The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 501

Chapter 501 Never Leave Her

59

+10 Free Coins

“I prepared for every possibility,” Quinn said. “My safety matters a great deal more than just to

me.”

She leaned closer, tilting her face up to catch his shadowed eyes. The air between them tasted of shared worry.

“Since you met him, unrest has gnawed at you. I needed to know why. Julius, is there really nothing else you wish to tell me?”

His body jerked, a shiver of panic. Words stuck fast in his throat.

He had gained something precious. That only made the prospect of loss more terrifying.

Seeing his silence, Quinn squeezed his hand. “Let’s eat first. I’m starving.”

“All right,” he replied, the single syllable barely louder than a breath.

They chose a quiet restaurant. Quinn scanned the menu. Dishes she usually loved stirred no appetite, while the sour soup she normally ignored suddenly called to her.

After ordering, she looked up. “When I saw your father, he mentioned your mother’s last words. Do you know what they were?”

Julius‘ brow knit. “Her… last words?”

“He made it sound as though her final request binds him, even in death. I suspect he cannot end his own life because of it.”

Given how fiercely Joaquin had loved his wife, ending himself would have surprised no one when she died.

Yet instead he spiraled–tormenting Julius, courting danger across the globe–until the Whitethorn patriarch confined him to a lonely island and the chaos finally stilled.

Julius pressed his lips together. “I never heard of any message. Mother took her own life. Father drove her to the hospital. I blacked out. When I woke, I was in a hospital bed. She was already gone.”

As he spoke, color drained from his face. Each word fell lower, heavier.

Again, he saw her collapsed in a pool of red. The memory painted the present in blood.

1/2

16:45 Thu, Oct 23 B.

…

h

Chapter 501 Never Leave Her

+10 Free Coins

A warm hand covered his icy fingers. Quinn’s steady voice drifted close, soft as spring wind. The crimson haze began to thin.

“Am I useless?” he whispered, eyes lifting slowly to hers. “My mother collapsed, and I did nothing. I only screamed, lost my mind, blinded Marley in one eye, and fainted.”

A sharp ache speared Quinn’s heart.

The man the world hailed as a prodigy still lived inside the cage of a shattered childhood.

“It’s not that you’re useless. You’re just a child. Of course, you would be scared.” Quinn gently squeezed his hand, as if to comfort him. “I only regret that the one who was by your side back then wasn’t me.”

Julius‘ lashes flickered, a subtle tremor that betrayed the storm beneath his calm. “I’m glad it wasn’t you. Otherwise, I would have destroyed one of your eyes too.”

Quinn answered without hesitation, her voice warm yet steady. “No, you wouldn’t. I would have held you, kept the fear from swallowing you whole, and together we’d have called the police and the adults. You’d never be left alone to spiral into that darkness.”

Julius stared at the woman before him, stunned, pupils wide as though she had turned on a light only he could see. It feels as though she is always rescuing me–again and again.

Just then, a waiter glided over, setting the steaming dishes on the table. Quinn gently withdrew her hand from Julius‘ grip. “The food’s here. Let’s eat first.”

His eyes dropped to the space where her fingers had been. The sudden emptiness spread through him like cold water seeping into cloth.

“All right, let’s eat,” he murmured, lifting his gaze to her. He picked up his fork.

Her face shimmered in his dark irises, so close it eclipsed the room beyond.

Whatever happens, I will never let her go. Absolutely never