The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 549

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549 Competing For Affection

Quinn’s eyes remained fixed on him, unable to tear away no matter how hard she tried.

She saw his face every morning and every night, yet it never ceased to take her breath away with its stunning beauty.

His thin, sensuous lips parted slowly, then closed again, each movement purposeful, each word dripping with sweetness. “Quinn, even after our baby arrives, I want to be the one you love most. Promise me that.”

Quinn blinked, caught off guard. “Are you seriously planning to compete with our unborn child for my attention before they’ve even arrived?”

He raised a single brow, then confessed with an almost disarming honesty, “Exactly. I’m fighting for your favor, Quinn. So tell me—will you spoil me, or the baby?”

She let out a soft, helpless laugh. What kind of father battles for affection against his own child?

Already, she could picture the future scene—Julius and the tiny newcomer glaring at one another, jealousy crackling in the air like sparks over the nursery floor.

When her answer didn’t come quickly enough, a shadow passed over Julius’ eyes. “So the one you love most… will be the child?”

Quinn’s heart tightened painfully; she couldn’t bear to see that look of loss in his gaze. “The person I love most is you,” she said swiftly.

In an instant, his phoenix-like eyes brightened, sparkling like stars suddenly freed from an eclipse. “Really?”

“Our child will one day find the person they are destined to love above all,” she added softly. “As their mother, I will pour every ounce of love into them and shield them from harm, no matter what.”

Julius’ expression shifted, the warmth in his eyes hardening into a steely resolve. “No. You must never risk everything to protect the child.”

He fixed her with a solemn stare. “Promise me this: no matter what happens, your own life will always come first.”

“Are you afraid I might die?” she whispered, barely audible.

Without a word, Julius pressed his mouth fiercely to hers, a desperate, fierce kiss meant to silence the very thought of loss.

When he finally pulled back for air, he murmured, “You will not die. Remember, you promised to outlive me. Keep that promise.”

Quinn felt a faint tremor in his lips, a subtle sign of a fear so deep it defied words.

He was truly terrified.

Terrified that one day she might throw herself between danger and their child and never return.

Yet for a mother, the instinct to protect her baby, even at the cost of her own life, was woven into her very bones.

“All right,” she said, “I won’t die before you. I will always guard my life first—even while protecting our child.”

She spoke only because he was watching her so intently. She refused to feed his anxiety any further. The more she learned about his past, the more she understood the roots of his relentless fear of losing her—even now, after she had chosen him again.