Filed to story: Quinn Lane and Julian Sterling Book PDF Free
Lucy was her best friend. In many ways, she was just like family. But now Julian had violated her, and she could not even report him to the police.
Lucy was related to him by blood. Every time Quinn saw Lucy, she would inevitably think of Julian.
That thought alone made her chest tighten. Julian had really done a number on her.
Not only had he hurt her, he had also managed to cast a shadow over her friendship with Lucy.
Why does this always happen to me?
She was lost in thought when suddenly she heard someone knocking at the door.
Is Lucy home yet?
Quinn jumped off the bed and hurried toward the door. She did not even have time to put on her shoes.
“Lucy!”
She pulled the door open. But the person standing there was not Lucy.
Instead, a tall figure filled the doorway. Julian looked at the woman standing in front of him.
She had rushed to the door wearing nothing but a thin nightgown, barefoot and completely unguarded.
His brows immediately furrowed. Was she really that careless?
The moment Quinn recognized who it was, she froze. Only then did it hit her.
If Lucy had come back, she would have told her beforehand. Besides, Lucy knew the passcode. She would never knock.
The man she despised stood right in front of her. Quinn did not even want to look at him.
So what if he had a perfect face? Underneath it, he was still a monster.
Without hesitation, Quinn raised her hand and started closing the door. She did not want to say a single word.
But the heavy security door stopped halfway.
Quinn looked up. One of Julian’s bodyguards had planted his thick arm against the door.
She had heard that wherever Julian went, at least eight bodyguards followed him, four in plain sight and four more hidden nearby. After all, he was a man with immense power and influence.
Trying to bring someone like him down would be like throwing yourself against a brick wall.
“Mr. Sterling,” Quinn said coldly.
Her eyes were icy. “What exactly are you trying to do? Breaking into someone’s home?”
“Talk,” Julian said, looking down at her. “About what happened on the yacht.”
Quinn’s body began to tremble. Fear and disgust surged up at the same time.
She fought down the nausea, her face going even paler. “Wasn’t what happened on the yacht bad enough?”
“I think you’ve misunderstood”
“Misunderstood?”
Hatred flashed in Quinn’s eyes. “Are you saying you didn’t humiliate me?”
Julian did not want to discuss something as personal as her chastity in front of his bodyguards.
“May I come in?” he asked. “I promise it will only take a few minutes. We need some privacy to talk about this.”
“No.” Quinn turned her face away. She did not want to look at him even for a second. “If you don’t leave right now, I’m calling the police.”
“That’s good,” Julian said quietly. “You should know how to protect your rights.”
He looked at her, something soft flashing in his eyes. “If having the police here would make you feel safe, go ahead and call them.”
It had only been a day. Yet she already looked so much thinner and more exhausted.
Quinn suddenly turned to stare at him.
Julian met her gaze calmly, without avoiding it. “Do you believe me now?”
“You’re telling me to call the police?” Quinn let out a bitter laugh. “Right. Someone like you wouldn’t be afraid of the police.”
How ridiculous. She had actually believed the law could protect her. Reality quickly proved her wrong.
What rights did she really have against someone like Julian? The law always seemed to favor men like him.
Julian sighed softly. Every emotion he had never experienced in his life seemed to appear whenever Quinn was involved.
“No one humiliated you,” he said. “If you’re referring to the hug and… the kiss, then I apologize.”
Fragments of broken memories suddenly flooded Quinn’s mind. The man’s heavy breathing echoed in her ears.
Strong arms wrapped tightly around her waist, as if he wanted to pull her into his body.
Quinn could not hold it in anymore. She covered her mouth and rushed toward the bathroom.
Julian took a step forward, then abruptly stopped himself.
His voice turned cold. “Wait outside.”
The next second, he stepped inside the apartment and stopped in the entryway.
The bodyguards closed the door and remained standing outside. This was Julian’s first time at Lucy’s place.
He did not move any farther inside.
Even though he was worried about Quinn’s condition, he kept his distance and stayed where he was.
Her misunderstanding of him seemed deep.
Judging from her reaction, it was almost as if he had committed some unforgivable crime against her.
But if he had really slept with her that night, how could she not have noticed? If they had actually slept together, she wouldn’t have walked off that yacht so easily.
She probably would not even have been able to get out of bed. The image flashed through Julian’s mind, darkening his gaze.
Quinn came out of the bathroom soon after. She had not thrown up anything. But her face was even paler than before.
Julian spoke first.
“What’s wrong with you physically? Do you need me to take you to the hospital?”
Quinn collapsed onto the couch weakly. She did not want to say a single word.
Julian knew the most urgent thing now was clearing up the misunderstanding.
“Nothing happened on that yacht,” he said. “Quinn, aside from hugging you and kissing you, I didn’t do anything else.”
Quinn suddenly looked up at him.
Julian let out a quiet sigh. “You’ve never experienced anything like that before, have you?”
A faint blush suddenly appeared on Quinn’s pale face. She felt both embarrassed and furious.
“What exactly are you trying to say?” she snapped. “Don’t push your luck!”
Zeke had once told Julian that Chase had never slept with Quinn.
When Julian first heard that, he had been shocked. But looking at Quinn’s reaction now, it was probably true.
At that moment, Julian’s emotions were incredibly complicated.
On one hand, he felt a deep ache for what Quinn had gone through over the past three years.
He had always assumed that after getting married, she must be living a happy, comfortable life.
Instead, Chase had been in love with someone else the whole time, refusing even to sleep with her.
What kind of life has she been living these past three years?
At the same time, he could not deny that a small, shameful sense of relief and even quiet satisfaction stirred inside him.
It was probably a selfish way to feel, and he knew it, but he could not stop it.
More than anything, though, he felt sorry for her.
He looked at her with eyes so deep and steady that it was impossible to tell what emotions he had buried beneath the surface.
“I just want you to know something,” he said. “Nothing actually happened between us. If hugging and kissing count as crossing the line, then fine, I’ll admit to that. But anything beyond that, I didn’t do it, and I’m not going to take the blame for it.”
Quinn stood there for a few seconds, trying to process what he had just said.
When she finally spoke, her voice came out strained.
“Y-you mean…”
The rest of the sentence caught in her throat. No matter how hard she tried, she could not bring herself to say it.
There was no one else around. If there was ever a time to clear this up, it was now.
Julian did not want her to keep misunderstanding him or looking at him with disgust.
“I’ll explain exactly what happened that night,” he said. “You might feel uncomfortable hearing it, but there’s no other way. I need to clear my name.”
Quinn glanced at him. Clear his name?
