His Regret, Her Vengeance

Chapter 6

Vivian suddenly sprang up, advancing with predatory steps like a predator stalking prey, her voice turning more unhinged with each word. "You still do not get it, do you? Ethan knew everything from the start—that we share the same father. He knew you were the only one who could truly break me. That is why he pursued you. It was all part of his twisted scheme."

"You want to know what he said about you?" Her lips twisted into a venomous smirk. "He has been disgusted by you for ages. Your shameless behavior in bed makes him sick. You are just as trashy as your w***e of a mother."

Quinn's palm connected with Vivian's face with a sharp c***k, her entire body trembling with rage. "Ethan? That trash? I dumped him long ago. Vivian, I guess the apple does not fall far from the tree. Just like your mom, you love digging through other people's garbage."

Vivian slowly touched her stinging cheek, her eyes blazing with hatred.

"Still putting on a brave face?" She let out a hollow laugh. "Then watch. No matter what, he will always choose me. Every single time."

'He knew. He always knew.'

With a sudden jerk, she whipped out a lighter and hurled it at the curtains. Flames engulfed the fabric instantly, casting the room in hellish orange light. Crazed like a rabid beast, she screamed, "Quinn, just die."

Shrieks pierced the air from below. Quinn caught Diana's desperate plea. "Ethan. Quinn is still upstairs. Quick, save her."

Ethan burst through the door, his voice strained with false calm. "Quinn, hold on. I am coming."

But when his eyes landed on Vivian still inside, a shadow crossed his gaze, brief but unmistakable.

"Ethan," Vivian wailed, curled into a fetal position in the corner. "Please get me out. I am terrified."

Ethan did not hesitate. His jaw clenched, his heart pounding, he charged toward Quinn. For one breathless moment, she thought maybe those three years meant something. 'Maybe he had loved her. Could anyone fake tenderness so perfectly?'

Then he blew past her without a second look, rushing to Vivian instead. His shoulder slammed into Quinn's chest, sending her reeling backward. Her foot caught, and she crashed into the flaming cabinet with a sickening thud.

She did not even flinch. Her unblinking eyes remained fixed on Ethan as he gathered Vivian into his arms like fragile porcelain. Like some knight in shining armor, he murmured, "Vivian, it is okay. Vivian, I have got you."

She stood there, frozen in horrified disbelief as the man who had vowed to protect her for a lifetime cast her aside without hesitation, until Quinn let out a hollow laugh.

The sound was guttural and broken, hard and brittle, shrilling above the roaring fire like a wounded animal. 'He's not coming for me. He never was.' It was laughter mocking her three years of blind trust, a final farewell to this ridiculous farce. 'It was laugh or scream, and she was done screaming.'

As her vision blurred into black, she barely registered figures in firefighter uniforms charging toward her.

She awoke in the same damned hospital room again. Outside, nurses gossiped just loud enough to be heard.

"Not a single soul has checked on that poor woman after such a disaster."

"Tell me about it. The girl in Room six o seven just got spooked, and her boyfriend has been camped there for three straight days."

"You do not understand the effect, do you? That unattainable fantasy they chase. Men always want what they cannot have."

Quinn shut her eyes against the sting of their words. After a moment, she fished out the slip of paper her mother had left, the one with a phone number written in her mother's handwriting.

Clenching her jaw, she sucked in a trembling breath and dialed.

"Mr. Brooks, it is me. Quinn."