A pang of discomfort shot through Damian Fairchild’s chest at the sight of her, so aggrieved and utterly broken.
His chest rose and fell as he tried to suppress a powerful emotion.
With his fingers, he brushed aside the hair plastered to her cheeks, soaked with cold sweat.
He then leaned down and gently kissed her forehead, trying to soothe her.
“I’m here.”
“You’re safe now.”
Seraphina Quinn’s words tumbled out incoherently.
“Tonight… I was getting ready to go to the supermarket around eight, and someone just… knocked me out… When I woke up, I was here.
I swear I haven’t done anything to offend anyone…”
Damian Fairchild removed his suit jacket, wrapping it around her trembling body.
As he swept her into his arms, he ordered Seth Thorne, “Clean this up.”
Seth Thorne nodded.
As Damian Fairchild turned to leave, carrying Seraphina Quinn, the agonizing wails of the drunkard rose from behind them, growing louder with each cry.
Seraphina Quinn was terrified.
Right now, she couldn’t bring herself to care that Damian Fairchild was another woman’s husband and another child’s father.
To her, he was her only lifeline, and all she wanted was to hold on tight.
The tighter she held on, the safer she felt.
As she thought this, Seraphina Quinn tightened her arms around Damian Fairchild’s neck and anxiously buried her face in his chest.
The steady, powerful rhythm of his heartbeat was reassuring.
But that sense of security lasted less than two minutes before it was shattered by a voice.
“Damian, is Miss Quinn alright?”
Audrey Winslow’s voice was laced with concern.
Cecilia Fairchild, who was holding her hand, looked up with a curious and puzzled expression.
“Mommy, why is Daddy holding that auntie?
My second auntie says that all the women who get close to Daddy are bad, and only Mommy is allowed to hug and kiss Daddy.”
Audrey Winslow frowned.
“Don’t listen to your second aunt’s nonsense.
Miss Quinn… she’s hurt.
That’s why Daddy is carrying her.”
Cecilia Fairchild seemed to understand.
Her eyes curved into a smile as she said in a bright, clear voice, “Oh, so Daddy’s doing a good deed!
Mommy, shouldn’t we give Daddy a reward?”
At this, Seraphina Quinn struggled to get down from Damian Fairchild’s arms.
She was ashamed—mortified, even.
‘If I had a choice,’ she thought, ‘I would rather have been violated by that drunk than face Damian Fairchild’s wife and daughter right now.’
“Mrs.
Fairchild…” Seraphina Quinn bit her lip.
“Thank you, to both you and Mr.
Fairchild, for your help.”
Audrey Winslow looked conflicted, unsure how to begin.
“I’m so sorry,” she finally said.
“It was my father… he sent those men to kidnap you.”
Seraphina Quinn’s eyes widened in shock.
Her throat felt tight as she asked, “Your father…?”
“Mommy, why did Grandpa kidnap the auntie?
Is it because she’s trying to steal Daddy from us?”
At five years old, Cecilia Fairchild wasn’t entirely clueless.
Her second aunt often told her that Daddy was very popular with other women and that Mommy was “useless,” so it was up to Cecilia to help keep a close eye on him, or else he’d be stolen away.
That’s why she was so afraid of Daddy being taken away.
Her little brow furrowed with worry, and her voice started to choke with sobs.
“Auntie, you can’t take my daddy!
Daddy belongs to me and Mommy.
Don’t be a bad woman… waaah…”
The unfiltered words of a child, yet they were a genuine display of emotion that left Seraphina Quinn utterly mortified.
Seraphina Quinn’s face was deathly pale, drained of all color.
A bitter pang shot through her heart, and a lump formed in her throat.
Faced with the child’s accusation, she couldn’t even utter a single word.
She couldn’t explain.
After all, she really was the other woman.
Whether she had gotten involved with Damian Fairchild willingly, been forced, or was simply unaware of his marriage, the fact remained the same.
She was, indeed, the other woman who had wrecked someone’s marriage.
“I’m sorry…”
She finally managed to speak.
Just then, Audrey Winslow picked up Cecilia Fairchild.
She looked like she wanted to say something, but hesitated.
In the end, she said nothing to Seraphina, turning to Damian Fairchild instead.
“I’ll take Cecilia back to Celestia.
