Filed to story: Quinn Lane and Julian Sterling Book PDF Free
“Chase is a good man,” Victor said. “But Quinn is wonderful too.”
Elaine slammed her fork down on the table. “Are you trying to make me angry on purpose?”
Victor quickly raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, I’ll drop it. Let’s just finish dinner.”
After the meal, Quinn stayed in the kitchen washing dishes.
Elaine stood at the doorway watching her. “Didn’t you say you were entering some kind of competition? How’s your preparation going?”
Quinn paused briefly before continuing to rinse the dishes.
“It’s going okay. The competition doesn’t start until next month.”
“Make sure you prepare properly,” Elaine said. “You don’t have a stable job anyway. If you manage to win a prize, at least it’ll sound good when people talk about it.”
Quinn said nothing.
Elaine continued, “How are things between you and Chase? I’m just saying, you’ve been married for three years now. It’s about time you had a child.”
Quinn slowly set the bowl down in her hands. With her eyes lowered, she said quietly, “I’m going to divorce Chase.”
Elaine froze for a few seconds.
Then her voice shot up. “What did you just say? Say that again!”
Hearing the raised voice, Victor walked over from the living room.
“What’s going on? If there’s something to discuss, talk about it calmly. Why are you shouting?”
Elaine said angrily, “Do you know what she just told me? She said she wants a divorce!”
Victor immediately turned to Quinn. “Quinn! What’s going on here?”
The warmth from earlier had disappeared from his voice, replaced with stern seriousness.
Quinn dried her hands and turned to face them. “Yes,” she said. “I want a divorce.”
Elaine said sharply, “What’s wrong with young people these days? You toss around divorce like it’s nothing. Do you think marriage is some kind of joke?”
Victor added, “Exactly. You can’t make decisions like that so casually. If news of a divorce spreads, do you realize how embarrassing that would be?”
Quinn had expected this reaction.
They would never agree. And not one of them had asked the most important question.
Why she wanted the divorce in the first place.
Quinn gave a small laugh. “None of you even want to ask why I want a divorce?”
Victor waved it off. “That’s not what matters. What matters is whether the two of you have been putting real effort into your marriage. Married couples argue all the time, that’s normal. Your mom and I fight too, and we’ve stayed together our whole lives.”
Elaine scoffed. “I think there’s something seriously wrong with you! A man like Chase choosing to marry you should’ve made you feel lucky.”
“He doesn’t love me,” Quinn said. “And I don’t have feelings for him anymore either. There’s no reason for this marriage to continue.”
“You’re just being dramatic,” Elaine snapped. “Once you’re married, love doesn’t matter anymore. You’re family, and living a stable life together is what matters most. That’s why I told you to have a baby. Once you have a kid, everything will settle down.”
“I’m not talking about divorce because I’m throwing a tantrum,” Quinn explained patiently. “I truly can’t keep living with him. Mom, Dad, I know this isn’t something to be proud of, but for the sake of my own happiness, I hope you’ll support me.”
Victor frowned. “What do you think happiness is? Having a place to live and never having to worry about money, that’s happiness. Ever since you married into the Sterling family, have you ever had to worry about paying the bills? Do you really think love alone can keep a marriage going? That’s just a fantasy.”
Elaine added sharply, “You’ve never measured up to your sister, not since you were a kid. I never expected you to make this family proud, but the least you could do was not disgrace us. Apparently even that’s too much to ask.”
Quinn smiled faintly.
Growing up, Quinn brought home enough academic awards to fill an entire drawer. Her SAT score had been far higher than Rosalie’s.
Yet the awards displayed proudly on the wall at home all belonged to Rosalie. There weren’t many of them, but her parents treated them like priceless trophies.
When Rosalie got a disappointing SAT score, they comforted her right away, saying one bad test meant nothing and that a single exam could never determine someone’s future.
After Quinn went to college, no matter how many scholarships she earned or how often the university praised her, her parents always acted as if it were simply expected.
When Rosalie failed classes in college, they even pulled strings to have the failing grades removed from her academic record. Even so, in their hearts, Rosalie was still the better daughter.
Once someone has already chosen a favorite, nothing you say will ever change their mind.
Quinn looked at Elaine. “Mom, if Rosalie said she wanted a divorce someday, would you try to talk her out of it like this?”
Elaine frowned immediately. “Your sister isn’t even married yet, and you’re already saying something like that? Why would you curse her like that? Honestly, what’s wrong with you? If it weren’t for your sister, would Chase have ever looked at you? And now you still want a divorce?”
