His Regret, Her Vengeance

Chapter 5

Guilt must have gnawed at him, because Ethan showed up personally at the hospital to collect Quinn on her discharge day.

The moment she spotted him, Quinn spun on her heel and marched the opposite direction.

Ethan caught up in three strides, his fingers closing around her wrist with infuriating gentleness. "Quinn, the necklace thing was an accident. Let me explain."

She wrenched her arm free, putting distance between them, but he grabbed her again, more insistent this time. "Come on, do not be like this. Grandma has been worried sick since she heard you were hurt. She is waiting for you at home right now."

At the word Grandma, Quinn's eyes brimmed with tears. After her mother's death, Diana Bennett had become her only family, the one person who had ever truly cared for her.

When fever spiked through her bones, Diana would brew a spiced ginger latte through the night, pressing warm water bottles into her shaking hands. When silent tears streaked her face, those wrinkled arms would pull her close with a whisper. "I am here, Quinn. Always."

So she stopped. Without hesitation, she turned and walked straight to the Maybach.

The door opened to reveal Vivian lounging in the passenger seat amidst brand new upholstery that reeked of replacement.

"Miss Miller," the woman purred, her lips curling like a satisfied cat. "I have standards about secondhand things. Ethan was sweet enough to redecorate. You are not mad, are you?"

This car had been her birthday gift. She had loved it fiercely.

Quinn's laugh was a blade. "What is next? Replacing his engine, or trading him in for a new model?"

"Quinn," Vivian screeched, her face flushing scarlet.

Ethan massaged his temples. "She just woke from a coma, Quinn. Must you?"

"Yes."

She turned her face to the window, watching the world blur past.

At the villa, Diana brushed right past Vivian, beelining for Quinn and fussing over her like the other woman did not exist.

Vivian's wounded glance at Ethan earned murmured words. Whatever he said smoothed the storm from her face, leaving sunshine in its wake.

Lunch was a spread of fiery Cajun dishes, every course tuned to Quinn's palate, until Vivian's delicate grimace sent Ethan scrambling for an apron. He emerged with glistening maple glazed pork ribs, a dish Quinn never knew the corporate shark could cook.

Her fork hesitated over the feast before stabbing listlessly at plain boiled beef. For the first time, every bite turned to ash in her mouth, leaving only bitterness behind.

That night, Quinn sat at her desk, tracking stars as they blinked in and out of the inky sky, sleepless.

A sharp knock at the door interrupted the silence. Quinn fixed her with an icy stare, hostility radiating from every pore. "Ethan's room is that way," she said, flicking her fingers toward the door down the hall.

Vivian merely smirked and strolled in uninvited. Casually draping herself over the desk, she purred with sarcasm. "Three years as my stand in, and you have got nothing to say? Not even curious why, out of billions, he chose you?"

Quinn stiffened. The question had gnawed at her, yet the answer always eluded her.

Vivian let out a mocking laugh. "Let me enlighten you, dear sister," she drawled. "That James Carter locked up in prison? He is my birth father too. He r***d my mother, then stashed us away like shameful secrets."

Her voice turned lethal. "Fifteen years ago, your saintly mother discovered us. She pulled every string to cut us off. Mine could not take it. She swallowed poison. And the universe paid her back. Soon after, your precious mom suffered the same fate."

Quinn's fists clenched, her nails digging half moons into her palms. "Cut to the chase," she snapped, her teeth clenched.