The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 624

Chapter 624 Pawns On The Board

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In that moment, Laura understood that, in Joaquin’s gaze, she was no more than an item. Everyone, it seemed, fit neatly into two piles for him: tools worth keeping and debris not worth a glance.

Her vision blurred. Strength drained away. She toppled, and darkness swallowed her whole.

Joaquin’s voice floated over her collapsing body. “Carry her out. The show is about to begin.”

Julius crossed the threshold of the old manor, shrugging off his coat. He asked the servant who hurried forward, “Where is Quinn?”

“Mrs. Quinn woke from her nap and said she wanted a stroll in the backyard,” the servant replied.

“The backyard?” Julius echoed, brow knitting.

Gavin was still locked inside the ancestral hall behind the garden.

If Quinn finds out…

Alarm spurred him down the corridor toward the rear of the manor.

He had confined Gavin there only so the doctor could shield Quinn once Julius left town. Until that departure, no one–least of all his wife–could be allowed to find the prisoner.

He clenched his fists until the knuckles blanched. Under no circumstances would he allow Gavin to upend the scheme he had so painstakingly laid out.

Quinn drifted into the manor’s rear garden, expecting calm silence. Instead, half a dozen Whitethorn bodyguards stood rigid among the rosebushes, their earpieces buzzing softly like hornets disturbed.

“What exactly are you doing back here?” Quinn asked, her brow knitting in plain confusion.

“We’re… on patrol,” one guard stammered, eyes darting. “Mr. Whitethorn told us security needs extra attention this week.”

The answer seemed plausible. Julius had, after all, been obsessed with tightening security around the manor lately.

A sudden clatter rolled out of the ancestral hall, breaking the hush of the garden like crockery smashed in the dark.

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15:19 Sun, Dec 21

Chapter 624 Pawns On The Board

“Is someone in there?” she asked, turning toward the shuttered doorway.

“Ah, inside… well-” The guard floundered, words tangling like fish in a net.

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“Probably just the staff tidying up,” Julius called from behind them before the guard could improvise further. “The hall is cleaned every single day.”

Quinn spun, surprise flashing across her face. “When did you get back?”

“Only a moment ago.” He closed the few steps between them. “And you? What brings you out for a stroll?”

True, she often wandered the manor grounds, yet her usual haunt was the grove in the front courtyard, not this secluded corner.

“I just felt like visiting the ancestral hall,” Quinn said, though her gaze settled on the pale signet ring circling his finger.

Julius had worn that ring for two straight days. Perhaps that was why, after her midday nap, Quinn suddenly remembered the ancestral hall tucked behind the mansion and decided to have a look.

He had once mentioned that several relics belonging to the Whitethorn ancestors were still preserved inside.

“Then let’s step inside.” Julius caught her hand and guided her toward the carved wooden doors.

Compared with the Bridger family’s ancestral hall in Yarburn, the Whitethorn family’s hall felt intimate, almost modest. Nested within the manor itself, the chamber housed far fewer memorial tablets beneath its low rafters.

“The main branch of the Whitethorns has always been small,” Julius said quietly. “That’s why the tablets are so few.”

Glass cases flanking the altar displayed a collection of heirlooms–tarnished pocket watches, faded photographs, and modest porcelain–most dating only a century or so back.

“Is this… the family register?” Her finger hovered over a leather–bound volume.

“Your name has already been inscribed,” Julius murmured. “When our child is born, we’ll write theirs beneath yours.”

A gentle smile touched her lips. She traced the inked columns, her gaze finally resting on the names of Julius‘ parents.

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Chapter 624 Pawns On The Board

“Have there been any leads on your father’s whereabouts?” she asked softly.

His fingers tightened around hers, the sudden pressure answering before he spoke.

She looked up, concern clouding her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

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“Nothing,” he said, though his voice roughened. “It’s just… until we capture my father, I’ll always feel uneasy.”

“We will, eventually.” Quinn stepped toward the ancestral altar and bowed before it.

“Honored Whitethorn ancestors, I–Quinn Bridger, newlywed into your line–bow before you. May you shield Julius Whitethorn, and may I stand beside him through whatever comes, in life or in death. Bear witness to this vow.”

After finishing her quiet vow, Quinn straightened back up.

When she turned, Julius was standing behind her, watching her with an expression caught somewhere between awe and confusion.

“Why would

murmur.

you make a vow like that?” Julius asked, his voice barely more than a wondering

“We’re husband and wife,” Quinn replied, her tone earnest, steady, almost luminous. “No matter how dangerous your father becomes, I will stand beside you. So stop carrying all of that weight alone.”

He gave a low, wordless sound of agreement, something closer to a breath than a syllable.

“I almost forgot–there’s something I want to show you.” Quinn reached into her pocket and produced a scarlet hair tie. “I made it myself. Back in school, if a boy wore a girl’s hair tie around his wrist, it meant he was officially taken.”

“So, you plan to claim me with it?” Julius asked, a half–teasing, half–hopeful glint in his eyes.

Quinn laughed softly. “Only if you actually want to wear it.”

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