When Two Winters Met (Henrietta and Yosef) novel Chapter 280

The words sent Henrietta's heart into a frantic rhythm. Finally, she gave in, her arms wrapping around his strong waist. "Mr. Nash… you truly overestimate me."

"You're too modest, my dear," Yosef replied. "You deserve every good thing in this world. And I promise you this: the two things you will never lack are money and the confidence to stand tall." A queen doesn't kneel; she reigns.

In the biting wind, Henrietta felt a profound warmth bloom in her chest. She said nothing, only holding him tighter. She never imagined that the man she had ended up choosing would be so unparalleled—a top-tier tycoon with a core of reassuring warmth.

Yosef, for his part, was losing his composure. The thought that the woman in his arms belonged completely to him was intoxicating. When he remembered that her first time had been his, that the vulnerable, raw emotion she’d shown that night had been for him alone… an indescribable emotion surged through him. He didn't know what to call it, but he couldn't stop himself from tilting her chin up, his lips capturing hers in a deep, searching, entangling kiss. He had completely forgotten that Quinton was still standing beside them. This wasn't a declaration of ownership; it was a simple, overwhelming desire to kiss her.

Henrietta felt no shyness, responding to his passion with an equal boldness. There, in front of the brilliant expanse of chrysanthemums, they were lost in their own world.

Quinton stood nearby, his eyes wide with shock, a pain so sharp and sudden it felt as though a thousand arrows had pierced his heart. He was utterly lost, unable to find words for the agony twisting inside him. It felt as if his heart itself was convulsing. He should have left immediately, but he couldn't. Walking away might be misinterpreted.

He admitted to himself that he couldn't let go of Henrietta. He was still deeply in love with her. But he had no intention of destroying anything. And yet... seeing her happy brought him a sharp pang of heartache, because he wasn't the one giving her that happiness. It was a contradiction, but one he was forced to live with. Quinton stood as if turned to stone, forced to watch the sweet, saccharine kiss, while his own heart bled. He had never seen Henrietta like this. He never knew she could respond to a man's kiss with such ardor. She had been with Matteo for years, always so restrained and proper, never kissing him with such abandon. But with Yosef, she was transformed. Was Yosef so exceptional, so charismatic? Or had she… fallen in love with him? A deep, all-consuming love?

After what felt like an eternity, the couple's passionate kiss finally ended. Henrietta's creamy, flawless skin was flushed a lovely pink, making her look breathtaking. Yosef's dark eyes were intense, still heavy with desire. But he noticed that Quinton hadn't left. He turned his gaze to him.

Quinton lowered his eyes slightly, a silent gesture to convey his stance. He only loved Henrietta, he couldn't let her go, but things were as they were. He had no intention of fighting Yosef. A fight he would almost certainly lose.

Henrietta nodded, and Yosef took her hand, leading her back to the main hall. The wind outside was cold, a clear sign that Juno City's late autumn was giving way to winter. But no matter how cold it was outside, it was nothing compared to the ice in Quinton's heart. It was a cold that pierced him to the bone, a cold from which there was no return.

He could never go back. Not to the early days when a brother protected his sister, and a sister relied on her brother.

Quinton stood for a long time in the whistling wind before his trembling hands fumbled for a pack of cigarettes. It took several tries to light one. He took a deep drag, the smoke searing his lungs and sending him into a fit of coughing that made his eyes water. He leaned heavily against a weathered tree trunk, taking another desperate drag of smoke as the tears he’d been suppressing finally broke through his composure. That was the girl he dreamed of holding in his arms, of telling how much he loved her. That was the girl he had vowed to protect and marry from the first moment he saw her as a child. That was the girl he loved, loved so deeply that he no longer knew how to love her.

His parents had died in a plane crash when he was only seven. The Sargents, who had no son of their own, offered to adopt him. He had been so young, so lost in his grief, his only thought was that he could be with Henrietta forever. He never imagined that he was being locked into the chains of brotherhood. It was his greatest fortune, and his deepest prison. It was an invisible cage that held him fast, a silent barrier that had derailed his heart before he even understood what love was. He had tried so hard to suppress it, to hide it, to tell himself he couldn't fall in love with his own sister. And he had tried… and failed.