Quinn suddenly regretted asking.
She already knew the answer. The way they treated their biological daughter could never be the same as how they treated her.
In truth, she understood. After all, Rosalie was their biological daughter.
But they had raised Quinn for more than twenty years. Did that really mean nothing to them?
Was blood truly more important than every other kind of bond?
Quinn could only envy that kind of connection.
Because she wasn’t their child.
Even after more than twenty years, even though she had always treated them as her real parents.
Quinn walked out of the kitchen area, picked up her bag, and slung it over her shoulder.
“I’m not asking for your permission to get divorced,” she said calmly. “Since you don’t care how I feel or whether I’m happy, I don’t see why I should keep protecting your reputation.”
Elaine was furious. “You’ve really grown some nerve, talking like that! After all these years raising you, this is what I get? An ungrateful daughter!”
Quinn still held on to a final shred of hope. “I’m insisting on a divorce, and none of you even asked why. Do you know what Chase did?”
Victor asked, “What did he even do? Did you two argue over some business dinner or networking event? Let me tell you something. When men go out socializing for work, sometimes they have to play along. That’s normal. He makes good money. Situations like that are bound to happen. You should try being a little more understanding instead of throwing around words like divorce. And stop comparing yourself to Rosalie. Once she gets married, she’ll definitely have a better life than you. All you ever do is complain about Chase. Why don’t you take a good look at yourself first?”
Before Quinn even got home, her phone rang.
It was Rosalie.
The moment she answered, Rosalie began interrogating her.
“You went to see Mom and Dad?” Rosalie’s tone was sharp. “What exactly did you tell them? I’m not even in the country right now. It’s bad enough you’re not taking care of them, and now you’re making them upset too?”
“I told them I’m getting a divorce,” Quinn said. “Nothing else.”
“Why would you bring something like that to bother them?” Rosalie said, clearly annoyed. “Chase is a great man. What exactly are you unhappy about? You say he doesn’t love you, then why don’t you try harder to become someone worth loving? Even if something bad happened and you feel insecure about it, that’s even less reason to get divorced.”
Quinn could not help thinking that people who lived under the same roof really did become alike.
In some ways, Rosalie was exactly like Elaine and Victor.
After all these years, Quinn still had not learned how to belittle someone so subtly or manipulate them so effortlessly.
“So I’m not good enough for him,” Quinn said. “I don’t want to keep holding him back. Is that okay with you? Yes, I’m insecure. I’m not exceptional. I admit it.”
“That’s exactly why you should hold on to him even tighter!”
Rosalie was practically panicking.
Her own relationship was on the verge of success, and at a time like this she could not allow anything to go wrong in her family.
After all, she planned to marry into a powerful family someday. If word got out that she had a divorced sister, it would sound terrible.
Julian had messaged her earlier, asking about the confession.
In reality, no one had confessed to her at all.
She had only made up the story to provoke Julian, hoping it would finally push their relationship past that last invisible barrier.
And it had worked. Julian had messaged her to ask about it, his words carrying a hint of tension.
Rosalie replied, “I didn’t accept it. I don’t even like him.”
But that little push did not feel like enough.
She sent another message.
“I already made it clear I rejected him, but he still shows up every day trying to pursue me. What should I do?”
After that, there was no reply.
Rosalie waited for a long time, but Julian never sent another message. Her mind began to wander.
With Quinn suddenly insisting on a divorce, she felt even more irritated.
“Quinn, I’m really saying this for your own good,” Rosalie continued earnestly. “Think about it. If you divorce Chase, do you honestly believe you could ever find another man like him? His looks, his family background, his status, there’s no way you’ll meet anyone better.”
Quinn replied calmly, “If a husband who sends his own wife to another man’s bed was offered to you, would you want him?”
Rosalie froze for a moment.
But she quickly recovered. “We already talked about this. Chase didn’t do that unless he had no choice. Why are you still hung up on it? Yes, something happened between you and another man, and maybe you can’t get over it emotionally. But if Chase doesn’t mind, then you shouldn’t be so sensitive about it either.”
Quinn said, “I used to hear people say it’s easy to judge when you’re not the one suffering. Now I finally understand what that means. If the same thing happened to you, would you forgive him so easily?”
“That’s a pointless hypothetical. It would never happen to me,” Rosalie replied. “Yes, Chase was wrong to do that. But are you really completely innocent in this?”
Quinn let out a short laugh. “I’m the victim. What exactly did I do wrong?”