You should see Miss Quinn home.” She paused for a moment before adding, “I’ll go talk to my father.
I promise, something like this will never happen again.”
Damian Fairchild’s voice was frigid.
“See that it doesn’t.”
After Audrey Winslow left with Cecilia in her arms, another sedan pulled up in front of Seraphina Quinn.
Damian Fairchild opened the car door.
“Get in.”
Seraphina Quinn looked down at her bare, blood-stained feet.
Now that the initial terror had subsided, the pain was becoming intense.
“That’s okay, I can get back on my own…”
Damian Fairchild scoffed, “Are you going to walk?”
Seraphina Quinn bit her lip tightly, not making a sound.
“You lost your shoes, you don’t have your phone, and your clothes are barely holding together.
What, you don’t think you’re tempting enough to men as it is?
Are you trying to get gang-raped on the street and have your body dumped in an alley?”
In the end, Seraphina Quinn got into Damian Fairchild’s car.
They first went to the hospital to have her foot treated.
Afterward, they stopped at a nearby mall to buy her clothes, shoes, and socks before he finally took Seraphina Quinn home.
It wasn’t that Damian Fairchild had never seen a rundown slum before, but he couldn’t accept that the woman he had once loved so deeply had fallen so low as to live in such a wretched place.
“This is where you live?”
Seraphina Quinn nodded.
“My place is pretty basic.
I won’t invite you up…” she trailed off. The source of this chapter is novelping.com.
“Didn’t I give you a million?” Damian Fairchild’s voice was tight with suppressed fury, a rage simmering in his chest.
“Where did it all go?
You living here… what’s the difference between this and walking through a red-light district at midnight waiting to get jumped by some drunk?”
‘My son’s last episode…
One dose of that special medication cost 500,000, and his regular treatments are another 300,000.’
‘Out of that million, I only have 200,000 left.’
‘And soon, the fees for my grandfather’s nursing home will be due again.’
‘I want to live in a better place too, but I really can’t afford to spend a single extra cent.’
“It’s almost gone.”
Damian Fairchild was livid.
“I’m asking you what you spent it on!”
He just wanted to know how she could have spent all that money and still ended up living in a dump like this, a sketchy neighborhood, instead of finding somewhere safe and decent.
Not wanting to tell him the truth, Seraphina Quinn lied on the spot.
“For a while now, Landon Morgan has been sabotaging me, so I can’t hold down a job.
I had no other choice… I was desperate and had to borrow from loan sharks.
The money went to paying off that debt.”
Damian Fairchild’s expression darkened.
“Doesn’t your aunt help you?”
Seraphina Quinn looked him in the eye.
“She’s the one who helps me pay for my grandfather’s nursing home.
But every time she helps me, she tries to sell me off.
I don’t want to be under her thumb, so I stopped accepting her ‘charity’.”
It was a plausible excuse.
Damian Fairchild said, “To save me future trouble, I can lend you an apartment for the time being.
You can move out when you’re back on your feet.”
Damian Fairchild made the decision for her, leaving no room for refusal.
“I’m not always this merciful.
Think about your situation.
You’re in no position to say no.”
Half an hour later, under Damian Fairchild’s arrangement, Seraphina Quinn moved into Golden Begonia Gardens.
It was a spacious, single-floor apartment with excellent amenities and convenient access to transportation.
Most importantly, it was safe.
The whole ordeal had left Damian Fairchild exhausted.
He sank into the sofa and pinched his temples with one hand, looking utterly drained.
Seraphina Quinn poured him a glass of water.
“I haven’t eaten tonight.
I was about to make some noodles.
Would you like some?”
Damian Fairchild opened his eyes, the corners of which were bloodshot.
“You know how to cook?”
Seraphina Quinn replied, “After my family ran into trouble, all the servants left.
I gradually learned how to cook.”
‘The young lady who once never had to lift a finger has now fallen on hard times,’ he thought.
‘It’s no surprise she’s learned to cook.’
“Just make some for yourself.”
“My wife and daughter are waiting for me at home.”
Damian Fairchild stood up and leaned in, his tall frame looming over Seraphina Quinn.
“Audrey has liver failure and can no longer have children.
I have a daughter, but I still need a son.” He paused.
“So how about it?
Why don’t you have a son for me?”