The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 445

Chapter 445 Matching Phone Cases

Chapter 445 Matching Phone Cases

Quinn held up the cases. “You take the blue, I’ll keep the red. Deal?”

“I’m not used to putting anything on my phone,” Julius replied, voice nonchalant.

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“Then humor me,” she said, eyes crinkling with mischief. “When people see the set, they’ll know at a glance we belong together.”

“Right now I wouldn’t say we’re exactly-“Julius began.

“We will be, sooner or later,” she cut in, certain as sunrise.

He pressed his lips into a thin line, suddenly unsure what to do.

“So, are we using them or not?” she prodded.

“Whatever you say,” he muttered, turning his head away.

Quinn pounced on the decision, told the vendor to wrap them up, and paid. She fastened the blue case and charm onto Julius‘ phone with practiced swiftness, then handed the device back like a trophy.

Julius stared at the transformed phone. He had always disdained such trinkets, yet the mirrored patterns and twin dolls stirred a quiet, unexpected calm in his chest. So this is why couples love these matching novelties. For an instant, they proclaim, with no words at all, that she belongs to me and I belong to her.

“If the case really annoys you, keep it on for a few days and then ditch it,” Quinn offered, half- teasing.

“Mm,” Julius answered, noncommittal but not disagreeing.

Quinn continued shopping until she got tired, the exhaustion urging her to find a corner where she could rest. She turned, meaning to locate a bench, and instead caught Julius standing rigidly in the crowd, his gaze locked–almost transfixed–on a brightly lit booth up ahead.

One side of the stall bristled with plush figurines; in front, two battered air rifles rested on a

wooden counter, while rows of colored balloons trembled against a wooden backdrop.

It was clearly a shooting game, and those fuzzy toys must have been the prizes waiting for a steady hand.

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Chapter 445 Matching Phone Cases

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“What is it, Julius? Do you want those stuffed animals?” Quinn asked, tilting her head in playful confusion.

“No. I’ve long outgrown such things,” Julius murmured, his eyes dropping to the ground.

When he was small, he had yearned for anything soft and animal–shaped–something he could tuck under his arm at night so the dark would not feel so endless.

He had finally scraped together coins and smuggled a toy home, only for fate–disguised as his father–to catch him in the act.

“You’re never to desire such trifles,” his father had barked. “Your only purpose is to behave like the instrument I require–to hold on to your mother and keep this family intact.”

Tool. The word had lodged in his chest like a splinter that refused to work itself free.

After that night, a toy became an impossibility, for how could a tool indulge in comfort? By the time he wrested his life from his father’s grip, the urge for softness had already withered, replaced by the steel he needed to survive.

Quinn rolled his words around in her mind, tasting the bitterness he tried to hide.

If he had outgrown the phase, it meant that at one time, he had clung to it desperately.

“I haven’t played a rifle game in ages. Let’s see what prize I can win,” Quinn announced, enthusiasm bubbling over. She seized Julius‘ hand before he could refuse and steered them straight to the shooting booth.

The vendor spotted paying customers and hurried forward, smiling from ear to ear.

Yet the moment Quinn raised the gun and popped the first row of balloons with effortless precision, that smile faltered.

She simply switched targets, shredding the second row, then the third, until every last balloon sagged in rubbery defeat.

“All right, all right–take whatever plush you like, just stop shooting! You’re going to make me bankrupt,” the owner pleaded.

“One is enough for me,” Quinn said cheerfully, setting the rifle back on the counter.

The man exhaled as though she had just canceled a debt.

“How about helping me choose?” Quinn asked Julius, eyes sparkling with mischief.

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Chapter 445 Matching Phone Cases

“I’m not exactly skilled at selecting such things,” Julius replied quietly.

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“That’s fine–it’s only for fun,” she teased. “Decision–making isn’t my forte, so I’m deputizing you.”

Julius pressed his lips together, but eventually stepped toward the mountain of prizes. His hand hovered, then closed on an Officer Bunny plush–cars perked, badge gleaming in cartoon silver.

The toy reminded him of Quinn as a child–bold and bright, her small face alight with a sense of unquestioned justice.

She had been sunshine incarnate, laughing at shadows others found terrifying, commanding attention simply by existing. Even now, the memory dazzled him, so much that holding the plush made his chest ache.

“Officer Bunny, huh?” Quinn chuckled, flicking one of the long ears. “Is that your favorite?”

“Favorite is too strong a word,” Julius said.

Quinn shrugged. “Then if I give Officer Bunny to you right now. Would you keep it?”

“What?” Julius blurted, the single word cracking through his composure. For an instant, every muscle in his face locked, as though someone had briefly cut the power to his thoughts.

“I wanted to give you a little something. Whenever you see it, maybe you’ll think of me.” Still smiling, she stuffed the bunny into his hands.

Silence stretched. The midway noise seemed to fade until only their mingled breathing remained. At the last possible moment–right when Quinn began to believe he would refuse- Julius‘ hand rose. Deliberate, almost reluctant, his fingers closed around the plush and drew it from her grasp.