As Cordy got up and left, Quinn shot her a grateful look. But as Cordy turned around as she left, she seemed to catch a glimpse of the tears in Quinn's eyes under the dim light of the back garden."It's been years. You're a lady now," the man chuckled, his voice still tender.Quinn bit her lip; it was a while until she greeted him. "Ryan.""I thought you'd forgotten about me," Ryan Saunders grinned. "It's cold out here—let's go in." Quinn arched her back to pick up her shoes, but he stopped her. "No."He dropped to a crouch and picked them up for her, his long fingers holding up her feet as she put them on.Amidst the silence between them, a neutral voice that carried a hint of sarcasm rang. "That might be inappropriate contact with your younger brother's wife, y'know."Both of them turned to find Sam nearby, staring down at them with his advantage in height. "I always thought of Quinn as a younger sister, even now," Ryan argued."But she's my wife and your sister-in-law,"
Marvin Saunders, Sam’s father, promptly snapped at him. His tone was severe as he said, "Watch your language! You're talking to your own brother here!""It's alright," Ryan said nonchalantly. "Sam's always been like that. Even after all these years, he never changed.""You're the pride of our parents. No matter how I change, I'd always be less than you," Sam retorted self-deprecatingly. "Anyway, it's rare for the family to gather, so take your time to catch up. My friends are over there, so I'm going.""Sam!" Marvin huffed despite his rage. Still, he wasn’t really going to lash out in front of so many guests.There was no question they shared the same parents, but the brothers were completely different. Ryan had always been smart and understanding, never giving anyone a reason to worry. The only time he rebelled was when he left Saunderia to pursue a career in scientific research. Lindsay and Marvin had been reluctant, but they were reluctant to stop him from fulfilling his ambitio
"Yeah," John replied, and turned towards Sam. "I'm going now."Sam nodded, knowing that John had been under a lot of stress lately. However, Bob was in a hurry to leave after John, leaving Sam speechless. Sam stared at him and asked, "Why would you want to leave so early? Come with me for some drinks after this." "I'll pass. I need to go home soon to keep my girlfriend company. I'm worried she'd get lonely.”"Could you stop being such a sucker in love? It's disgusting.""That's called sour grapes, Sammy boy," Bob retorted nonchalantly. Sam was at a loss for words. "Fine, f*ck off." Bob couldn't care less, since he was genuinely happy. Still, just as Bob was about to go, Sam stopped him. "Wait."Bob rolled his eyes. "Look. I'm not going clubbing—""Here," Sam said, suddenly whipping out two band-aids.Bob's eyes widened so much his eyeballs could have fallen out. "Why'd you carry these around? Are you gay, Sam? Please don't tell me you like me…""Shut up," Sam snapped.
It was very late in the night when Sam finally returned home, the stench of alcohol swirling around him.However, he opened his room to find Quinn sitting there, waiting for him.He checked the time—twice, but it was definitely 2:30am, and he even had to send a drunken Jay home before coming back.So what was Quinn doing here, instead of sleeping in her own room?!She was an early riser just like his parents, which was why they slept in different rooms.Their parents forbade it at first, but he returned so late that Quinn's sleep cycle was severely affected, so they had to give in.In their parents' eyes, he was a lost cause; they could never hope for him to change."Did you have the wrong room?" Sam scoffed, raising a brow and sneering. "My brother's room is next door."Quinn's face dropped, but she quickly hid it.His mouth had always been that foul, so there was nothing to get upset about.She remained there, and Sam frowned in turn. "Aren't you going to move?" Snorting,
Quinn pulled her dainty hand out from beneath Sam’s bathrobe, but when she turned to get the lights, Sam suddenly scooped her up in his arms.Quinn was startled—he was over six foot tall and a behemoth to her, and it felt like he could crush her when he was on top of her.As he started leaning towards her lips, she suddenly turned away, avoiding his touch, leaving him frowning."What's this? Trying to be slut and saint at the same time?" Sam scoffed. "You don't kiss to make children," Quinn retorted. "So we're just mating?""Procreating," Quinn said, trying to make it sound nicer."Fuck that!" Sam bellowed, shaking with rage as he got off her. "You love Ryan, don't you? Go have his kid instead! It'd be a child of the Saunders family anyway, so it doesn't matter!""Sam—""I'm telling you, Quinn," he snarled. "I'm not that desperate. I'm not interested in a piece of wood like you, so get out."Quinn sighed, exhausted—she was used to Sam throwing a fit from time to time.But
Quinn was left staring at Ryan, unable to react.He continued to explain, "My superiors also arranged it so that I could stay at North City indefinitely, so I won't be going abroad. I might be traveling to the headquarters in the capital occasionally, though.""That's good. You'd be working close from home," Quinn replied with a small smile."I…""It's late, Ryan. Get some rest," she said softly. "...Okay," Ryan murmured, refraining from saying what he intended to say. Quinn returned to her bed, but she couldn’t sleep despite her fatigue.All sorts of messy thoughts would appear in her mind even if she closed her eyes, leaving her annoyed. She hence stared at the ceiling until daybreak, and washed up to go to work like she usually did.The rest of the family were at the dining table and having breakfast. Syd Collins, the girl Ryan had brought along was, there with them, but Sam wasn’t since he usually woke up past noon. "I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding. I thought
[What?!]Quinn could feel Zoe’s surprise even from the other end.There was a long pause before Zoe added: [You're not really sucking up to that dirtbag, are you?][Not entirely.][That's better.][His parents want us to have a child.][…That's why you're trying to suit his tastes?][The Saunders have always been nice to me.][Really?!] Zoe was speechless, but Quinn did not bother to explain. She was just convinced that if she could accept it, resistance was unnecessary.Still, Zoe suddenly changed the subject. [I heard from Bob that Ryan's back.]Quinn replied: [Yeah. He just touched down yesterday and attended Sam's birthday.][And you…][I'm over him. I'm not lying. Sure, I'd feel the occasional emotion, but time really seems to mend everything. There are times when I feel stressed, but I'm somehow very calm when I face him directly.][Does time really change everything?]Zoe's question was posed to Quinn as much as to herself. Quinn replied earnestly: [Well, that'
In the four-man chat group, Bob suddenly sent a text that read: [Why did my girlfriend do this…]He went into elaborate detail, but deleted it in less than text seconds—he was going to send it to Sam, but his fingers slipped!Sam saw it anyway, and promptly replied in the chat group: [What's the point of deleting it, Bob? I already saw it.]Bob didn’t reply, and instead added: [And what else could the point be? To scorn you.] He even pinged Bob multiple times, leaving Bob speechless.Bob in turn texted Sam privately: [It's just a mistake! Could you stop spamming the chat group?!][Oh, so you just wanted to save face?]Speechless, Bob decided to admit: [It's just…things haven't gone that far with me and my girlfriend.][For real?! No way! What are you, a virgin? You're an adult—not a high-schooler!][You don't understand our love. Do you think everyone thinks with their balls like you?][The point is she's hinting at you to get to it, you monster.][You told me that chicks h