The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 689

Chapter 689 Forgotten Tethers

“Yes,” Gavin said softly. “I never imagined you could love anyone that much.”

Julius‘ voice dropped to a whisper. “More than my parents?”

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Gavin froze, as though the truth had grabbed his collar. The fluorescent ceiling panel hissed above the two men before he managed to speak. “You are not your father, Julius. Your love for Quinn was never about possession. When the two of you drifted apart, you were so terrified of turning into him that you actually refused to take her back.”

Julius let out a humorless breath, the sound closer to a sigh than a laugh. “It sounds like she’s my priority.”

Gavin folded his arms across his chest. “You once told me she was your faith–your single, unshakable creed.”

Back then, the claim had sounded like drunken poetry to him–extravagant, almost theatrical.

Only after Quinn vanished and he watched Julius unravel–wild–eyed, sleepless, feeding on desperation–did Gavin grasp the weight of those words.

Julius gave a short, brittle laugh. “Faith? I honestly cannot fathom how I ever fell for a woman like Quinn. She is plain, hardly gentle. What invisible force could have blinded me so completely?”

Gavin exhaled softly. The Julius he knew–unswayed, clear–headed–would never have spoken with such dismissive cruelty.

He took a step forward. “If all you wanted was a pretty, soft–spoken ornament, you never would have loved Quinn. She has never been a fragile flower, Julius. She is the one who grabs your hand in the dark and drags you toward the light. She is fiercer than most, brighter than most- and that means others see her too. You got lucky, my friend. She chose you. Do not waste that good fortune until there is nothing left but regret.”

Julius narrowed his eyes. “Others? You mean Harlan, don’t you?”

Gavin lifted a brow. “Exactly. He is one of them–and I doubt you wish to spend the rest of your life wearing the title of ex–husband.”

A flare of possessiveness cut through Julius‘ confusion. “Quinn is my wife. Harlan or anyone else can keep dreaming–because it will never happen.”

Even stripped of memory, he would never permit another man to lay a finger on her.

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Chapter 689 Forgotten Tethers

Two hours later, Quinn placed a video call to her uncle.

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The screen filled with Everett’s face–lined, weary, older than she remembered. Tears blurred her vision. “I’m sorry, Uncle Everett. I made you worry.”

Five short years had carved deep valleys around his eyes, frosting his hair silver–white.

“You’re alive–that’s all that matters,” Everett choked out, voice thick. “If anything had happened to you, how could I ever face your mother in the next world?”

He had sworn at Arlene’s graveside that her children would know only safety under his watch.

He had vowed they would never suffer again.

Yet the gaunt lines of Quinn’s cheeks told him how brutal the last five years had truly been for her.

“Once I’m settled back home, I’ll bring Dawn to Celosia so she can meet you,” Quinn promised.

Everett’s eyes brightened. “Dawn–that’s your little girl, right? Where is she now?”

Quinn angled the phone toward the tiny figure curled beneath a blanket. “She’s sleeping. When she wakes, I’ll have her call you.”

“Good–good,” Everett whispered, tears gleaming. “I know Julius was hypnotized and forgot your past. Whatever happens between you two, remember the Fane family will stand behind you. Don’t be afraid.”

That simple reassurance made Quinn’s throat burn with unshed tears.

Her uncle had carried a lifetime of guilt for his sister, choosing solitude and childlessness, and now he was ready to spend every last breath shielding Quinn and her daughter.

Everett understood exactly how formidable the Whitethorn name could be.

Yet those words were his pledge to face that power head–on for her sake.

“With you and Rowan beside me, I fear nothing,” Quinn said, blinking back the tears.

“How’s your health, Quinn? Have you let the doctors run a full work–up?” Everett’s voice crackled through the speaker, warm yet threaded with worry.

“I’m holding together, Uncle Everett. The long coma left me undernourished and a little brittle -calcium, muscle tone, all that—but nothing time and steady rehab can’t mend. Give me a little while, and I’ll be the Quinn you remember.”

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