Shattered Vows: Call Me Auntie Now novel Chapter 83

Hearing Dante's question, Quinn's fingers unconsciously curled into a fist.

Her face paled slightly.

The terrifying moment from seven years ago seemed to flash before her eyes.

Back then, when Dante had fallen through the ice and lost consciousness, it was she who had desperately hauled him out. That was how her wrist got slashed, leaving a permanent scar.

The agony in her wrist and the bone-chilling cold felt as though they were creeping back through her veins, suffocating her with a wave of despair.

Quinn stared at the man in the driver's seat, unable to fathom how he had the nerve to ask that.

"Dante, do you genuinely not know, or are you just playing dumb?"

The light turned green, and Dante hit the gas. Focused on the road ahead, he missed the expression on Quinn's face.

He did recall something about the injury on Quinn's wrist.

One evening, Vivienne had come to him, claiming that Quinn had gotten into another fight with her siblings.

That time, she had allegedly scratched her stepsister's eye again. Yasmine had cried and screamed, insisting that Quinn was trying to blind her.

Afterward, Cynthia Yates flew into a rage, threatening to ruin Quinn's hands, which resulted in her wrist getting slashed.

The Yates family had never been peaceful. Quinn had always had a miserable time there, and being casually abused and beaten was an everyday occurrence for her.

Quentin and Yasmine constantly ganged up on her, and Cynthia verbally and physically assaulted her at will.

Dante heard the gloom in her tone just now and assumed Quinn didn't want to bring up her dark past in the Yates household.

He coughed, changing the subject. "That scar is so unsightly, and I know how much you girls care about looking good."

"If you'd like, I can have some beautiful silk scarves custom-made for you. You could tie them around your wrist to cover the scar and match your outfits..."

"Dante!"

Tying a silk scarf around the wrist as an accessory was Vivienne's signature styling trick.

Quinn never wanted to act like a bitter, resentful wife. Despite her usual restraint, she found herself at the end of her rope.

"Custom silk scarves have always been your special little gift for Vivienne. How desperate for affection do you think I am, to need you tossing me her hand-me-down gestures?!"

Dante didn't understand how this had somehow circled back to Vivienne.

What was Quinn getting so angry about now?

Taking a deep breath, he decided to shift the topic. "When we get to the Yates estate later, try to get along with Yasmine. Don't start any fights."

Yasmine was Quinn's stepsister. They had fought constantly as kids and were completely incompatible.

Between her father's deceit and betrayal of her mother, and Yasmine teaming up with Cynthia to torment her, there was no way Quinn could ever let it go in this lifetime.

"Not a chance!"

Quinn rejected him without hesitation. "Dante."

"If you want to use the Hayes and Ambrose business deals to play nice, to cater to Yasmine and suck up to the Yates family, that's your choice. But I am absolutely not playing along."

The moment Quinn's words fell, the temperature in the car plummeted to freezing.

The enclosed space grew terrifyingly quiet. Dante furrowed his brow sharply, his grip on the steering wheel tightening abruptly.

"Quinn, do you have to be so extreme and stubborn? Leaving some room for compromise wouldn't kill you."

"Dante, what gives you the right to forgive the darkness and suffering I went through?"

"Pull over!"

Those two simple words announced the sheer magnitude of Quinn's fury.

Dante's frown deepened. He didn't slow down, his tone laced with suppressed frustration. "We're almost at the Yates estate. Stop throwing a tantrum."

"I said, pull over!"

Quinn abruptly raised her voice, commanding him once again.