Shadows Drift Beyond Memory by Xarin Vale novel Chapter 44

Chapter 6

[Rachel, how did you become like this?]

Quentin stared at me, looked shocked and confused,

In his mind, I’d always been calm, distant. Polite but untouchable.

That’s why Anna–messy, chaotic, mediocre Anna–still managed to attract him. Because she was nothing like me.

Her fiery passion was something I didn’t have.

But Quentin forgot–my personality changed after the accident.

I used to be bright, loud, alive.

A phone call broke the silence.

When Quentin saw the name on the screen, something flickered in his eyes.

“Hello? Quentin, I’m really going to lose my spot at school…”

“They’re kicking me out…”

A girl’s sobbing voice spilled out of the phone.

Quentin turned on his heel and left without hesitation. Even Matthew couldn’t stop him.

The door slammed so hard the windows rattled.

I knew it. Quentin felt sorry for Anna.

He thought I was manipulative, calculating, cruel.

But what really pissed him off? He knew this time, there was nothing he could do to save her.

Anna’s scandal had blown up far beyond what he could control.

The school didn’t dare expel her without due process.

After I returned to school, the Education Board began their formal investigation.

Anna kept dodging the inquiry, always hiding behind Quentin’s name.

Quentin put his own reputation on the line to vouch for her

15:16 C

His Girl Bro Lied ‘Not His Baby- DN Played Along. But Baby IS His!

32.6

Chapter 6

Everyone at school knew: Quentin Thorne had turned against Rachel Campbell.

People kept bringing up her confession on my eighteenth birthday.

Back then, Quentin said he wasn’t interested in her. Now he was doing everything for her.

“Quentin!”

“Come grab dinner with me! I’ve lost so much weight lately.”

Anna and Quentin showed up together every single day, practically glued to each other.

Anna paraded their affection right in front of me like it was her trophy.

I acted like nothing was happening, ignored Quentin’s eyes landing on me, over and over again.

I buried myself in studying. Kept my distance from Quentin like he was a stranger.

Until one day after school, Quentin was waiting for me at the stairwell landing.

I pretended not to see him and walked around him.

But he grabbed my hand.

Quentin looked down, his voice low, defeated and sad.

“I lost. Just… talk to me, okay?”

“I won’t defend Anna anymore. What happened before – that was on me.”

“Rachel, I really can’t lose you.”

When we were kids, Quentin and I used to play hide–and–seek all the time.

Quentin was terrible at it. Every time I held back from finding him, he’d get impatient and run out on his own.

So I always won.

C

This time, he was the same.

He was mad that I was calculating–my changed application, my recovered hearing.

So he used Anna to get back at me.

But he didn’t have the patience to see it through.

What he didn’t know? This time, I wasn’t playing anymore.

15-17

His Girl Bro Lied ‘Not His Baby–DN Played Along, But Baby IS His!

32.8%

Chapter 6

I peeled his fingers off mine, one by one, then met his eyes and shook my head.

“I’ve been with you for ten years. One mistake, and you’re going to crucify me for it?”

Quentin looked up. His eyes were rimmed red.

He looked hurt. Wounded. Devastated.

But to me? It was all laughable.

His words? Even more so.