator gods to deliver Harlan back into the hallway.

If Harlan actually spent the night in Quinn’s room, Fabian suspected Julius might very well lose his mind.

More than an hour later, the door finally opened. Harlan stepped into the corridor, then leaned back inside, saying something inaudible. A slender hand rose from the darkness and curled around his neck.

The camera couldn’t penetrate the room itself; only Harlan’s torso remained visible, the rest swallowed by shadow, and Quinn herself hidden just beyond the threshold.

From this angle, the posture looked unmistakably intimate–almost, Julius thought with a spike of nausea, like a kiss.

Fabian’s heart lurched. If Ms. Bridger truly was kissing Mr. Ingram, then…

His glance flicked toward Julius, who was already on his feet.

Julius stared at the screen, lips pressed into a colorless line, phoenix eyes glittering with a dangerous, jealous sheen that bordered on madness.

“It’s just a mosquito bite. Take this soothing balm and dab some on later–bugs are relentless this time of night,” Quinn said, smoothing the collar of Harlan’s shirt with practiced ease.

Moments earlier she had noticed a patch of irritated skin on his neck and stopped him to inspect it.

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