She Walked Away With His Twins While He Begged the Ground She Walked On novel Chapter 144

"Thank you, Gail."

Quinn carried Luna over to a nearby bench and gently slipped off her little jacket.

Seeing the slight swelling on her small arm made Quinn's heart twist in agony.

"I'm okay, Quinn... it doesn't hurt..."

Sensing her mother's deep worry, Luna quickly tried to comfort her.

Quinn felt a lump form in her throat. "Luna, if it hurts, just tell me."

"It's cold, but I can handle it. Hehe..."

Luna offered a brave, crescent-eyed smile. Her arm clearly stung, but she swallowed the pain because she didn't want her mother to worry.

Having sent Jade and Leo off, Miles walked over to them.

He gestured for Hunter to present the brand-new smartwatch he had prepared. "Luna, this is the newest model. Uncle got it just for you. Will you please stop being mad at me?"

Luna looked up at him, the usual bright joy completely absent from her eyes.

Remembering what Yara had told her, she unclasped the battered, secondhand watch from her own wrist.

"Weird Uncle, this is the watch you gave me last time. I'm giving it back to you."

When Miles saw the device, his dark pupils contracted slightly in confusion. How was it this damaged?

Was the quality really that terrible?

No, wait. Why did it look like it had been heavily used for years?

He picked up the watch and examined it closely. Once he confirmed it was undeniably a cheap secondhand model, a glacial hostility gathered in his eyes as he shot a glare at Quinn.

Feeling the sudden chill in his stare, Quinn instantly understood exactly what was going through his head.

She didn't feel heartbroken; she only felt a suffocating wave of dull despair.

It was the heavy, suffocating injustice of being falsely accused with absolutely no way to clear her name.

A mocking sneer, laced with the bitter realization that she should have expected this, ghosted across her lips. "What, you think I swapped out the smartwatch you gave Luna?"

Because no matter what she said, he would never believe her. He would only assume she had purposely swapped the watch herself just to stir up drama.

The suffocating, helpless weight pressing down on her chest felt like a freezing, damp blanket, making it impossible to breathe as it dragged her down.

Time seemed to stand still for a few seconds as the breeze caught the loose strands of hair at her temples.

The wind blew freely, but she remained trapped in an unshakable haze of misery.

Quinn's voice was drained of all energy, flat and hollow. "Whoever you trusted to handle this, go ask them!"

She helped Luna back into her jacket and picked her up, whispering softly, "Luna, let me take you home."

"Yay! Let's go home, Quinn!"

Seeing Luna completely ignore him sent a sharp pang through Miles's chest. "Luna, this is a brand-new watch. I bought it specifically for you. That other one wasn't from me..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, Luna waved her little hand, rejecting him with polite but absolute finality.

"No thank you, Weird Uncle. I already have the watch my Mommy bought me. If you want to call me, I can answer it. But I don't want any more gifts from you. You should give this to your son instead."