The next day was the weekend.
Serena Yardley was worried about Nina Thorne, so she rushed next door again first thing in the morning.
Ethan Yardley had planned to take her for driving practice, but Serena Yardley refused. With no other option, he followed her over.
He had just stepped into the courtyard when he sensed a car speeding up behind him.
He turned to look, and who else could it be but Quinn Gardner.
He stood there, watching the man get out of the car.
Quinn Gardner was in a rush. He slamd the car door shut, strode over to Ethan Yardley, and asked, "Nina’s ho, right?"
"I just got here myself; I haven’t gone in yet. What’s the rush? You here to try and talk her around?"
"I don’t have ti to talk to you."
Quinn Gardner took the steps in large strides and burst into the villa, clearly frantic.
Serena Yardley and Nina Thorne were in the bedroom, sorting through clothes.
Nina had said her lawyer would be over in a little while, and she asked Serena to help by staying with Leo.
Just as the two of them were talking, the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open.
They both looked over at the sa ti and saw Quinn Gardner walk in, dressed all in black. He stood before Nina Thorne, his face grave as he said:
"Honey, let’s talk."
Nina Thorne wanted to ignore him, but she was afraid of waking her son, who was still asleep on the bed.
She looked at Serena Yardley. "Please stay with him."
"Okay."
Serena Yardley agreed.
Nina Thorne left the room, and Quinn Gardner hurried after her, blocking her path in the hallway.
"Honey, I’m begging you. Please take Leo to the hospital. Clentine is on the verge of death. If she doesn’t get the surgery soon, she won’t survive the month."
Nina Thorne had been holding back all night.
But now, seeing the look on the man’s face before her, she finally snapped, raising her hand and striking him with a vicious slap.
SLAP! The sound was loud and sharp, leaving a red handprint on the man’s cheek.
Quinn Gardner turned his head, swallowing the pain, and said:
"If hitting makes you feel better, then keep hitting . But please, save Clentine’s life. She’s only four. If she’s able to grow up healthy, she will surely repay you for this kindness."
SLAP!
Nina Thorne slapped him again, just as hard.
Looking at him, she rembered him kneeling with a ring, begging her to marry him, rembered all the sweet nothings he’d whispered. The mory made her feel utterly sick.
’Save the daughter he had with another woman?’
’At this very mont, she wished she could kill him with her own two hands.’
Her eyes, filled with a bone-deep hatred, glared at him. Nina Thorne ground out each word through clenched teeth:
"You listen to , Quinn Gardner. No one is going to lay a finger on my son. The mont you imprisoned him, I, Nina Thorne, declared war on you.
So, don’t you dare think I’ll go easy on you. Once we’re divorced, you can rot in jail for all I care. I never want to have anything to do with you again for the rest of my life."
She turned to go back into the room.
Quinn Gardner stumbled forward, then fell to his knees with a THUD.
’Little Clentine was so young, suffering so much from her illness, and he, her father, was utterly powerless.’
’He had no other choice. He could only beg the woman before him.’
’Even if it ant kneeling.’
"Honey, I’m begging you. Just save Clentine, and I’ll do anything you ask. Send to jail, divorce —I’ll agree to anything."
"Please, honey."
Quinn Gardner’s voice choked with sobs. His grief was palpable, all his hope pinned on the woman in front of him.
’If she would just agree, both children could live.’
’What would be so wrong with the four of them living happily as a family in the future?’
Nina Thorne paused.
But she didn’t turn around.
Even without looking, she could feel it: the golden child, the proud young master, was kneeling on the floor.
For a brief second, her heart clenched.
’But even so, could his kneeling really undo the damage he’d done to her and their son?’
’She would never forgive him. Not in this lifeti.’
Two cold tears stread down her cheeks. Without a backward glance, Nina Thorne walked stiffly back into the room and slamd the door.
Seeing her completely unmoved, Quinn Gardner’s heart plunged into despair.
He hung his head, his heart turning to ash.
’He knew it,’ he thought. ’This woman was never going to help him.’
’She probably never really loved that much, did she?’
Feeling all hope was lost, Quinn Gardner pushed himself to his feet and turned to head back to the hospital.
But he ran into Ethan Yardley, who had co upstairs and was standing a short distance away.
He didn’t take his anger out on Ethan Yardley. He just gave a cold, humorless laugh and said, "I told you. The woman has a heart of stone. You see it now, don’t you?"
Ethan Yardley’s expression was grim. "If you’d been honest with her from the beginning, maybe she wouldn’t be this ruthless."
"Wrong. She’s always been this ruthless. She always felt that as the great heiress of the Thorne Family, being with was beneath her. That’s why six years ago, even when she was pregnant with my child, she refused to be with ."
Quinn Gardner’s eyes were bloodshot and brimming with tears, his voice hoarse.
"Ethan, you know why I got together with Lana yer. It was only because she looks so much like her.
If I’d known she was carrying my child, if I’d known she would co back to with him, I swear I never would have been with any other woman."
But it was too late for that now.
’What was the point of regret now?’
’He couldn’t even save his own daughter. What kind of a father did that make him?’
"Quinn, she never knew how much you’ve always loved her. Clentine might have been a mistake, but if you had just told her the truth from the start, she might have saved her for you."
’The fault didn’t lie with Nina Thorne.’
’The fault lay with this man, who still didn’t seem to realize his own mistakes, blindly blaming Nina Thorne for her coldness.’
Even Ethan Yardley felt indignant on Nina Thorne’s behalf.
"Forget it. I’ll leave it up to fate."
Quinn Gardner didn’t want to talk anymore. With a dismissive wave, he brushed past Ethan Yardley and left.
Ethan Yardley ignored him and walked toward the bedroom door.
He stood at the door and knocked.
Hearing the knock, Serena Yardley went to the door and called out coldly, "Go away, Mr. Grant. Nina doesn’t want to see you."
Ethan Yardley’s voice ca through. "It’s ."
Hearing her husband’s voice, Serena Yardley pulled the door open.
She peeked furtively from side to side, and only after confirming that Quinn Gardner was nowhere in sight did she ask the man before her, "Where’d he go?"
"He’s gone."
"Good."
Serena Yardley said no more, turning to go back into the room.
Ethan Yardley followed her inside.
Seeing Nina Thorne sitting on the edge of the bed in tears, he said in a low voice,
"Maybe we could talk? I know what Quinn did was way out of line, but he’s just desperate to save his daughter."
Nina Thorne wiped the tears from her face, transferring the hatred she felt for Quinn Gardner onto Ethan Yardley.
"If you’re also here to try and persuade , then please get out. Right now. Don’t force to end our friendship over this."
Serena Yardley chid in,
"It was bad enough that Mr. Grant hid his other child from Nina, but then he locked up Leo to steal his bone marrow. If you dare say one more word in his defense, I’ll smack you."
Saying that, she angrily kicked Ethan Yardley.
Ethan Yardley truly didn’t want to anger his wife. He had intended to say a few more words in Quinn Gardner’s defense, but he ultimately thought better of it.
"All right, fine. You two can handle this yourselves."
He pulled Serena, who was beside him, and started to leave.
Serena Yardley resisted. "What are you doing? I’m staying with Nina."
But Nina Thorne said, "Serena, just go with him. I need so ti to cool down, too."
Hearing Nina say that, Serena Yardley reluctantly followed Ethan Yardley out.
Once they were outside Grant Villa, she couldn’t resist balling her fists and pounding on the man beside her.
"They say birds of a feather flock together. Quinn Gardner is like that, so does that an you are too?
Tell , do you have a secret kid with so other woman that I don’t know about?"
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