A Night of Desire

The text was from an unknown number. She was about to ignore it, but her finger slipped as she went to exit, and she accidentally opened it.

The message was short. A single glance was all it took for her to read the whole thing.

But those few short sentences left her utterly stunned.

It read: Cherie, full name Cherie Shaw, is the biological son of Seth Quinn’s older sister, Jenna Quinn. In other words, Seth’s own nephew! Furthermore, his health report shows he has never had congenital heart disease.

In short, it was all just an elaborate scam they had orchestrated.

Just as she finished reading, her phone chimed—DING!—with another text. This time it was a picture. She hesitated before tapping it open.

It was a photo. A family portrait!

Theodore Quinn, Sienna Hale, Seth Quinn, Miles, Cherie, and Cherie’s mother—they were all there. Not a single person was missing.

Clara Grant shot upright. The phone felt like it was burning her hand; with a tremor, she nearly dropped it.

She subconsciously texted back, "Who are you?"

Sitting in her car, Autumn Shelby stared at the three words for a moment, then suddenly curled her lip into a smile.

Luckily, Theodore Quinn wasn’t home today. When she’d called Sienna Hale, Sienna had invited her over to the Quinn Family’s home. She’d used the opportunity to say she wanted to see photos of Cherie, and Sienna had brought out an entire album for her to look through.

When Sienna wasn’t looking, she had snapped a picture of that family portrait.

With that photo as proof, Clara Grant would have no choice but to believe her words.

Autumn Shelby snorted, pulled out the SIM card, and casually tossed it into a nearby trash can. Then, she started the car and sped off.

Clara Grant stared intently at her phone, waiting for a reply, but after half a minute, there was still no response.

Unwilling to give up, she tried calling the number, only to be told it was turned off.

Seth Quinn, who had been focused on driving, finally noticed something was wrong. He glanced at her and asked, "Clara, what’s the matter?"

Clara Grant’s eyes shifted to Seth Quinn, as if just now remembering he was right beside her.

’That’s right, Seth is right here. I can just ask him, can’t I?’

She blinked, her lips parting as if to say something, but no words came out.

She just stared at his profile, unblinking.

’This can’t be true. It must be someone with malicious intent trying to drive a wedge between us. After all, so many people want me and Seth to break up; I wouldn’t be surprised by any trick they’d pull.’

’The only reason they sent this message and photo is to trick me into leaving Seth on my own!’

’Yes, that has to be it. Seth would never lie to me.’

’He has no motive to lie to me, either!’

’Before The Reyton Hotel, we had never met. We were complete strangers. How could a man like him, the president of Aegis Pictures, possibly set such an elaborate trap for an ordinary, unremarkable girl like me?’

’Taking a step back, even if... even if our meeting was a trap he set, he wouldn’t lie about Cherie’s congenital heart disease, would he?’

’It’s a matter of life and death, a question of principle. How could he joke about something like that? Besides, if Cherie is his own nephew, how could he possibly curse his own nephew?!’

’And Rowan Linden himself confirmed Cherie’s condition! Rowan is a specialist in cardiology and neurology. He’s a doctor, and doctors have a code of ethics. How could he conspire with Seth to deceive people?’

’So, it’s impossible. Absolutely impossible!’

Seeing her just staring at him without a word, Seth Quinn asked again, "What’s wrong? Who was that text from?"

Clara Grant’s gaze flickered. Her lips parted, and she finally voiced the question, "Seth... does Cherie... does he really have congenital heart disease?"

The words had barely left her mouth when Seth Quinn’s hand on the steering wheel jerked violently. The car swerved, and he quickly corrected it before slamming on the brakes. With a screech—SCREEE—the car came to a halt on the side of the road.