Filed to story: Quinn Lane and Julian Sterling Book PDF Free
“That guy is unbelievable! After everything he’s done, he still doesn’t want a divorce? That’s disgusting!” she snapped. “I’m calling Veronica right now and asking if there’s any way to completely ruin his reputation.”
Quinn quickly grabbed her arm.
“She is really busy. Don’t bother her over my problems all the time.”
“It’s fine,” Lucy said. “Veronica told me she feels really guilty about what happened to you. She said you can go to her anytime if you need help.”
Quinn shook her head gently.
“It’s okay. I’ll figure out the divorce myself.”
Lucy looked at her helplessly.
“How are you supposed to figure it out? You’re too kind. You’re always thinking about other people first. Chase knows exactly what you’re like, and that’s why he keeps taking advantage of you.”
Quinn smiled. “He won’t be able to bully me anymore. Really. I promise.”
“That’s good.” Lucy studied her carefully. “Quinn… you’re not mad at me, are you?”
“Mad?” Quinn blinked. “Why would I be mad?”
Lucy hesitated for a moment.
“Because… I never told you about my family background,” she said quietly. “I never expected so many things to happen to you, and it turns out they’re connected to Julian.”
Quinn shook her head.
“That doesn’t matter to me. No matter what kind of background you come from, you’re still my best friend. Isn’t that what matters?”
“Of course it is!” Lucy immediately brightened. “That’s exactly what I think too. None of that stuff matters. What matters is that we’re close.”
Quinn nodded. “Right. I hope our friendship will never be affected by anything like that.”
Lucy nodded enthusiastically.
After they finished eating, the two of them moved to the couch to relax.
Lucy suddenly made a confused sound.
“Huh?”
Quinn looked at her. “What’s wrong?”
“The little lamb pillow,” Lucy said, glancing around. “Where did it go?”
She quickly explained, “The one I told you about before, the one that reminded me of you.”
It wasn’t that the pillow looked like Quinn.
Lucy simply thought the little lamb was gentle and sweet, just like Quinn’s personality.
Quinn looked around too.
“I didn’t notice. Wasn’t it always on the couch?”
“Yeah.” Lucy scanned the room, puzzled. “That’s strange. How did it suddenly disappear?”
She shrugged. “Whatever. I’ll just buy another one next time.”
“I’ll go buy it for you,” Quinn said.
Lucy grinned. “Then buy two. One for you and one for me.”
She leaned comfortably against Quinn on the couch. “Quinn, why don’t you just move in and live with me from now on?”
Quinn smiled. “I’ll stay here for now. Once the divorce is settled, I want to go back to school.”
Lucy’s eyes immediately lit up.
“That’s great! Your professor wanted you to stay for graduate school back then, remember? When you suddenly decided to get married instead, he was furious.”
The two of them were still chatting when Lucy’s phone rang.
She picked it up, glanced at the screen, then blinked and looked at Quinn.
Quinn noticed her expression. “What is it?”
Lucy turned the phone toward her.
“Quinn, my cousin says she wants to have lunch with us today.”
Quinn looked surprised. “With us? Why?”
“She feels really bad about what happened to you.”
“You really don’t have to do that,” Quinn said.
Lucy shook her arm playfully. “My cousin takes things very seriously. If you don’t go, she’ll probably keep thinking about it forever. Come on, please?”
Quinn had no choice but to give in.
“Alright, but lunch is on me. I’m the one inviting her. Otherwise I won’t go.”
Lucy immediately brightened.
“Deal! I’ll tell her right now!”
Neither of them expected that when the time came for lunch, an unexpected guest would show up.
When the three of them finally met, Veronica quickly realized just how close Lucy and Quinn truly were.
Lucy’s family ran a business, so she had grown up around money and influence.
Veronica’s father, on the other hand, was not in business. But because of Julian, she had been surrounded by wealthy social circles since childhood.
Within those circles, relationships between siblings and friends often looked warm on the surface.
In reality, most of them were shallow connections tangled with status, interests, and quiet competition.
Friendships as genuine as the one between Lucy and Quinn were incredibly rare.
Quinn picked up her glass of water and looked at Veronica.
“Veronica, I’m not much of a drinker, and I’ve decided to stay away from alcohol from now on. I hope you don’t mind if I just stick with water today.”
“Oh please, don’t worry about that,” Veronica said with a warm smile, lifting her own glass. “There’s no need to be so formal. You’re Lucy’s best friend, which makes you like a little sister to me. And honestly, I’m the one who should be apologizing. I’m really sorry I couldn’t help you when that situation happened.”
“Veronica,” Quinn said gently, “even though it turned out to be a misunderstanding, your attitude and your professionalism still helped me a lot. I’m truly grateful.”
Lucy burst out laughing and lifted her glass.
“Okay, you two seriously need to relax,” she said with a grin. “Why are you both acting so formal? One of you is my cousin, the other is my best friend. You’re basically the two most important people in my life.”
She glanced between them. “So can we just agree that we’re all on the same team here?”
Veronica laughed and turned to Quinn. “In that case,” she said warmly, “I guess that makes you family too.”
“Thank you, Veronica.”
They continued chatting for a while.
Suddenly Veronica’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen and instinctively looked toward Quinn.
Quinn slid a dish a little closer to Lucy and smiled, her expression warm and completely genuine.
Veronica stood up. “I’m going to take this call.”
Many of her work matters involved strict confidentiality agreements, so Lucy was already used to it.
“Go ahead,” Lucy said.
Veronica stepped outside the private dining room before answering.
“Well this is rare,” she said. “What made you call me today?”
Julian went straight to the point. “Where are you having lunch?”
Veronica immediately sensed something unusual.
“What do you mean? Don’t tell me you want to join us for lunch. You’re so busy that sometimes you don’t even have time to eat with me during the holidays.”
Julian replied calmly.
“I could just show up, but I think it would be easier for Quinn to accept if you invite me.”
Veronica frowned. “What exactly are you getting at?” she asked again. “You…”
She suddenly remembered what Quinn had told her about what happened on the yacht.
Julian had said nothing had happened between them.
But just because they hadn’t slept together didn’t mean nothing else had happened.
Veronica spoke seriously, “Don’t do anything reckless. She’s Lucy’s best friend. And she’s married.”
“I never said I was going to do anything,”
Julian replied. “It’s just lunch. Aren’t you overthinking this?”
“I hope I am,” Veronica said. “Quinn is a good girl. Don’t scare her.”
