The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 496

Chapter 496 Dark Edges

Chapter 496 Dark Edges

“What?” Quinn blinked, caught off guard by the sudden intensity in his voice.

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Julius lowered his gaze, fingers slowly tightening around hers. “What I did to Jacqueline–did it make you uncomfortable?” The words left him in a hush, as though he feared they might shatter between them.

“No. I told you, it was the perfume. Nothing else.”

Yet Julius could not let it go. Her past in the Falcon Special Forces meant she possessed ironclad nerves; a mere fragrance should not have toppled her composure. Something about the logic rang false.

What he feared even more was that his actions just now had exposed the darkness within him and made her uneasy, or perhaps even started to erode the love she once held for him.

No matter how much he wanted to become a good man in her eyes, the truth was, maybe he simply wasn’t meant to be one.

He felt cold recognition crawl across his spine. When Jacqueline spat her insults and even rammed into Quinn, rage had erupted inside him, feral and absolute. He had wrapped his hand around Jacqueline’s wrist without hesitation, dragging her to the staircase edge.

Had she refused to apologize, he would have opened his fingers and simply watched her fall. Whether she broke her bones or her life, he would have felt no pity, no guilt–only relief.

The moment Quinn ran for the restroom, hand clamped over her mouth, the darkness inside him recoiled.

– knew that he wasn’t as graceful He knew she was probably already aware of his darker side and noble as he appeared to be before her. She had, after all, caught glimpses of it before.

But when that darkness revealed itself more and more, would she still love him as deeply as she once did?

After all, darkness yearned for the light, but could someone born of light truly embrace one consumed by shadow?

“You’re right—it wasn’t only the perfume.” Her calm voice filled the cramped space. Julius flinched, a flicker of despair clouding his eyes. He had been right to fear it, then. “My stomach was unsettled, that’s all. Once I was sick, the discomfort passed.” Quinn turned

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Chapter 496 Dark Edges

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her palm and laced her fingers with his. “And what you did for me today? That was you defending me. Why would that ever make me uneasy? Besides, you knew what you were doing. You didn’t go overboard.”

“But what if I went overboard?” His voice fell to a tremor. “What if I had let go and watched her tumble down those steps?”

“Then I would have stopped you.” Quinn leaned across the console, brushed her lips against the sharp angle of his cheek, and whispered, “Because I love the man you are–and I’m not afraid of your shadows.”

Julius‘ entire frame gave a shudder, as though someone had plucked a hidden string deep inside him. Surprise flared across his dark eyes, and he lifted his head by slow degrees until her face filled his field of vision, luminous, unavoidable.

“That’s why I’m telling you this. Whatever it is you’re afraid of–whatever darkness you think might spill out when you’re with me–I’ll still love you, Julius.”

The words rooted him to the leather seat. Only then did it strike him–she knew everything, every shadowed hallway of his mind, and she stayed anyway.

“And one more thing. No matter what happens, promise me you will never break the law for my sake.”

He pursed his lips. “But what if someone lays a hand on you…”

The unfinished sentence thundered inside his skull. Crime felt like a small price if it meant ripping out every threat to her; he would wipe the world clean of danger, leaving only sunlit streets for Quinn to walk.

“Then we fight back. But fighting back isn’t the same as breaking the law. Besides, you know better than anyone–it isn’t easy to hurt me. I can take care of myself.”

Even so, worry clung to Julius‘ eyes the way dusk clings to city glass–shadows he could not blink away.

Quinn leaned in and brushed her lips against his cheek–light as a promise, warm as the first sip of wine. “Trust me,” she whispered against his skin.

“But…” he began, the word crumbling before it left his mouth.

“Trust me.” She pressed another quick kiss to his other cheek. “Trust me.” Each repetition drummed through him, louder than his racing pulse.

Color spilled over Julius‘ previously pale cheeks, sunrise bleeding across snow.

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14:37 Tue, Oct 21

Chapter 496 Dark Edges

“Quinn… please… don’t do this…”

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